Yom Kippur 5645 First Ma'amar

Yom Kippur, in addition to being a day of atonement, is also a day of purification.  Just as mitzvos have positive effects on us, sins have negative effects on us and on our surroundings.  They sully our souls and distance us from the Creator.  We can fulfill the mitzvah of repentance by admitting our transgression, regretting it and committing not to repeat the wrong.  God will forgive us our sin and we will not be punished  However, does this automatically wipe the slate clean and purify us?

 

Chazal[1] teach us that when the sinners of Israel repent, the power of the Torah purifies them.  Chazal understand this from a pasuk in Yechezkeil (36:25), “וְזָרַקְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם מַיִם טְהוֹרִים וּטְהַרְתֶּם מִכֹּל טֻמְאוֹתֵיכֶם .../I will throw upon you purifying waters and you will be purified from your impure state …”  Chazal[2] teach us, too, that water is a metaphor for Torah.  Sin causes an impure state but when we repent, Torah causes purification.  Significantly, Moshe Rabbeinu brought down the second luchos on Yom Kippur.[3]

The Sfas Emes teaches the difference between the first luchos and the second.  Preparations for the first time stressed holiness and separation from the mundane.  “... וְקִדַּשְׁתָּם הַיּוֹם וּמָחָר .../… prepare them today and tomorrow …” (Shmos 19:10)  The word that we translate as prepare comes from the root kodesh/holy.  The pasuk can thus be translated, “make them holy today and tomorrow.”

The stress of the second luchos was purification.  God was prepared to purify the nation after the idolatry of the golden calf.  While we can certainly repent, showing remorse for our actions, Chazal teach us that only God can wipe the slate clean and purify us.  Chazal learn this from a pasuk in Iyov (14:4), “מִי־יִתֵּן טָהוֹר מִטָּמֵא לֹא אֶחָד/Who can produce purity from impurity.  No one!”  Chazal[4], though, read this pasuk as, “Who can produce purity from impurity.  Is it not the One?”  Reaching this state of purification is the ultimate goal of the ba’al teshuva/penitent and God grants it through Torah.

We see from the two sets of luchos that the Torah provides one approach of serving God for the righteous – separation from the mundane, holiness – and a different approach for the ba’al teshuva – purification.  It is important to recognize this because not everything that is appropriate for one group is appropriate for the other.  It is important to understand that as ba’alei teshuva, our goal is purification through keeping and learning Torah, may we merit it!

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[1] Tanna deVei Eliyahu Rabba 18

[2] Bava Kama 17a

[3] Seder Olam Rabba 6

[4] Bamidbar R. 19:1

Elul 5640 Second Ma'amar

God set aside Yom Kippur for repentance.  Why, then, do Chazal[1] teach us that Elul is also dedicated for repentance?  Is not Yom Kippur enough?

The answer to this question is based on a law absolving servants from certain mitzvos.  The Zohar[2] teaches us that a gentile servant is not required to say kri’as sh’ma.  This is because he is already beholden to his master.  As long as he is beholden to his master, he cannot accept the yoke of another.

This concept applies to us as well.  We are required to declare God’s Kingship over us on Rosh Hashana.[3]   But until we repent we are beholden to the evil inclination.  As long as we are under the sway of the evil inclination we cannot accept God’s yoke.  Just like the gentile servant, we must be first be free in order to subordinate ourselves to God.

This is the reason that the mazal for the month of Elul is besula/virgin.[4]  Just as the virgin is unattached, so too, must we free ourselves from all attachments in order to attach to God.

This concept also explains the juxtaposition of destroying Amalek at the very end of last week’s parsha, and the mitzvah of bikurim/bringing the first fruits at the beginning of this week’s parsha.

The mitzvah of bikurim is a physical expression of accepting the yoke of Heaven.  We give the first of our produce to God and we make a specific declaration that we are doing this in order to show our subordination to Him.  Amalek represents subordination to the evil inclination.  The paragraph instructing us to destroy Amalek comes directly prior to the mitzvah of bikurim to teach us that in order to become beholden to God, we must first wipe out the Amalek that is within us.

This is the work that Chazal cut out for us during the month of Elul to enable us to accept God's Kingship on Rosh HaShana.  May we merit it!

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[1] Zohar Chadash Yisro 51a; Sefer Kitzur HaKavanos – Chodesh Elul (Ramchal)

[2] Zohar 3:108a

[3] Rosh HaShana 16a

[4] Sefer Yetzira 5:2

Naso 5631 Second Ma'amar

In this week’s parsha we find the law of a person who was accused of stealing and then lied about it under oath. If convicted, this person, must, in addition to returning that which was stolen, bring an asham sacrifice and return a fifth more than he stole. Interestingly, he is only required to bring this sacrifice and pay a fifth more after he admits to his sin as the pasuk states, “וְהִתְוַדו את חטאתם אשר עשו .../They shall confess their sin that they committed …”

The Chidushei HaRim points out that we learn the general mitzvah of confession and repentance from this pasuk. Why does the mitzvah of confession for all sins appear specifically here, associated with the laws of theft? The Torah is teaching us that every sin has an aspect of theft associated with it. God created the world and keeps it in existence continuously. He owns, as it were, everything. One who uses the world in ways which are against His will is stealing. He is using someone else’s property without permission.

Internalizing this concept is certainly a strong preventative to sinning.