Return to Yourself; Return to Hashem

Harav Hagaon Shmuel Wolman Shlita

White seems to be a very strong theme of the Yamim Nora’im. The minhag of Klal Yisrael is to wear white during the Yamim Nora’im. Almost everyone wears a kittel on Yom Kippur; some wear one on Rosh Hashanah as well. In shul, we deck the sifrei Torah, the bimah, and the aron kodesh in white.  We know that minhag Yisrael Torah, and every minhag has deep significance. The poskim explain that we wear a kittel because we resemble the malachim, and to remind us of the day of death, but perhaps we can add another dimension to the significance of wearing white.  The Rema emphasizes that we should wear a בגד פשתן לבן ונקי.  Not only should it be white, but it should be clean.

We find the color white associated with kapparas avonos, as the passuk states: אִם יִהְיוּ חֲטָאֵיכֶם כַּשָּׁנִים כַּשֶּׁלֶג יַלְבִּינוּ. The Radak explains that “snow white” is a metaphor for the whitening of the neshamah. Similarly, on Yom Kippur, the lashon shel zehoris tied onto the entrance to the Beis HaMikdash turned white, symbolizing that Klal Yisrael had merited kapparah.  Why is the color white so closely linked with kapparas avonos?

To understand this, I think we need to go back to the basics, and appreciate what teshuvah is, and what the avodah of Aseres Yemei Teshuvah — which climaxes with Yom Kippur and Neilah — is all about.

Teshuvah, as we know, involves various elements and steps, as delineated by the Rambam and Rabbeinu Yonah. Rectifying all our chata’im and achieving kapparah is a long, arduous process, and that’s the avodah of teshuvah in the sense of the actual details of the mitzvah. But what is the essence of teshuvah?

Furthermore, what does the word teshuvah mean?We understand what the word תטהרו means: It’s a purification process, one that the Rishonim compare to the purification conferred by a mikvah. But what is the meaning of the word teshuvah, which implies “returning”? What are we returning to? Where are we returning from? The Mabit, at the beginning of Shaar Hateshuvah, asks this question.

Some understand that we’re returning to the derech hayashar, since when we do an aveirah, we veer off that path. Perhaps that is true, but the passuk, cited by the Mabit, says something else: וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ, which means we are returning to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

How were we away from the Eibishter? The meforshim explain that when a person does aveiros, he distances himself and erects barriers between him and the Eibishter. Teshuvah involves breaking down those barriers and returning to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, going back to kirvas Elokim and to the level of dveikus that is possible only in the absence of aveiros.

In a couple of places, however, R' Yerucham writes clearly that the concept of teshuvah is lashuv el atzmo — to return to one’s inner self. What does that mean, and how does teshuvah accomplish that? Moreover, how does that idea fit with the Mabit’s explanation that teshuvah means returning to the Eibishter? Am I returning to Hashem, or to myself?

In describing the state of a baby in its mother’s womb, the Gemara in Niddah says: ונר דלוק לו על ראשו וצופה ומביט מסוף העולם ועד סופו. What is that “lit candle” above the head of the fetus, which gives it that supernatural power of gazing from one end of the world to the other? The Maharal explains that this candle is the נֵר ה' נִשְׁמַת אָדָם. Every one of us has a ner — the נשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא. That neshamah is incredibly holy and illuminating, because it is taken from beneath the Kisei Hakavod. There’s a piece of the Eibishter, kivyachol, that exists in every single Yid — וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים — and that is represented by the lit candle above the head of an unborn child. That ner is unbridled and limitless, enabling the baby to gaze from one end of the world to the other, because it hasn’t yet experienced the struggles and limitations of being part of this physical world. As long as the baby is inside its mother, it is a neshamah that is untarnished by the guf, which tries to drag it to places it never wanted to go. That ner dolek is our innermost self, and that chelek Eloka mimaal exists in every human being.

This, apparently, is what R’ Yerucham is referring to when he says that teshuvah means returning to ourselves. We are not attaining a new level that we never had and never experienced, but going back to our inner self. We were born with a neshamah tehorah, and we wake up every single morning with that neshamah tehorah. But then our life starts, and our day starts, and we begin dealing with all the distractions and difficulties and temptations and influences of this world. And that ner dolek, with all of its clarity, gets dimmed by this world.

When the baby is inside its mother, it learns the entire Torah, because that limitless neshamah is able to absorb kol haTorah kulah without any distractions or restrictions. When we come into this world, says the Maharal, we automatically forget all of our Torah, because this world is in direct opposition to everything about Torah and dveikus to Hashem. Our job is to get that Torah back — to constantly look to return to that inner self, to our neshamah. Teshuvah, then, is a return to both oneself and Hashem.

When we’re trying to return to the Eibishter, we’re going back to the chelek Eloka mimaal that exists within ourselves, and thereby rebuilding our relationship with the Eibishter and our ability to cleave to Him. The Gemara teaches (Yoma 86a): גדולה תשובה שמגעת עד כסא הכבוד, שנאמר (הושע יד ב) שובה ישראל עד ה' אלקיך. But it’s not the teshuvah that reaches the Kisei Hakavod; teshuvah is the vehicle that allows the person to get back to the Kisei Hakavod. How? By returning to himself, to his own neshamah, and thereby getting back his relationship with the Eibishter. This is the kirvas Elokim that teshuvah provides.

There is another recurring theme when we talk about teshuvah: לפני ה' תטהרו — we are coming “before” Hashem. Similarly, when the Rambam discusses teshuvah, he writes: והוא שישוב החוטא מחטאו לפני ה' ויתודה. How does teshuvah place a person before Hashem?

This physical world tries to distance the neshamah from its Source. The neshamah desperately wants to connect to the Eibishter, but when we are lured into believing that the world of aveiros is more enticing, and offers a better or easier way to live, we create mechitzos between us and the Eibishter, and deprive the neshamah of the connection it craves. Instead of accessing our true, intrinsic self, we are giving in to everything around us.

Teshuvah reverses that. It brings us back lifnei Hashem, back to that state where we feel the שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד, which is harder to feel when we’re under the influence of aveiros.

When Rabbeinu Yonah discusses the avodah of Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, he talks about both teshuvah and tefillah. We know that tefillah is very important, but why is it an inextricable part of the avodah of Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, to the extent that teshuvah and tefillah seem to be synonymous?

R' Yisroel Salanter famously notes that when the Gemara in Bava Kama teaches that “maveh” means “adam,” the passuk it cites relates to davening and beseeching the Eibishter. That is the very definition of an adam: a being that is connected to the Eibishter through tefillah. Tefillah is not just something we do — it’s an expression of what we’re all about. Our neshamah craves that connection, and wants to relate to the Eibishter through tefillah.

Rashi, in Sefer Bereishis, explains that the word tefillah is related to the word psil, connoting a bond with the Eibishter. Rav Chaim says that the most basic concept of tefillah is that the person is standing before the King — that idea of lifnei Hashem.

Teshuvah and tefillah go together; they’re one and the same. Teshuvah and tefillah repair that connection, bring us back into ourselves and finding the self of ואני תפילה, the pure neshamah within ourselves that will, by definition, reach the Kisei Hakavod — וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ. This is the goal of teshuvah, and this is what we’re looking to accomplish.

Of course, we have to open up a Rambam and a Rabbeinu Yonah and discover all the various difficult steps that it takes to accomplish teshuvah. But before starting those steps, let’s understand what teshuvah is all about. It’s not about getting to new places that we never imagined. Rather, it’s simply about returning to ourselves, which means going back to our neshamah, to square one. It’s a reset of sorts. It’s not easy, but it’s not something that we never experienced.

We can now better understand the concept of “whitening” aveiros, and why white is used as a metaphor for the kapparah of teshuvah. Obviously, white conjures up the symbolism of something pure and pristine. But I think that when we talk about the color white, we mean going back to the source, back to our original state in this world, a state of pure neshamah. White implies having no additives, nothing that is trying to change or add to the neshamah. The neshamah at its baseline is represented by the color white. It’s the shoresh that lies inside every one of us.

During Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, when we’re trying to pick ourselves up and live on a higher level, let’s remember what teshuvah is all about. It’s not just tikkun hamaasim — it’s what we’re looking to eventually accomplish through all the tikkun hamaasim: to get back to the Eibishter. But the way that we get back to the Eibishter is by pressing reset, going back to white, and returning to our original state when we came into this world: נשמה שנתת בי טהורה היא.

The Eibishter should give us the siyatta d’Shmaya to utilize the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah for this dual avodah of teshuvah and tefillah, to feel the ואני תפילה, to get back to ourselves, and through that, to be zocheh to true teshuvah that reaches the Kisei Hakavod.

Chinuch For Girls On Time Bound Mitzvot

 A casual remark by my sister gave me the food for thought for this post.  She commented that her daughter of 0 years of age was with the babysitter and did not get the chinuch of listening to the shofar.  Obviously, her daughter has not yet reached the age of chinuch so she would not have a chinuch obligation but I was wondering is there a din of chinuch of girls for מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא.  I did a search on Ozter Hachama and found some results discussing this question but I did not see many very early sources on the topic.  I will try to explain some of the issues behind the question. 

Before getting to the issue of מעשהז"ג specifically, there is a debate over whether one has an obligation of chinuch for one's daughter at all.  The simple read of the Gemarah Nazir (29a) according to Resh Lakish is that there is no obligation of chinuch for one's daughter (see Tosfos there and Magen Avraham siman 343.)  However, the conclusion of most poskim is not this way (M.A. ibid, see Machatsis Hashekel's citation of Tosfos Yoma, Igrot Moshe Yoreh Deah volume 2 #113.)  

Is there chinuch for something where the child will never become obligated?  The Gemarah Chagigah (6a) is clear that there is no din of chinuch when one will never come to become obligated in the matter.  In that case we can say since a girl never becomes obligated in מעשהז"ג there is no din of chinuch.  On the other hand, one might say that the Gemarah is referring to when it is not even a maaseh mitzvah as in the case of the Gemarah a blind or lame child who would not be obligated in עלייה לרגל even as an adult.  However, a woman's kium of a מעשהז"ג is a maaseh mitzvah and perhaps there would be chinuch for such a mitzvah.

If one is obligated in chinuch only if it is an obligation why must one be מחנך their son to wear tzitzit (Sukkah 42a) if tzitzit is not an obligation, it is only if one wears a four-cornered garment that they must wear tzitzit?  That would seem to be akin to the woman performing a מעשהז"ג?  It would seem that case is different for although it is not incumbent upon one to wear tzitzit, if one does wear a four-cornered garment, they must wear tzitzit.  The obligation of chinuch is to train the child for that eventual, likely, possibility.  On the other hand, the girl will never come to an obligation for a מעשהז"ג. 

Another issue raised by the Kozhiglover (Eretz Tzvi Moadim Sukkah pg. 215) is how can a girl say a beracha on a מעשהז"ג?  Presumably, if there is a din of chinuch, they would be able to say a beracha just like a woman (according to minhag Ashkenaz.)  However, if there is no obligation of chinuch, how can they say a beracha, a woman says it due to her kium mitzvah but a minor does not have that?  He assumes the only reason to say a beracha is for the mitzvah of chinuch.  However, we also can add to the scale that a minor does not have the issur of lo sesa and possibly can say the beracha even without the mitzvah of chinuch, or maybe even witjout the din of chinuch the mitzvah of a minor still counts to say a beracha, וצ"ע.  

There is an article by R' Tzvi Ryzman going through some sources and sevarot on the topic here. 

It is also noteworthy that I saw cited in a kovetz בית ועד לחכמים in a piece by ר' יחזקאל וינבך who discusses this topic cites a Raavad on the Torah Kohanim parsha 2 (cited in Kuntrasi Shiurim siman 20 oas 5, according to Rav Gustman's emendation of the Raavad,) he proves form the obligation of chinuch for a katan that so too according to R' Yehuda who holds blind people are patur from mitzvot, there would still be a Rabbinic obligation.  The blind person will never become obligated according to R' Yehuda, yet he still derives from chinuch an obligation.  Presumably he would hold the same for girls for מעשהז"ג.  

The Greatest Distance

The Tanchuma opens Vayelech וַיֵּלֶךְ מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר אֶת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֶל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל. אֵין וַיֵּלֶךְ אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן תּוֹכֵחָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: לְכוּ חֲזוּ מִפְעֲלוֹת אלקים.  How does the word וילך connote rebuke?  Furthermore, what is the תוכחה the Midrash is referring to?  The pessukim at the beginning of the parsha, וַיֵּלֶךְ מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר אֶת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֶל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם בֶּן מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה אָנֹכִי הַיּוֹם לֹא אוּכַל עוֹד לָצֵאת וְלָבוֹא seem to have a contradiction in it, for דבר refers to harsh words but אמר means to speak softly (Makkot 11a,) did Moshe say harsh words or soft words?  Why is the mitzvah of hakhal performed after the shmittah year? 

"The greatest distance between any two points is the distance that separates our minds from our hearts."  That is the וילך, to traverse that distant between the heads and the hearts of Klal Yisrael.  Moshe Rabbenu was giving his parting message and he wanted it to pernitrate through their minds and hearts.  Therefore, Moshe Rabbenu uses multiple means of conveying his message.  The Sforno notes that the opening words of Moshe Rabbenu are words of appeasement but that is followed by words of rebuke Moshe uses all tactics to convey his parting message.  

That is why hakhal follows after the shmittah year.  After a year where one had time to study Torah, the person's heart is opened and he is able to be inspired by the communal reading of hakhal.  The Sifsay Tzaddik goes so far as to suggest a chiddush lihalacha that having a shmittah year is meakev in the mitzvah of hakhal.  

Sleeping

The Rambam Teshuva (3:4) says אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁתְּקִיעַת שׁוֹפָר בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה גְּזֵרַת הַכָּתוּב רֶמֶז יֵשׁ בּוֹ כְּלוֹמַר עוּרוּ יְשֵׁנִים מִשְּׁנַתְכֶם וְנִרְדָּמִים הָקִיצוּ מִתַּרְדֵּמַתְכֶם וְחַפְּשׂוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂיכֶם וְחִזְרוּ בִּתְשׁוּבָה וְזִכְרוּ בּוֹרַאֲכֶם. אֵלּוּ הַשּׁוֹכְחִים אֶת הָאֱמֶת בְּהַבְלֵי הַזְּמַן וְשׁוֹגִים כָּל שְׁנָתָם בְּהֶבֶל וָרִיק אֲשֶׁר לֹא יוֹעִיל וְלֹא יַצִּיל, הַבִּיטוּ לְנַפְשׁוֹתֵיכֶם וְהֵיטִיבוּ דַּרְכֵיכֶם וּמַעַלְלֵיכֶם וְיַעֲזֹב כָּל אֶחָד מִכֶּם דַּרְכּוֹ הָרָעָה וּמַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר לֹא טוֹבָה.  Where does this idea that people are sleepwalking come from?

Rav Shwab notes that when Adam is put to sleep for his wife creating surgery, the Torah never says he woke up.  Obviously he woke up but Rav Shwab suggests that besides a physical sleep, Adam was also put in a spiritual state of sleep which he never got up from.  He says that Klal Yisrael at Mattan Torah awoke but everyone else is stuck in a slumber.  With this idea he explains the brecha we say in the morning המעביר שינה מעיני ותנומה מעפעפי and then we continue תרגלנו בתורתך ודבקנו במצותיך etc.  What does this have to do with waking up?  And why is this beracha on walking up not the first one?  He says that the beracha is also referring to walking form a spiritual slumber.  Therefore, we follow with spiritual requests and we put the beracha at the end when one starts their new day of spiritual journey.  

With this ide we can explain the Rambam.  Over the year one falls back into the spiritual sleep that is placed on the world and needs the alarm clock to wake him up.  That is the shofar.  

The Shem MiShmuel asks what is the double terminology of עוּרוּ יְשֵׁנִים מִשְּׁנַתְכֶם וְנִרְדָּמִים הָקִיצוּ מִתַּרְדֵּמַתְכֶם?  He says it refers to the טמטום המוח והלב that have crept up over the year.   "אבל לפי דרכנו בדקדוק נאמר עפי"מ שהגדנו למעלה ששינה מתייחסת ללב, ותרדמה נראה שמתייחסת לשכל וכמ"ש (ישעי' כ"ט י') כי נסך עליכם ה' רוח תרדמה ויעצם את עיניכם, וזהו הרמז שבשופר שתקיעה שבמוח מקיצה הנרדמים שהוא חשכת השכל, והשברים שהם בלב נשבר מעוררין הישנים שהוא אוטם הלב."  There is the brain of a person that over the year becomes filled with false ideas that the shofar helps uproot as well as the heart which becomes devoid of emotion for Godliness which also is aroused through the shofar. 

Recognize your Creator

 The Rambam Teshuva (3:4) says אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁתְּקִיעַת שׁוֹפָר בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה גְּזֵרַת הַכָּתוּב רֶמֶז יֵשׁ בּוֹ כְּלוֹמַר עוּרוּ יְשֵׁנִים מִשְּׁנַתְכֶם וְנִרְדָּמִים הָקִיצוּ מִתַּרְדֵּמַתְכֶם וְחַפְּשׂוּ בְּמַעֲשֵׂיכֶם וְחִזְרוּ בִּתְשׁוּבָה וְזִכְרוּ בּוֹרַאֲכֶם.  Why does he say do teshuva and then recognize your Creator, one would think that one first recognizes Hashem and then does teshua? 

The blog cited in the past Rashi in Avodah Zara (19a) that identifies teshuva as להכיר בוראו.  (What is Rashi coming to explain by adding this there?  The context of the Gemarah is that doing teshuva when one is young is better than doing teshuva when one is old because it is harder to do teshuva in one's youth.  Why is it harder?  Rashi understands that when one is old and closer to death, one recognizes their mortality and can accept another power.  In one's youth, when one feels immortal, it is hard to recognize one is dependent on another power.)  

We see from the Rambam and Rashi that the tachlis of teshuva, the endgame, is להכיר בוראו.  What is the peshat in this? 

The Ramban at the end of Bo (13:16) says וכוונת כל המצות שנאמין באלהינו ונודה אליו שהוא בראנו, והיא כוונת היצירה, שאין לנו טעם אחר ביצירה הראשונה, ואין אל עליון חפץ בתחתונים מלבד שידע האדם ויודה לאלהיו שבראו, וכוונת רוממות הקול בתפלות וכוונת בתי הכנסיות וזכות תפלת הרבים, זהו שיהיה לבני אדם מקום יתקבצו ויודו לאל שבראם והמציאם ויפרסמו זה ויאמרו לפניו בריותיך אנחנו,

The entire point of the mitzvot and the entire point of public gatherings in the shul is to say to Hashem, we are your creations."  The Alter from Kelm in Chachma Umussar volume 2 maamer 1 explains that the essence of prayer is to recognize the dominion of Hashem.  The point of the supplications isn't because man needs to ask G-d for his needs but to help one realize that everything they need is dependent on Hashem.  Teshuva is to return.  Return to what?  To that state of saying בריותיך אנחנו.  The process of teshuva is to bring one back to the state of recognition that we are subjects of Hashem.  This is why tefillah and tesuva are strongly linked as discussed as week ago 

The Gemarah Rosh Hashana (16b) says וְאָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: כׇּל שָׁנָה שֶׁרָשָׁה בִּתְחִלָּתָהּ — מִתְעַשֶּׁרֶת בְּסוֹפָהּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״מֵרֵאשִׁית הַשָּׁנָה״ — ״מֵרֵשִׁית״ כְּתִיב. ״וְעַד אַחֲרִית״ — סוֹפָהּ שֶׁיֵּשׁ לָהּ אַחֲרִית.  Rashi says שרשה בתחלתה - שישראל עושין עצמן רשין בר"ה לדבר תחנונים ותפלה כענין שנאמר תחנונים ידבר רש.  We now understand it doesn't mean only to ask Hashem for one's needs, rather it means that the whole point of prayer is to recognize Hashem and if one does that then one's prayers will be answered.  

The Gemarah Berachot (32b) says א"ר חמא בר' חנינא אם ראה אדם שהתפלל ולא נענה יחזור ויתפלל שנאמר (תהלים כז, יד) קוה אל ה' חזק ויאמץ לבך וקוה אל ה.  Why should one pray again?  Because that means it's not just one thing that one is trying and if that doesn't work move onto something else but one's total reliance is upon Hashem and the only thing to do is pray.  That is the whole essence of tefillah.  (Based upon a shmuz by R' Elefant.) 

New Year New Self

Why is Rosh Hashana before Yom Kippur, it should be reverse, one should repent before being judged?  

A couple of years ago we cited Rabbenu Yonah explains the avodah of Rosh Hashana is to give oneself a clean slate, a fresh start to be able to reconnect to Hashem.  That is why Rosh Hashana precedes Yom Kippur for one can only do teshuva and make a real change if they don't bring their old baggage with themselves going forward.  Why is that that the avodah connected to Rosh Hashana specifically?  

Rosh Hashana is היום הרת עולם, the beginning of the world.  Every Rosh Hashana the world goes back to a state of newness, a fresh beginning, and the shefa for the next year is provided for the world.  The avodah of the day parallels that which is going on in the entire world.  

The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 29:12) says אָמַר רַבִּי תַּחְלִיפָא קֵיסָרָא, בְּכָל מוּסָפִין כְּתִיב: וְהִקְרַבְתֶּם וְכָאן כְּתִיב: וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אִשֶּׁה, הָא כֵיצַד, אָמַר לָהֶן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, בָּנַי מַעֲלֶה אֲנִי עֲלֵיכֶם כְּאִלּוּ הַיּוֹם נַעֲשֵׂיתֶם לְפָנַי, כְּאִלּוּ הַיּוֹם בָּרָאתִי אֶתְכֶם בְּרִיָּה חֲדָשָׁה, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (ישעיה סו, כב): כִּי כַאֲשֶׁר הַשָּׁמַיִם הַחֲדָשִׁים וְהָאָרֶץ הַחֲדָשָׁה.  The Midrash is conveying the above lesson.  On Rosh Hashana, it's a day of renewal and you are viewed as a fresh, new person free from the errors of the past.  

Chazal say אורי refers to Rosh Hashana.  Why is Rosh Hashana known as אורי?  In Nussach Ashkenaz it says אור חדש על ציון תאיר, where there is אור, there is a clarity of the truth.  On Rosh Hashana things go back to their source, a person goes back to their beginning before sin led them off the straight path.  It is on Rosh Hashana that we are given a new beginning to be able to move forward. 

The Yalkut Shimoni on Tehillim (831:6) says  ד"א בשופר אני מכסה עונותיכם תקעו בחדש שופר.  When the shofar is blown, the sins are covered over, hidden from sight.  It doesn't say they are forgiven, but they are not looked at.  How does blowing the shofar accomplish this?  The Gemarah says the blowing of the shofar is the means to convey acceptance of the malchut of Hashem, אמרו לפני בראש השנה מלכיות זכרונות ושופרות מלכיות כדי שתמליכוני עליכם זכרונות כדי שיעלה זכרוניכם לפני לטובה ובמה בשופר.  The shofar is the method used to express kabblat malchut.  When one is mekabal the malchut, as we said before, one is given a fresh start and the sins are not examined.  The possuk in Balak (23:21) says לֹֽא־הִבִּ֥יט אָ֙וֶן֙ בְּיַעֲקֹ֔ב וְלֹא־רָאָ֥ה עָמָ֖ל בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל י״י֤ אֱלֹקיו עִמּ֔וֹ וּתְרוּעַ֥ת מֶ֖לֶךְ בּֽו.  Rashi says G-d doesn't look at the sins of Klal Yisrael because of the great love He has for them.  When we blow the תרועה it is an expression of our love for Hashem.  When there is this reciprocal relationship, the sins are inconsequential and are covered over.  (Based upon Yarech L'moadim simanim 31, 32.) 

The Beracha Of Malchiot

This post goes hand in hand with the sources here.

The fourth beracha of the mussaf on Rosh Hahana is unique in that besides the regular kedushat hayom we also say the pessukim of malchiot.  This follows the opinion of R' Akiva.  We can make a chakira as to how we view this beracha.  Is it the regular beracha of the kedushat hayom just malchiout is added in or is it the beracha of malchiot but its place is in the beracha of the kedushat hayom.  The Mishna in which R' Akiva appears says כולל מלכיות אם קדושת היום which indicates that the beracha is kedushat hayom with malchiot inserted.  However, the Gemarah cites a machlokes where the beracha of kedushat hayom should be said and the opinion of Rebbe is to say it in the beracha of malchiot.  The Gemarah sounds like the beracha is malchiot with kedushat hayom attached.  

The Tur is clear that that the beracha is defined as the beracha of malchiot with kedushat hayom included in it.  The Rambam also identifies the beracha as malchiot. 

צ"ע on the Lechem Mishne for the Rambam is not ant clearer is the Laws of Prayer. 

The Meiri also identifies the words of מלך על כל הארץ that we say in the חתימה of the beracha as being the mention of malchiot, in other words, he holds that malchiot is part of the beracha like the Rambma and Tur not like the Abudraham.  He is even clearer about this in the Chibur Hateshuva where he says we say מלך על כל הארץ in the other prayers merely as a custom.  (Note also the thank you to Louis Ginzberg at the beginning of the sefer, here.) 

The Abudraham holds the beracha is kedushat hayom and malchiot is the reciting of the pessukim. We see that the chakira is a machlokes Rishonim.  

This issue seems to have seem to have prompted the Chayei Adam to entertain that possibly מלך על כל הארץ would be מעכב in the beracha of mussaf for although he understands that it would not be מעכב anywhere else by mussaff it may be necessary for malchiot.  He conludes that the beracha is kedushat hayom and malchiot is merely the pessukim.  

Rav Chayim had a different approach.  He holds by all the berachot of Rosh Hashana the מלך על כל הארץ is part of the integral text of the beracha for malchiot is the theme of the day.  In other words, he holds the מלך על כל הארץ is not for malchiot per say like the Abudraham but he holds it is a necessary part of the text of the beracha, not like the Chayei Adam. 

What is the source for this debate?  The Haghos Vichidushim on the Tur asks why the Tur calls it the beracha of malchiot if the Mishna calls it the beracha of kedushat hayom?  He answers that the Mishna refers to it as such only in the opinion of R' Yochanan ben Nuri who holds malchiot is part of the beracha of kedushat hashem but according to R' Akiva the beracha is malchiot with kedushat hayom attached.  How did the Tur know to make this distinction? 

R' Akiva says he disagrees with R' Yochanan ben Nuri for he holds one should blow the shofar after malchiot.  The Achronim ask if that's his argument why does he shift malchiot to the beracha of kedushat hayom just blow after the beracha of kedushat hashem with malchiot included?  (See Tom Terua, Turay Even, Aruch Lenar.)

The Aruch Lenar says that even though R' Akiva holds fundamentally R' Yochanan ben Nuri is right that malchiot belongs with kedushat hashem but that is superseded by his desire to avoid having an interruption in the shofar blowings of another beracha in the middle and hence he moves malchiot to kedushat hayom.  According to the approach of the Aruch Lenari malchiot tags along to the beracha of kedushat hashem.  The Tur may have been bothered by the same question and therefore he understands R' Akiva holds one can't put malchiot together with kedushat hashem and make it secondary to the standard blessing of the entire year rather it is its own beracha and we stick kedushat hayom into the beracha (explanation of Yareach L'moadim siman 7 and based upon article here pg. 8-11, see also Sharay Shmuot siman 9.) 

What I don't understand about the whole sugyah in the Gemarah is why do two two berachot have to go to together, why don't we just have 10 berachot of mussaf, the kedushat hayom like every other Shemone Esrai of the holiday, a beracha for malchiot, a beracha for zichronot and a beracha for shofrot? 

Briskor Rav And Tehillim

 From משנת הגר"מ (son of Briskor Rav)

Teshuvah Is Within You

Harav Hagaon Yosef Elefant Shlita

The month of Elul, of אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי, is upon us. As we know, the Rambam says (Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4):  אף על פי שתקיעת שופר בראש השנה גזירת הכתוב, רמז יש בו, כלומר עורו ישינים משנתכם ונרדמים הקיצו מתרדמתכם וחפשו במעשיכם וחזרו בתשובה וזכרו בוראכם.  Even though blowing shofar is a gezeiras hakasuv, it contains a message: Wake up! Get out of your slumber, and remember that there’s an Eibishter.

When the Rambam tells us that there’s something about tekiyas shofar that wakes a person up, he certainly isn’t referring just to the noise of the shofar. He is alluding to something much deeper.

The Torah says, in Parashas Nitzavim:

כִּי הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לֹא נִפְלֵאת הִוא מִמְּךָ וְלֹא רְחֹקָה הִוא. לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲלֶה לָּנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה. וְלֹא מֵעֵבֶר לַיָּם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲבָר לָנוּ אֶל עֵבֶר הַיָּם וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה. כִּי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ.

These pesukim describe a mitzvah that one might think is too far away, and the Ramban says that this is referring to the mitzvah of teshuvah. This raises many questions, however.  First, regarding no other mitzvah does the Torah address the issue of it being far away. What is so special about the mitzvah of teshuvah that the Torah goes out of its way to dispel the notion that it might be in the sky or across the sea?  Second, what does the geographical concept of near or far mean in relation to a mitzvah? How can a mitzvah be close? How can a mitzvah be far?

In Alei Shur, Rav Wolbe cites a Midrash that expounds these pesukim in a context other than teshuvah, interpreting them as a message to a lazy person. When this person is told that his rav is in his city, he says it’s too dangerous to go to him. When he’s told that his rav is on the next street, he says it’s raining. When he’s told that his rav is next door, he says he can’t go. When he’s told that the rav is in the same house but on a different floor, he finds another excuse. Finally, he is told that the rav, the source of chochmah, is in his own mouth — just take it out!

Rav Wolbe explains that the rav in this mashal represents chochmah and ruchniyus. The lazy person is not suffering from biological tiredness, but is totally dominated by the yesod of earth, which is gashmiyus. He views himself as an entirely physical being, and he sees chochmah as something external to him.

As long as a person views chochmah as existing on the outside, not as something that is part of his own being, then he finds all sorts of excuses why he can’t access it, whether it’s in his city, on his street, or in his house. A person who sees ruchniyus and chochmah as detached from himself looks at himself as nothing more than earth — which, the Mesilas Yesharim teaches, is very heavy. Laziness is rooted in the yesod of earth. When a person looks at himself as nothing more than gashmiyus, and he views chochmah as being on the outside, he’s going to be dominated by laziness. That’s the real root of laziness: the domination of the guf.

Alei Shur calls laziness “the fortress of tumah.” We typically don’t view laziness that way; we think of it as a pretty kosher bad middah. But he describes laziness as the fortress of tumah because laziness represents the domination of the body — not in terms of physical or biological domination, but in terms of how a person sees himself. When a person views the “rav” — the chochmah — as outside of himself, he’s in a state of laziness, because he sees himself as a clod of earth. This attitude, Chazal are telling us, is what Moshe Rabbeinu came to refute. “It’s not across the sea and it’s not in the heavens — it’s very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart!  “Chochmah is inside of you!”

The Midrash sees in this passuk a remedy for atzlus. Moshe Rabbeinu is telling us that if a person would understand that he himself is fundamentally spiritual and holy — כִּי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד — then his laziness would be cured.

Although Chazal did not expound these pesukim in relation to teshuvah, we can apply their teaching to teshuvah as well.

Chazal are addressing a fundamental question: What is a human being? Is a human nothing more than a blob of flesh and blood — עָפָר אַתָּה וְאֶל עָפָר תָּשׁוּב? Or is a human fundamentally spiritual?

The Torah is teaching us that the obstacle to doing teshuvah is the attitude that spirituality is far away, across the sea. When a person feels that he’s distant from ruchniyus, that he’s disconnected from the Eibishter, that he himself is not inherently spiritual, it’s very hard to do teshuvah.  He is being asked to repent and return — but return to where?

It is specifically the mitzvah of teshuvah that is rendered challenging by geographic distance. Where can I find kedushah? If it’s outside of me, how can I go back to it? Where can I access it?  So, it is regarding this mitzvah of teshuvah that the Torah presents a dialogue regarding its proximity. It is not far away. It is not across the sea.  “You are holy,” Moshe Rabbeinu was telling us. “You are intrinsically connected to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.”

If you understand that you are fundamentally holy, then you can access that point of spirituality within yourself and reignite it. When you do teshuvah, then, you are not creating something from nothing, but merely expanding the holiness within you.

The obstacle to teshuvah, then, is the failure to recognize that even after we sin, some part of the neshamah inside you is pure, and always remains untarnished and unpolluted. It is that untouched part of the neshamah that enables the person to do teshuvah. The Sfas Emes says that this pinteleh within a person maintains a constant connection with Hakadosh Baruch Hu — כִּי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד. You’re not expected to reach for something that you don’t have or create something new; you’re merely retrieving the kochos that are there inside you.  It’s who you are.

We can now understand why the Rambam considers the sounds of the shofar a wake-up call. He’s not referring to a person who’s physically asleep, but to a person who’s in a spiritual slumber.  Sleep represents the total domination of the guf. When a person sleeps, his intellectual faculties are shut down.

The Pachad Yitzchak notes that one of the reasons we blow shofar is because people used to blow the shofar when they crowned a king, so when we coronate Hashem on Rosh Hashanah, we blow the shofar as well.  But why, he asks, was there a custom to blow the shofar when crowning a king?

He explains that Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s malchus was revealed in this world through the creation of Man — and Adam Harishon was fashioned through an act of blowing: וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים. Hakadosh Baruch Hu blew from Himself into Adam — מאן דנפח מדיליה נפח — imbuing him with a holy neshamah, the chelek Eloka mimaal that exists within a person.

When we blow the shofar, we activate the voice of the neshamah, as we draw upon our pnimiyus, the essence of who we really are. A person might be fast asleep, completely sunk into his guf, but the shofar comes and awakens the neshamah within him. It wakes us up because its sound is the voice of the neshamah, the kol kol Yaakov, which Hashem blew into us. The shofar reminds us that our fundamental essence is בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ. We carry this chelek Eloka mimaal, which always remains unsullied, and that spark can always be reignited.

This is the avodah and opportunity of Elul. The obstacle to teshuvah is that a person forgets this, thinking that ruchniyus is across the sea, but Elul reminds us that we have it inside ourselves, and we just need to access that spark and expand it.  We may be fast asleep, dominated by the guf, but the neshamah that Hashem blew into us is always alive and awake: אֲנִי יְשֵׁנָה וְלִבִּי עֵר. The sound of the shofar wakes us up, reminding us who we really are, and that the ruchniyus we seek is already inside of us: כִּי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד.

Opportunity Is Knocking

Hashem commanded Klal Yisrael to write the Torah on stones when they enter Eretz Yisrael, in seventy languages so that it should be legible and understandable by all the nations. The Gemara teaches (Sotah 35) that after Moshe Rabbeinu gave this directive and Yehoshua fulfilled it, the nations were able to read the entire Torah clearly, yet they didn’t take that opportunity — and for that, they were punished harshly by being barred from ever becoming, as a nation, the am Hashem.

Tosfos there notes that Hashem already offered the Torah to the nations before Mattan Torah and they refused it then, but we don’t find that they were punished as a result. Tosfos explains that initially, that offer wasn’t so tempting, because the Torah was not yet written, and comprehending it would require effort. But now the Torah was written, and as such it was offered to them on a silver platter, clear and easy to understand — yet they still didn’t take the opportunity. Therefore, they forfeited forever the possibility of becoming the am Hashem.

We see from here that if we utilize the opportunities that Hashem gives us, then we’ll get closer to Him, and all will be well. Conversely, if we squander an opportunity, there is a taanah against us in Shomayim (From the Mir parsha sheet by Harav Meir Tzvi Shpitzer Shlita.)

After bikkurim, Ki Savo moves on to tell us about the mitzvah of viduy maser.  The person announces in the fourth and seventh year of the shmittah cycle that he has properly taken care of his obligations of teruma and maaser.  The declaration after fulfilling the obligation of removing one's obligation is called viduy maaser.  The meforshim are troubled why it is called viduy when one does not confess, on the contrary one anounces how they have followed the mitzvot properly?  (See Sforno also cited in Tosfot Yom Tov Maaser Sheni 5:10.) 

Rav Solevetchik explains (Chamesh Derashot derush Brit Avot) that there are two aspects to viduy.  Besides the traditionally understood aspect of confessing one's wrongdoings and errors, one also has to focus on one's potential to do right.  The two go hand in hand.  There is no point of confessing one's sins unless one sees in themself the potential for change.  Viduy maaser is a time when one focuses on theur ability to do ככל אשר צויתני.  When one sees in themself the גדלות האדם, the potential to do things right, then one can see the שפלות האדם, the sins, misgivings and bad traits and focus on changing them.

Viduy is about recognizing one's potential and utilizing it.  What one is culpable for is for not using the talents and strengths with which G-d granted one to follow the ratzon Hashem.  The sin one must confess is for not using the opportunity G-d gave for one to be able to announce עשיתי ככל אשר צויתני.   

Name Change

The possuk in Zecharyah (14:9) says וְהָיָ֧ה י״י֛ לְמֶ֖לֶךְ עַל־כׇּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יִהְיֶ֧ה י״י֛ אֶחָ֖ד וּשְׁמ֥וֹ אֶחָֽד.  The Arizal says that the possuk is telling us in the future שמו אחד means the name of Hashem will not be יקוק but יקיק.  He explains this according to the kabbalah of what the letters mean.  I would like to explain this idea in a different vein based upon Rabbenu Bechai.  At the end of Beshlach on the words כי יד על כס קה, the Bechai says that the יק in the name of Hashem is the middat hadin.  The וק is the middat harachamim to sweeten the din.  

The Kli Yakar in Ke Savo (27:12) cites this Bechai and uses it to explain why the tochacha starts with a ו and ends with a ה and why there are 11 אררורים mentioned.  The tochacha is wrapped in the letters of rachamim and the gematria of those letters make up the number of אררורים to demonstrate that even the curses are wrapped in rachamim.  

In light of this we can say now the name of Hashem is a mixture of din and rachamim because the world can't exist with just din.  However, in the future days, when the world will be perfected things will go back to the "original plan" and there will only be middat hadin.

Prayer, Teshuva And Bikkurim

The Gra Ke Sesa (33:7) says אבל במ' יום האחרונים לא עשה אלא התנפל עליהם וע"כ ניתקן אלו המ' יום לתחנונים וביה"כ נתרצה השי"ת להם.  Just as during the days of Elul through Yom Kippur Moshe davened for forgiveness for Klal Yisrael , so too for all generations this time is designated as a time when prayer is more readily accepted.  What is the nature of this special time of prayer and why by dint of Moshe davening does it become a time designated for prayer?

The Tanchuma at the beginning of the parsha says that tefillah was enacted in place of one bringing bikkurim to the Mikdash.  What does prayer have to do with bikkurim?  The Midrash in the beginning of Nitzavim opens with halachot of prayer.  What does that have to do with אתם ניצבים, the bris with Hashem?

The Rambam Teshuva (2:6) says אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהַתְּשׁוּבָה וְהַצְּעָקָה יָפָה לָעוֹלָם. בַּעֲשָׂרָה הַיָּמִים שֶׁבֵּין רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים הִיא יָפָה בְּיוֹתֵר וּמִתְקַבֶּלֶת הִיא מִיָּד שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נה ו) דִּרְשׁוּ ה' בְּהִמָּצְאוֹ.  The Kesef Mishne cites the source of the Rambam is from Rosh Hashana (18a) where the Gemarah says דִּרְשׁוּ ה' בְּהִמָּצְאוֹ when is המצאו?  During the 10 days of repentance.  The Gemarah is talking about tefillah but the Rambam extends this special time to the process teshuva as well.  How does he know to apply it to teshuva as well? 

What we see from the Rambam that there is a link between tefillah and teshuva.  What is the common denominator between the two?  The Rambam Tefillah (4:16) says one should view himself as standing before Hashem when praying, "וְיִרְאֶה עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלּוּ הוּא עוֹמֵד לִפְנֵי הַשְּׁכִינָה."  He writes a similar definition regarding teshuva in Teshuva (7:6) "גְּדוֹלָה תְּשׁוּבָה שֶׁמְּקָרֶבֶת אֶת הָאָדָם לַשְּׁכִינָה,"by doing teshuva one becomes closer to Hashem.  This explains why bikkurim is connected to prayer as well for when one brings bikkurim they make their declaration 'לפני ה, standing before Hashem (based upon Noam Siach of Rav Shneur Kotler.)  Why are these three mitzvot considered before Hashem? 

It is well known that one of the yesodot of the mitzvah of bikkurim is hakarat hatov for all that Hashem has given a person. To properly recognize the good Hashem has done one does not suffice with a quick thank you for the new harvest but traces it back to the beginning, ארמי אובד אבי.  It is known from Rav Hutner that the words מודה, admitting and הודאה, thanks are connected for when one thanks someone else they are admitting they need them.  When one has hakarat hatov to Hashem it is admitting that one's success all stems from Hashem.  That is what it means to be standing before Hashem.  It is when one recognizes that everything in their life is owed to Hashem. 

The pessukim in לדוד ה אורי say בְּ֝זֹ֗את אֲנִ֣י בוֹטֵֽחַ אַחַ֤ת׀ שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵֽאֵת־י״י֮ אוֹתָ֢הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵית־י֭״י כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י.  What does the bitachon have to do with the asking Hashem to sit בבית ה?  The Sfas Emes Acharei (5654) says that when one has full bitachon and recognizes everything is from Hashem, one no longer will ask personal requests, instead their entire request will be to be further connected to Hashem.  "אם האדם זוכה לאמונה ובטחון כראוי אז לבו בטוח כי כל הנהגה שלו מהקב"ה. והכל הוא כפי הטוב ונצרך לו ע"צ היותר טוב מכל הטובות שבעולם. כמו שביאר בס' חובת הלבבות באר היטב. ואז אחת שאלתי ופונה לבו מכל דבר."  When one recognizes that that everything is just another manifestation of a form their connection to Hashem, then the only request is to be able to further connect to Hashem.  The  Midrash Acharei Mos (21:1) connects the words of בזאת יבא אהרו אל הקודש to the words we say in לדוד ה אורי of בזאת אני בוטח.  In light of his explanation, the Sfas Emes continues that the Midrash is telling us that Aharon is limited to a specific time to come to the kodesh but when one davens in the above manner, וַאֲנִ֤י תְפִלָּֽתִי־לְךָ֨׀ י״י֡ עֵ֤ת רָצ֗וֹן, a person creates a עת רצון through their tefillot and is welcome at all times, כל ימי חיי.  

When one davens to Hashem with this meaning, they are throwing their dependence on Hashem.  Such a tefillah is עוֹמֵד לִפְנֵי הַשְּׁכִינָה.  In the same vein is the process of teshuva where one carves away the sins that have separated one from acknowledging their dependence on Hashem and one realigns themselves before Him.  

That is why the time of Elul is a time of prayer.  To facilitate proper teshuva one must reestablish the link with Hashem.  By praying, תפילה מלשון התופל כלי חרס, one is able to realign to be עוֹמֵד לִפְנֵי הַשְּׁכִינָה and that will lead to being 'שב אל ה.

Sheep, Curses And 98

Why are there specifically 98 curses in the parsha?  The mefarshim point out that it is double the number of curses in Bechukosai, which has 49.  Why are there double the number of curses in this week's parsha?  

The Kli Yakar says that the difference is that this week's parsha is after the bris of arvut at Har Grizim and Aval and therefore everyone is responsible not just for their own actions but for that of their neighbor as well.  Therefore, the curses are doubled as well.  But why is 49 the number of curses in Bechukosai?  Just as there are 49 gates of purity, there are 49 of impurity which can put a person in cursed territory. 

Rashi Pinchas (29:18) says the 98 sheep offered on Sukkot are to nullify the 98 curses in the parsha.  Why is it the sheep that nullify the curses?  The Shem MiShmuel Sukkot (5678) explains the curses come אשר לא עבדת בשמחה, from a lack of joy.  He cites Rashi (28:19) who says the sheep correspond to Yaakov.  Yaakov is the Av mentioned with joy רנו ליעקב שמחה (Yirmiyahu 31:6) and Yaakov is the holiday associated with Sukkot, the holiday of joy, therefore it nullifies the power of the curses.  Also, I saw noted that the number of curses, 98+49 add to 147, the years of Yaakov's life.  

Why are sheep associated with Yaakov?  The Alter Rebbe says that sheep correspond to רחמים as can be seen that the sound of a sheep arouses feelings of compassion within a person.  That is why we blow a shofar from the sheep family to arouse compassion upon ourselves.  The middah of Yaakov is that of רחמים and that is why he is related to sheep.  This miidah of רחמים is directly related to nullifying the curses.  As noted already, the curses come because of a lack of simcha.  How can the Torah expect simcha if only לישרי לב שמחה, only tzaddikim have simcha?  There are two levels of simcha.  The tzaddikim level is to do mitzvot out of joy just for the sake of Hashem.  The regular joe simcha is from feeling רחמנות on himself and realizing that it is best for one's self to cleave to Hashem, the Lifeforce of the world (see here.)  Therefore ,it is the middah of Yaakov, personified through the sheep that nullify the curses. 

Changing the Mindset

Harav Hagaon Yehuda Wagshal Shlita

This week’s parashah discusses the ben sorer u’moreh, who, Rashi says, deserves to die not because of his sins to date, but because of the sins he will invariably perform in the future: בן סורר ומורה נהרג על שם סופו הגיעה תורה לסוף דעתו, סוף שמכלה ממון אביו ומבקש לימודו ואינו מוצא ועומד בפרשת דרכים ומלסטם את הבריות. אמרה תורה ימות זכאי ואל ימות חייב.  From the behavior the ben sorer u’moreh exhibited in his youth, the Torah foresaw that he would continue along this path, until there’s no hope for him. The Torah therefore says that it is preferable that he die innocent than that he die guilty.

The Gemara (Sanhedrin 88) notes that there is a way out for the ben sorer u’moreh, through which he can be saved from the fate of death: בן סורר ומורה שרצו אביו ואמו למחול לו מוחלין לו. If his parents can find it in their heart to forgive him for what he did to them, their mechilah is effective in averting his death sentence.

The Shem MiShmuel asks, how can that be? A ben sorer u’moreh is not killed because of what he did to his parents; he is killed על שם סופו! How, then, can the mechilah of the parents help?  It must be, answers the Shem MiShmuel, that if the parents are mochel, the future that the Torah predicts for this ben sorer u’moreh will also change.  Why, he asks, does the Torah predict such a dismal future for this boy? Doesn’t everyone have the possibility of doing teshuvah, including a ben sorer u’moreh?

He answers that the ability to do teshuvah and change one’s ways is purely in the zechus of the Avos hakedoshim. When a person is connected to the chain that begins with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, he can access the purity they transmitted to us and access the power to do teshuvah. That’s the reason the Midrash says that only Klal Yisrael have the possibility of teshuvah; a non-Jew does not, because he does not have what to go back to.

It is true, continues the Shem MiShmuel, that every person has the opportunity to do teshuvah. But a ben sorer u’moreh, who detached himself from his ancestral chain by stealing from his parents and rebelling against them, forfeits this ability to do teshuvah. If, however, his parents forgive him, they can reconnect him to the chain. That eliminates the dismal future that the Torah envisions for him, as he now regains the ability to repent.

Perhaps we can add another dimension to this explanation of the Shem MiShmuel.  Rashi’s wording is: הגיעה תורה לסוף דעתו — the Torah grasped the ultimate daas of the ben sorer u’moreh, and foresaw that he would go from bad to worse, until there is no hope for him. But what does this have to do with his daas? Shouldn’t it say that the Torah grasped what his actions would ultimately be — הגיעה תורה לסוף מעשיו?

To understand this, let us consider the passuk in Tehillim, in Shir Hamaalos, כִּי עִמְּךָ הַסְּלִיחָה לְמַעַן תִּוָּרֵא. Rav Gifter wondered why Hashem’s selichah would bring us to fear Him — on the contrary, if Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not forgive us, that should scare us! Now that He does forgive, why would His forgiveness evoke fear?

Rav Gifter explained that when a person sins and realizes he low he fell, he feels stuck and hopeless, and gives up. In this state of despair, a person can’t bring himself to fear Hashem. Yirah is possible only when a person feels that there’s hope. That idea is expressed in the words כִּי עִמְּךָ הַסְּלִיחָה לְמַעַן תִּוָּרֵא, which convey that since Hakadosh Baruch Hu forgives us, we have hope, and we can therefore fear Him.

This idea can be applied to the ben sorer u’moreh as well. The ben sorer u’moreh stooped to a really low level, stealing from and rebelling against his parents, who took care of him his whole life. The daas of this ben sorer u’moreh, therefore, is one of yiush: “Once I’m here, forget it.” And he gives up on everything.

The Torah foresaw not the future actions of the ben sorer u’moreh — there can be worse aveiros than the ones he will ultimately perform — but his future daas. He’s in such a low state of mind that he’ll never be able to pull himself up and come back to the right derech, and that’s why the Torah says that he should die innocent rather than dying guilty.

If so, we can better understand the Gemara’s statement that the mechilah of his parents can overturn his sentence. Upon seeing that his parents are prepared to forgive him, the ben sorer u’moreh thinks to himself, “Look what I did, and still, Tatty and Mommy are willing to be mochel me. That means they value me for what I am, despite what I did.” This dispels his yiush, his negative daas, and now he can indeed do teshuvah and change his mindset, in much the same way that Hashem’s selichah inspires a person to yirah.

That’s the lesson of the ben sorer u’moreh, and it’s an important message for parents: The mechilah and sense of value that parents show their children is what will give them the koach to pull themselves out of possible yiush and return to avodas Hashem.

This is really a lesson for every person vis-à-vis himself as well.  Sometimes a person wants to change his ways, but he feels hopeless when he sees where he is, the madreigah he is on, and he doesn’t have the daas, the motivation, to even try. And sometimes a person has to be mochel himself and value himself. That will help him change his daas, and once he does that, he can continue the process of כִּי עִמְּךָ הַסְּלִיחָה לְמַעַן תִּוָּרֵא.   

It Remains Within You

The Gemarah Sotah (3b)  ואמר רב חסדא בתחילה קודם שחטאו ישראל היתה שכינה שורה עם כל אחד ואחד שנאמר {דברים כ״ג:ט״ו} כי ה׳ אלהיך מתהלך בקרב מחניך כיון שחטאו נסתלקה שכינה מהם שנאמר {דברים כ״ג:ט״ו} ולא יראה בך ערות דבר ושב מאחריך.  What does the Gemarah mean that half the possuk is before Yisrael sinned, the entire possuk is written after we sinned?  The Gerrer Rebbes explain that even after one sins the Shechina never totally departs from a person and it is that nekudah of being attached that allows one to come back to the stage before the sin. The Emrei Emes adds that it what the Gemarah means (Rosh Hashana 17b)  ה' ה' אני הוא קודם שיחטא האדם ואני הוא לאחר שיחטא האדם ויעשה תשובה.  Obviously Hashme doesn't change with a person's sins, what is the Gemarah telling us?  The Gemarah is saying the strength that one has to do teshuva stems from the fact that Hashem remains with a person even after they have sinned.  That is what allows one to do teshuva. 

The Zohar (Noach 76a) asks it should have said ה הולך not מתהלך?  The Zohar answers that Hashem goes before the person to help them out.  The Sfas Emes (5631) explains in the same vein.  When one takes a step in the right direction, they can tap into the power of Godliness within the individual. 

The Power Of A Small Step

The Midrash (Pesikta D'Rav Cahana #25) says טוֹב וְיָשָׁר ה' עַל כֵּן יוֹרֶה חַטָּאִים בַּדָּרֶךְ (תהלים כה, ח). שאלו לחכמה חוטא מה עונשו, אמרה להם, הנפש החוטאת היא תמות. שאלו לתורה, חוטא מה עונשו, אמרה להם, יביא אשם ויתכפר לו. הדא הוא דכתיב (ויקרא, א, ד), וְנִרְצָה לוֹ לְכַפֵּר עָלָיו. שאלו להקדוש ברוך הוא, חוטא מה עונשו אמר להם, יעשה תשובה ויתכפר לו. זה שכתוב, טוֹב וְיָשָׁר ה' עַל כֵּן יוֹרֶה חַטָּאִים בַּדָּרֶך. בני מה אנא בעי מנכון, דרשוני וחיו, אמר ר' פנחס למה הוא טוב, שהוא ישר. למה הוא ישר, שהוא טוב. על כן יורה חטאים בדרך, שהוא מורה להון דרך, שיעשו תשובה.  What does the Midrash mean, the Neviem are full of admonishments to repent and how can the Torah not give the option of teshuva if we know the whole parsha of teshuva from the Torah? 

Ramban Shemos (34:3) גם הצאן והבקר אל ירעו אל מול ההר ההוא – מכנגד, כי בראשנה לא הוזהרו רק: שלא תגע בו יד אם בהמה אם איש (שמות י״ט:י״ג)... עתה החמיר בשעת מתן הלחות האלו יותר ממעמד הראשון. והטעם בכל זה, כי בראשונה היה המעמד בעבור כל ישראל, וזה למשה בלבד בזכותו ובתפלתו, וגדול יהיה הכבוד הנגלה בהרב באחרון מן הראשון.  We see the second luchot had a greater גילוי אלוקות than the first.  The source is a Midrash Ke Sesa (46:1) התחיל מצטער על שבור הלוחות, אמר לו הקב"ה אל תצטער בלוחות הראשונות שלא היו אלא עשרת הדברות לבד, ובלוחות השניים אני נותן לך שיהא בהם הלכות מדרש ואגדות, הדא דכתיב (איוב י"א) ויגד לך תעלומות חכמה כי כפלים לתושיה.  There is double the amount of wisdom in the second luchot.  But how is that possible if it came after sin of the agel?

The Midrash Tehillim 85 (see similar in Eicha Rabbah 5:21) אמרו בני קרח: עד מתי אתם אומרים: "שובו בנים שובבים" (ירמיה ג יד). ישראל אומרים לך: שוב אתה בתחילה, שנאמר: "שובה ה' עד מתי" (תהלים צ יג), ואתה אומר: לא, כי אלא "שובה ישראל" בתחילה. לא אתה תשוב לעצמך, ולא אנו נשוב לעצמנו, אלא שנינו כאחד, שנאמר: "שובנו אלהי ישענו."  What is the nature of this agreement?  Rav Dessler (Mictav volume 4) says that it means one must daven to do teshuva and then Hashem will help one to do proper teshuva.  With this he explains the previous Midrash.  According to the rules that Hashem built into the world, one has to do complete teshuva for it to be accepted.  The torah, chachma and nevua represent the hanhagah with which Hashem runs the world.  The teshuva the Torah and Neviem are talking about is complete teshuva where one totally kills themselves out of regret.  Only that kind of teshuva is acceptable.  However, Hashem does a special chesed and allows for one to take a mere small step to turn in the right direction and Hashem gives one the power of full teshuva.  

Now we can understand why the second luchots were greater than the first ones.  When one starts to do teshuva that opens a door of tremendous power of Torah and insight that one did not have access to beforehand.  That is why we blow the shofar during Elul.  It is our form of prayer that we want to d oteshuva (see Das Shlomo maamerey Elul 5730-31.) (Based on a shmuz from R' Elefant.) 

War Is Necessary

 כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֨א לַמִּלְחָמָ֜ה עַל־אֹיְבֶ֗ךָ וְֽרָאִ֜יתָ ס֤וּס וָרֶ֙כֶב֙ עַ֚ם רַ֣ב מִמְּךָ֔ לֹ֥א תִירָ֖א מֵהֶ֑ם כִּֽי־י״י֤ אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ עִמָּ֔ךְ הַמַּֽעַלְךָ֖ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם.  The Or Hachayim asks why does it say ממך, it seems unnecessary?  

The Or Hachayaim says derech derush that the possuk is referring to one's own battle with the yetzer harah.  It is ממך, from one one's self that the yetzer harah becomes harder to conquer becomes as one does averot, strength is added to the attacking force. 

כי ה אלקיכם הַהֹלֵ֖ךְ עִמָּכֶ֑ם לְהִלָּחֵ֥ם לָכֶ֛ם עִם־אֹיְבֵיכֶ֖ם לְהוֹשִׁ֥יעַ אֶתְכֶֽם.  The Sfas Emes asks it should have said הולך עמכם?  The Sfas Emes (5650) says that the Hashem brings about the war in order to save the individual.  In other words, it's not that there is a war where Hashem helps a person to be rescued from, but rather Hashem also brings the war.  That is what it means ה איש מלחמה, Hashem puts one in a state of war, ה שמו, and Hashem rescues one from it.  Why is there a need for war?

As the Or Hachayim taught us, the possuk is alluding to one's war with the yetzer.  If things were perfect then there would be no need for war.  However, since man sins, the world becomes contaminated and the state of העלמה grows stronger.  The struggle is to see Hashem through the state of the העלמה.  That is why the merit of those going out to war is for saying shema.  There is no clear vision, it is a knowledge of שמע, of a perceived sound.  The war is the struggle to overcome the העלמה and see what Hashem wants.  It is only through going through the struggle that one can overcome the forces.  (In the Kabbalistic literature that is the job of gatherin the netzotzot, of gathering the kedusha that has been hidden.)

The Sfas Emes (5645) says that is the meaning of what we say this month in לדוד ה אורי, the words of בזאת אני בוטח mean בזאת, in the war itself, I have trust that it is from Hashem.  If Hashem gave us the war, if He gaveme the challenge, it means that I can overcome it.