Shabbos Shuvah 5770

We now find ourselves in the midst of what should be the ten most fearsome, awesome, and impactful days of the year. The two days of Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and the days between them comprise the עשרת ימי תשובה, the period when we are faced with a final opportunity for repentance as we are faced with the writing and eventual sealing of our judgment. The Shulchan Aruch (403:1) writes that during these days every person should search our and examine his deeds, and do teshuvah for them. The Piskei Teshuvot brings down that during these days a person must be careful to take hold of the matter of taharah, to purify the heart from machshavot aveirah and any middot ra’ot that lie therein. And as Rambam writes, the main taharat hamachshavah comes from learning Torah (so it’s a good thing you’re reading this). Shabbos is a special time of elevated holiness in this world; perhaps we can take advantage of Shabbos Shuvah to delve ourselves into the proper attitude which is proper for this time until the upcoming Yom Kippur. The first pasuk of this week’s haftorah is:  שובה ישראל עד ה' אלוקיך כי כשלת בעונך

Something we learn, which is really amazing, is that Hashem is mekayem the entire Torah (Shemot Rabbah, Yerushalmi Rosh HaShanah). Since He upholds all of the miztvot, Hashem is also mekayem the mitzvah doing teshuvah. When Hashem takes back the bad that was sent to Bnei Yisrael, or that which He said to happen, that is in effect His teshuvah. וינחם על הרעה אשר דיבר לעשות לעמו לעמו- And He reconsidered the evil which he said to do to his nation. What does it mean that Hashem “reconsidered”? That is kivyachol Hashem’s charatah, the first part of teshuvah. But when the teshuvah is only on the evil which was added onto us, we still remain chas v’shalom, in the same difficult situation as we were originally. If only the bad which Hashem added, or wanted to add onto us is removed, then we are still in the lowly, harsh reality that we were stuck in to begin with!

שובה ה' עד מתי והנחם על עבדיך. שבענו בבקר חסדך ונרננה ונשמחה בכל ימינו.- Return, Hashem, until when? Relent concerning your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with Your kindness, then we shall sing and rejoice throughout our days. What does this mean? The holy Piaseczner Rebbe explains that we pray “Shuva Hashem!” Kivyachol, Hashem should do teshuvah with us! Until when will Your teshuvah just be "והנחם"? How long will it simply be a reconsideration for those tzarot that are additionally put upon us, while leaving us in the state that we were before? We are still in a poor state without this! “Sabeinu baboker chasdecha”, Satisfy us in the morning with Your kindness, and then we shall sing and rejoice for that will be your teshuvah, kivyachol. Let us wake up the next morning, the day of geulah v’yeshua, of redemption and salvation, filled with Your chesed Ribono Shel Olam! Let us leave behind the night of our exiled state! (ע"פ דברי רש"י).

We must also do teshuva in this manner. When a person (that’s you and me) does an aveira, if he only does teshuva on that aveira that he has put upon himself, then afterwards he remains in the same state he was before the aveirah. This is not our tafkid, how can this be a Jew’s goal in life?

"שובה ישראל עד ה' אלוקיך כי כשלת בעוניך"- The main part of doing teshuva is returning to Hashem for we have stumbled in our lowly darkened ways. But we might think that all we need to do is repent for stumbling in our sins and that’s it. Hence, the Navi proclaims to us not just to return and to do teshuvah, but it should be "עד ה' אלקיך"! We must raise ourselves completely in higher level of kedushah and taharah towards Hashem.

אמר רבי עקיבא אשריכם ישראל לפני מי אתם מטהרים מי מטהר אתכם אביכם שבשמים. (יומא ח"ט)

The Arvei Nachal brings down from Teshuvot Maharam m’Rotenberg, who has a kabalah, that one who is killed al pi kiddush Hashem doesn’t not feel any afflictions. The Arvei Nachal explains the reason for this being that since such a person is filled with the overwhelming fervor for his desire to die al pi kiddush Hashem, all of his feelings are elevated into the world of thought until he is completely enwrapped in thought, and his physicality is separated from him. Therefore, all he feels is this great joyousness in what he is doing. The same is true of all man’s troubles. All of our suffering is hard, but when a person knows that it is all to “polish” off his aveirot and be metaher him so that he can become closer to Hashem, then the deeper he roots himself in this thought and attached himself to it, the lighter and easier his burdens are to bear.

We learn in the Zohar: בעובדא דלתתא אתער עובדא דלעילא, with an action from below, an action from above is awakened. Therefore, we attach ourselves so much to this thought, to attach ourselves to Hashem, until our physical feelings are basically nullified. To that extent HaKadosh Boruch Hu also affixs Himself to us with his thought until his feelings, the anger which is upon us, are overturned and we have a yeshuah.

Since Rabbi Akiva was killed al pi kiddush Hashem and all his life he walked bearing the thought of being moser nefesh for Hashem, as we learn in the Gemara in Berachot (61b), when R’ Akiva was being killed by the Romans, he said “I always bothered by the pasuk of "בכל נפשך"- to serve Hashem even if it takes your life, and I would say, ‘when will I have the opportunity to perform this mitzvah?’ Now that I have the opportunity at hand, will I not uphold it?” This is the reason why it was Rabbi Akiva who taught the Mishnah in Yoma quoted above, which now has a new, deeper meaning. Praiseworthy are you O Yisrael, even with yisurim, when you remember before Whom you are purified because then your physical feelings will become batel and you will no longer feel the yisurim which you suffer from. And that which its say ""מי מטהר אתכם אביכם שבשמים, your Father in Heaven, is because just like a father cancels out his anger for the good of his son, so too Hashem does everything for Bnei Yisrael, and then all of the judgments against us will be nullified and then it will truly be a state of "אשריכם ישראל".