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Yom Kippur A Jew once came to the saintly Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin and cried, "Rebbe! I am a very great sinner and I want to repent. ""So why don't you repent?" the Rabbi asked him. "I don't know how," he replied. "Where did you learn how to sin?" the Rabbi asked. "First I sinned, and only afterward did I learn that it was a sin," he explained. "In that case, you already know how to proceed," the Rabbi said. "All you have to do is repent. Afterwards you'll see that you did it properly!" We are like clay in the Creator's hand (from the Yom Kippur prayers) Bricks of clay can build an opulent mansion or a wretched hovel; so too it is with us. The only question is the type of edifice we wish to build-a palace to bear testimony to G-d's glory, or a destitute and poverty-stricken shack. (Rabbi Zusha of Anipoli) The haftorah for Shabbos Shuvah emphasizes the seasonal message of teshuvah, the underlying motif of the Yomim Noraim season. The haftorah is selected from three different seforim of Trei Asar, the Twelve Prophets. Although it is not customary to read from more than one Navi, Chazal view the Trei Asar as a single book. The focus of the haftorah is the navi's call to teshuvah. Regardless of Klal Yisrael's iniquity, they remain essentially decent and pure. They have only to reach out to Hashem, Who will accept their repentance with forgiveness. "Return O' Yisrael to Hashem your G-d." In the Talmud Yuma 86a, Chazal state that teshuvah is so far-reaching that it can boost the individual to the heights of the Heavenly Throne itself. They cite the above pasuk from which they infer that "to Hashem your G-d" means that one can reach up to Hashem via the medium of teshuvah. Horav Chaim Shmulevitz, zl, notes that even a tzaddik gamur, complete and righteous individual, cannot necessarily attain such spiritual distinction. He attributes the success of the baal teshuvah to the fact that Hashem Himself assists him from above. Indeed, is that not what teshuvah is all about - asking Hashem to help you return? Thus, such an individual possesses the capacity to attain greater spiritual heights than he who must work himself up, without Divine assistance. "Ask your father and he will relate it to you, and your elders and they will tell you." (32:7) The people are reproved for their unwillingness to take counsel, to listen to the voice of experience. Those who have lived through ordeals, who have experienced the ups and downs of life, who have seen the reward and punishment incurred by the behavior of previous generations, have advice for us. We must seek out their guidance and listen to their opinion. The voice of experience is not hypothetical. It has lived through various situations and has learned how to handle them. Horav Aharon Walkin, zl, supplements this idea. The determining factor by which one can discern who is a chacham, wise man, or a rasha, wicked person, is the individual's ability and desire to question. The chacham seeks knowledge, delves into the profundities of Torah, leaves no stone unturned in his quest for perfection. The rasha, on the other hand, believes he has all of the answers. Attempting to "justify" all of his nefarious deeds, he offers an excuse for every one of his iniquitous actions. If he were to ask, he just "might" discover that the Torah frowns upon the action that he is contemplating. The rasha is no fool. He is aware that when he questions the permissibility of a given endeavor, he might receive a negative response. Thus, he refrains from asking. This disparity between the chacham and rasha is manifest in the difference in attitudes between these two of the "four sons" mentioned in the Haggadah. The chacham questions, while the rasha just makes himself heard. He has no concern for the advice of others. The pasuk advises us to "ask your father and he will tell you." When you have the sense to ask your father, he will tell you to approach "your elders and they will tell you." Your own father will encourage you to go to his father, your grandfather, for advice. Your own father will not render his own decision as long as he is aware of a voice of greater experience than his. One who has a great mind is inclined to take counsel from the individual who has more life experience than he. "When he sees that every power progresses, and none is saved or assisted." (32:37) The power of Klal Yisrael's enemies will have grown to the point that they are apparently unassailable. It seems as if there is no hope. In the Talmud Sanhedrin 96a, Chazal derive from this pasuk that Moshiach will not arrive until the Jewish people have given up hope for salvation. Specifically when the future looks the bleakest, Hashem will "step in." This is enigmatic! Is it necessary to forsake one of the thirteen principles of our faith, the belief in the advent of Moshiach, in order for him to arrive? Horav Yaakov Kamenetzky, zl, addresses this question and offers an insightful response. He interprets Chazal's statement as assuring us that Hashem will grant us the redemption only when we give up hope for receiving any form of help from the outside world. Our greatest mistake has always been our trust in man in place of Hashem. We repeat this error constantly, whether our great source of hope is in the guise of the United Nations, friendly foreign countries, or on a personal level, such as the physician who is nothing more than Hashem's agent. True, we must be mishtadel, help ourselves to perform the endeavor, but we must remember that the only source of true deliverance is Hashem. |
