Internalize the Message of the Yamim Noraim

As I was saying slichot this morning, a question bogged me. During the slichah "אדון בשפטך" I realized that we were basically asking Hashem not to judge us harshly becasue we are nothing and full of sin. אדון בשפטך אנוש רמה תזכר ברגז חנות רחם- "Master of the World, when you judge man who is but a worm, in Your mercy remember to be have mercy upon us!..."

זדון בחבו הלא און בקרבו. עוון מלא ופשע רב. חשבון ודין למלך מלכי המלכים! סופו לתן בבוא חליפתו

Is not man full of aveirot!?They are not hidden! How can we go before HaKadosh B"H, the Melech Malchei HaMelachim and give him our cheshbon nefesh for all of the terrible things we have done agaisnt him?! And yet, everyone must give their cheshbon before Hashem once his end comes. Our own evils will testify against us; even the walls of our houses will testify against us! This slichah should fill us with such a pachad for our judgement, its words are so powerful. Yet, is it possible that we just skim through these words? Even if we do read and understand these words, how many of us will take them and internalize them? As we go through the Yom HaDin, do we have these things in mind. And just as important, as we go on through the rest of the year will we have these things in mind? Will these words just pass by in our minds for a few minutes or will they leave an imprinted message that we should evaluate the way we act to see if we can improve our shmirat Torah u'mitzvot? Will our Yirat Shamayim be affected in any way?

It says in Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh about emunah that there are 3 broad levels: Chachma, Bina, and Da'at. Chachma and Bina are basically in one category of emunah that we beleive and accept the Hashem exists and created/s the world. But the level of Da'at, understanding, is when we take this belief, this knowledge, and incorporate it into the way we think and act. This has to be our goal during these times; to take the emunah that Hashem is really the Master of the World and that He presides over every creation and is judging us now. We need to ingrain this into our minds so that the teshuvah and intense davening we do now should not be temporary! It should stay with us throughout the year.

Parshat Ki Tavo

Here is a parsha shiur from my Rebbe. It's not word for word, but you get the same message.

וְכָתַבְתָּ עַל הָאֲבָנִים אֶת כָּל דִּבְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת בַּאֵר הֵיטֵב: -כי תבא כז:ח

“And you shall write on these stones all the words of the Torah, well clarified.” Rashi explains (ד"ה באר היטב) that "באר היטב" means that the Torah should be written into the 70 languages of the world. As the Siftei Chachamim elaborate, this is in order that everyone should be able to understand the Torah. This is an extraordinary יסוד. Torah is for everyone! It is not just for the Rabbanim to learn, it is for all of Bnei Yisrael to take for themselves! Nothing is closed to us is we seek it. There is no mitzvah that is above us, only for “the rabbis.” If something is an explicitly stated halacha then it applies to all of us, not just our Rebbeim. For example, it is the halacha that may only do נפילת אפיים on his arm if it is covered. If one is wearing a short sleeved shirt then how can he can go to davening if he knows full well that what he ends up doing will conflict with this halacha? One cannot say to himself, “this halacha is not for a regular guy like me, it’s just for that other guy who wears a jacket and hat to worry about.”

Rav Chanoch Teller remarked how the Gemara is a universal vessel for learning. All Jews have learned from it and contributed to it, spanning across many countries and times: The Geonim, the Rif, Rashi, the Baalei HaTosfot, the Ran, the Rosh, the Maharsha, and many more. But why is there blank space around the sides of our Gemaras? That space is for us, for our חידושים and פירושים. It is for us Jews who live today and have just as much a part in Torah as they did.

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: -נצבים ל:יב-יד

The Torah and the mitzvot are not beyond our reach. Hashem Himself assures us of that in these פסוקים. Rashi says (ד"ה כי קרוב אליך) that the תורה שבכתב and the תורה שבכל פה we given to us. What is the commentary coming to tell us? The Siftei Chachamim explain as follows: Even though we can have the תורה שבכתב right in front of us, it can be very difficult to and understand. Therefore, the Torah was given in these two forms so that through learning the תורה שבע"פ, understanding the Torah will be very near to us-"מתוך תורה שבע"פ הבנת התורה קרובה מאד". If we would only learn it and strive for it, it is not above us in the Heavens!

Today, this שבע"פ תורה emanates from our Rebbeim who we learn so much Torah from and the guys who sit and learn in the בית מדרש. If we would only try to attach ourselves to them a bit more their Torah would flow into us! Ibn Ezra writes (ד"ה בפיך ובלבבך) that עיקר part of all the mitzvot is that a person put his heart into them. Some mitzvot we say with our mouths in order to strengthen the heart. Others we do with an action to remind ourselves to remember them with our mouths. This teaches us that when we do mitzvot, it inspires us to be better בני תורה and שומרי מצוות. How can we motivate ourselves to learn? By learning! Just open up the Gemara and toil away at it and this will lead you the rest of the way. The beginning is for a person to take the first step himself. Today, there is so much at our fingertips; almost any sefer we want is attainable, english sfarim, yeshivas where we can learn and much more. We can attain the heights of Torah and mitzvot if we would we reach for it. It is not for other types of Jews nor is it out ever out of our reach.