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Elul: "What Are You So Sad About?"
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Slabodka's Optimistic Tradition From R' Yisroel Salanter of the Easy Path To Teshuva Subscribe and hit the bell to see new videos!!! • Visit the Rav's site: https://www.rabbidg.com • Have a Question? Contact the Rav: https://www.rabbidg.com/contact • Order Rabbi Glatstein's Books: https://www.rabbidg.com/rabbi-glatstein-books Date This Shiur Was Given: 8/30/2017 #Torahstudy #Judaism #Jewish #Torah #Spiritual #Rabbi #Elul
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Auto-generated transcript. Not time-synced to the video.
This Torah class is brought to you by
torahanytime.com.
Okay, welcome everyone.
It's already Elul
and we have to get going, you know.
We have to start preparing for the
of the Torah. So, I'm here today to tell
you very good news, very encouraging
news.
Um, a different outlook on chuva,
different than the
the way the whole world thinks and we're
going to get right into it.
What I'm quoting you tonight is from a
new safer, a very interesting safer. The
name of the safer is called Sichos in
Rav Hoffman.
Conversations with Rav Hoffman.
Now, who is Rav Hoffman? He was
born in
uh
1922 in Czechoslovakia in Salish.
And his father was a Hassid of Yitzchak.
Yitzchak was a Spinka Rebbe.
And unfortunately, his father had very
bad asthma and they had to leave
Czechoslovakia and they decided they're
going to make the arduous trip to Eretz
Yisrael where the climate and the air
would be easier for the the tata to
breathe.
And they send their son Rav to
Yeshiva Ketana and ultimately, they send
him to Litvish Yeshiva, to one of the
great Yeshivas in Eretz Yisrael.
They send him to Chevron.
And he grows up in Chevron. Now, the
Rosh Yeshiva in Chevron at the time
was Rav Yechezkel Sarna.
The Mashgiach was Rav Meir Chodosh. Rav
Meir Chodosh is one of the closest
talmidim of the Alter of Slabodka.
Um eventually, during World War II, Rav
Isaac Sher, Rav Isaac Sher was the
son-in-law of the Alter of Slabodka
was stuck in in Switzerland. He couldn't
go back to Lithuania because the war
broke out. And he also comes to Eretz
Yisrael. So, now you imagine if you're a
young talmid in Eretz Yisrael, we're
talking in the 19 the late '20s, you
have luminaries Rav Yechezkel Sarna. Rav
Yechezkel Sarna
wrote the Dilyo Siach on the great
baalei mussar. He's the Rosh Yeshiva.
And you have Rav Meir Chodosh, one of
the great old-time baalei mussar. And
you have Rav Isaac Sher. Rav Isaac Sher
was the Rebbe
primary Rebbe of Victor Miller.
In fact, Rav Miller writes that one of
Rav Isaac Sher's sefarim
is the most important safer for a person
to learn.
The name of the safer is Avraham Avinu.
It's It's
It's not available. Safer Avraham Avinu.
Slabodka always had a very unique way of
looking at Chazal.
The Yeshiva that I learned, Yeshiva
Chofetz Chaim,
they pride themselves to be patterned
after the Yeshiva of Slabodka.
Um
the Rosh Yeshiva, the founding Rosh
Yeshiva of Chofetz Chaim, Rav Dovid
Leibowitz,
is considered by the Yeshiva as the
closest talmid of the Alter of Slabodka.
And the way the Yeshiva operates is they
try to follow the ideology of Slabodka.
What is the ideology of Slabodka? Well,
in general, the generalities of it are
they de-emphasize
externalities. They de-emphasize
chitzoniyus. If you look at the pictures
of You should know, almost all the
harbatzas Torah in this country is
because of Slabodka.
Rav Yaakov Kamenetzky was a talmid of
the Alter of Slabodka. Rav Elchonon
Wasserman
Rav Berlin, Rav Hutner was a talmid of
the Alter of Slabodka. Rav Aaron Kotler
was a talmid of the Aaron
the Alter of Slabodka. Our Yeshiva,
Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, Rav Dovid
Leibowitz was a talmid of the Alter of
Slabodka. Rav Ruderman in Eretz Yisrael.
The major Yeshivas in the United States
of America are the children, so to
speak, of Slabodka. Slabodka specialized
in analyzing and dissecting the words of
Chazal.
They de-emphasized chitzoniyus. They
de-emphasized externalities. They
de-emphasized chumros.
And they emphasized
to the infinite level
the iyun in the depths of the Shaar
HaBitachon of Shas and in mussar
the sifrei mussar and primarily Kochos
HaNefesh, understanding the profundities
of the human psyche. That was one of the
specialties of Slabodka. Well, this Rav
Hoffman
was a talmid of Rav Yechezkel Sarna,
a talmid of Rav Meir Chodosh, and the
most influential
influence on his personality was Rav
Isaac Isaac Sher. Rav Miller used to say
that Rav Isaac Sher was a prince.
He was He was a royalty.
You would not see a speck of dirt on his
cloak. You would not He would never
repeat himself. Every word was measured.
He paused between every word. He was a
melech.
And that was his outer demeanor. His
mind He was, you know, the expression of
the Kiyai Hadash B'Yerushalayim. He was
someone who had a unique perspective of
the words of Chazal. And tonight today's
year
we're going to learn the mesorah from
Slabodka.
And this mesorah goes back to the Alter
of Slabodka who had a mesorah from Rav
Yisrael Salanter himself, the founder of
the mussar movement. If anybody wants
Maran Hakamoise
they are available. So, the story goes
like this. This
Rav Hoffman, by the way, he was
invited by Rav Yechezkel Sarna to become
the Mashgiach in Chevron Yeshiva, which
he turned down.
Very interesting personality, this Rav
Hoffman. He served as a
psychologist
in for the Misrad HaSaad in Israel,
which is the welfare the uh of welfare.
And he was like the agent of the Gedolei
Yisrael, Rav Isaac Sher, Rav
Yechezkel Sarna, Rav Meir Chodosh, Rav
says
is get on the right path.
And if you get on the right path, Yom
Kippur is mechaper for shavim.
And if you're on the right path, you're
a shav.
And why are you being machmir like the
Rambam? We don't pasken like the Rambam.
We pasken like Rabbeinu Yonah. Rabbeinu
Yonah says you don't have to do the
chuva of the Rambam.
Now, I have to admit to you, this was
news to me.
I certainly learned the Rambam
and Rabbeinu Yonah in Shaarei Teshuva
at least I did it do-
dozen times, a few dozen times.
I will admit to you, I never came across
any machlokes between Rabbeinu Yonah and
the Rambam in chuva. And yet, Rav
Yechezkel Sarna is telling this bachur,
"Why are you being machmir like the
Rambam? We don't pasken like the Rambam.
We pasken like Rabbeinu Yonah. Rabbeinu
Yonah says you don't have to do the
Rambam's chuva."
So, the question is, what in the world
is this talking about? What kind of
conversation is this?
So, let's try to learn the words of the
Rambam. Let's learn the shita of
Rabbeinu Yonah.
And we're going to learn Slabodka had a
certain way to read Rabbeinu Yonah.
The Rambam is well known. The Rambam in
Hilchos Teshuva in perek beis, halacha
beis, the Rambam says like this, "U'ma
hi teshuva?" Look at number two.
"U'sheyazov ha'chotei cheto." Stop
sinning. "V'yasirenu mi'machshavto."
Remove it from your thoughts. "V'yigmor
b'libo." And and
accept in your heart "Shelo yaaseh o
od." That you'll never do it again.
"She'ne'emar, yaazov rasha darko." The
rasha will leave his path. He is over my
voice of
the Yoid all of your day at all of ice.
And the one who knows secrets will
testify about you. Who's the one who
knows secrets? Reb Nachman of Breslov.
Reb Nachman of Breslov will testify
testify about you. Shall I go to the
market alone? You'll never return to
this sin ever again. That is the
Rambam's very high bar that he sets for
chuva. That you're not considered about
chuva unless you commit so firmly and
you reach such a high madrega that
you'll never ever do the aveira again.
So
who could say
with certainty and definitively that
they've ever done chuva?
I mean let me show you. Let's say a
person says
"You know what?
I really don't spend my time wisely. I
have 2 hours every night and you know, I
do this, I turn this on, I watch this, I
listen to that. I'm never going to waste
time again."
So Reb Nachman of Breslov is looking
down at Shamayim. Hashem me Shamayim
Yitzchak. Hashem is right here.
I mean you got to be kidding me. You're
never going to do it again?
Do you have a tomorrow to have Let's try
tomorrow. Have Have a fast forward to
tomorrow. I mean either the Rambam's
shita is man a guy says um "I'm never
I'm going to be shomer my eyes for the
rest of my life. I'm never going to
slip."
Reb Nachman of Breslov says "Really?
Never?"
So but the Rambam's shita is that until
Hashem could testify you'll never do it
again. You're not about
So the Rambam sets the bar very high.
But I always thought everybody agrees to
that. I was not aware that anybody
argues on the Rambam.
And I've learned this from Reb Yonah
many many many times.
And even till today, even now, I'm not
clear of how we glean it from Reb Yonah.
Let me share with you the words of Reb
Yonah.
Reb Yonah it's well known by the by the
way
that there are four main ingredients of
chuva according to the Rambam. What are
they?
They are azivasa chet stopping the sin
kabbalah al ha'asid accepting upon
yourself never to do it again which the
two are very similar.
vidui confession and charata regret.
According to the Rambam it's like the
dalet minim. One without the other three
you're not yoitzei the mitzvah of chuva.
There are rishonim that say each one of
these things have value. Charata without
aziva, aziva without charata. The shita
of the Rambam is you need four
ingredients.
It's also well known that Reb Yonah
holds there 20 ingredients in chuva.
Reb Yonah says there are 20 ingredients
of chuva.
So right off the bat it seems like Reb
Yonah is much more machmir than the
Rambam.
But Reb Yonah explains
he explains like this. Yeah? Reb
says he imagine a guy he's uh
taking cholent at a kiddush. Yeah?
He's taking cholent and so he takes the
cholent and he gets the cholent all over
his shirt.
So basically he needs to he has a piece
of kishka embedded on the shirt. It's
like attached to his shirt.
So basically there are two steps here.
To get the beans and the cholent and the
kishka off the shirt
you just got to take it off.
Those are the ikarei ha'chuva.
You do azivasa chet
you do vidui you do charata then the the
the dirt is off.
But now you have a stain.
Reb Yonah writes the more ingredients
that your chuva contains the whiter your
garment gets. You know you know how it
is sometimes you'll wear a weekday shirt
it might have a little residue, you know
but nobody's looking too carefully
especially if it's under the jacket so
you'll go with it. It's not white like
when you bought it. Maybe a Shabbos
shirt, you know, you're going to want it
to be really white or for a wedding
you're not going to wear a a shirt that
you've been wearing for years. You put
on a a newer shirt. Says Reb Yonah the
more ingredients your chuva has the
whiter the neshama gets.
But now Reb Yonah discusses a very
interesting phenomenon. azivasa chet
You have to stop sinning.
There's also an ingredient charata
regret.
So the million dollar question is what
comes first?
Let's talk about davening. Let's say a
guy
wears shatnez.
Let's say a guy talks by davening.
So the So what should he do first?
Should he first stop and then regret?
Or should he first regret what he did
and then stop?
So you say I don't know what's an af
kamina. No, Reb Yonah says there is a
specific order and it's makeiv.
Says Reb Yonah it depends what kind of
sinner you are.
If you're basically a good guy
you have people who are a good guy and
they try not to talk and basically on a
regular Shabbos they're quiet the whole
davening.
But you know what happens when that
upruf comes
and the chazan is gargling
and the rabbi gives a drasha and the
rabbi said something really ridiculous
and you know it's wrong, you know, cuz
you checked up
and you just can't contain yourself and
yeah by chazaras hashatz I know I know I
know that result I know the Shulchan
Aruch says the worst aveira in the
katzera kula and but I can't contain
myself.
And one time let's say you look back in
Tof Shin Nun one time I spoke by
chazaras hashatz.
So this guy basically he doesn't talk by
davening. One time he did an aveira. His
taiva got a hold of him or you know
he tries to guard his eyes but there was
something so tempting and he was
nichshal. One time.
So what do you do first? Do you stop or
do you regret?
Says Reb Yonah you can't stop. You mean
stop? You're not doing it. You only did
it one time. You you would tell yourself
I would never do it again. You're you
can you're convincing yourself and it
could be you wouldn't do it again.
It was a one time aveira. Either there
was a taiva or there was an issayon or
there was a kaas. Let's say you try to
speak nicely to people. But one guy
really got under your skin and you said
something to him that wasn't nice.
So a person says Reb Yonah who does an
aveira upon a certain occasion
you can't do azivasa chet. You know why?
Cuz you're not doing it actively. Ela
mai when the aveira comes your way again
so then you'll do it again. So we mean
azivasa chet. Says Reb Yonah what you
need to do is first you have to be
mischarit.
Have charata. Regret. Regret. Regret.
Regret. Let the regret build up. Let it
magnify. Let it snowball until the point
where you reach the level that you
wouldn't do it again.
So the person who does an aveira upon
occasion first he has to do charata then
he could do azivasa chet because there's
no other way to do it. You can't stop
cuz it's not like you're doing it. Ela
mai when that situation arises again
well what are you going to do to ensure
that you don't do it again? First
charata and then azivasa chet. However
says Reb Yonah then you have a guy
we call this guy says Reb Yonah this is
an ois yud alef of the Shaarei Teshuvah.
This is the iker hashaini of chuva. Says
Reb Yonah ha'ish hamisyatzev al derech
le taiva tamid. A guy who's just on the
wrong path.
What's a guy on the wrong path?
Uh
he doesn't daven with a minyan and even
when he does he comes in the middle and
he doesn't daven with kavana and he
talks by davening and he's on the phone
during davening and he doesn't learn
every day and he speaks loshon hara and
he doesn't guard his eyes and
he doesn't speak to people properly and
he doesn't watch the words that comes
out of his mouth and he doesn't watch
what he listens to. He's just not doing
things properly. He doesn't have it
down. He doesn't have his act together
spiritually.
So what do we going to tell this guy?
Says Reb Yonah
to have charata? You mean have charata?
First of all
he's not how how can he be mischarit?
He's so immersed in his ways he can't
regret.
But then Reb Yonah says furthermore
listen carefully.
You know
in the in the olden days if you touched
a dead rat
yeah? You're tamei.
What do you have to do?
To go to the mikvah.
So imagine a guy who he touches the rat
and he goes to the mikvah. The only
thing is he has the rat. He's holding on
to the rat.
So
so he goes into the mikvah with the rat.
Not only that when he goes into the
mikvah with his easy pass he puts in $5
for him and $5 for the rat too. And he's
going into the He's doing kaparos in the
mikvah with the rat. He's holding on to
the rat. So he comes out of the mikvah
and what happened? What do we call this?
tovel v'sheretz b'yado. He's tovel
holding on to the sheretz.
So he never was mitayer himself. Says
Reb Yonah it's the same thing with an
aveira.
You the regret is the purity of the
mikvah.
The azivasa chet is letting go of the
sheretz.
If you're going to regret what you did
but you're still doing the aveira then
the regret is meaningless. The first
step is you need to stop sinning. So we
tell this guy let go of all of your
aveiros. Stop all the sins. Stop all
your infractions. Stop all the
shortcomings. And only then you could do
charata because you cannot charata is
ineffective before azivasa chet. These
are the two categories of Reb Yonah. The
famous distinction of Reb Yonah. What
comes first? azivasa chet or charata?
Right? That's the question. The Rambam
doesn't talk about it. The Rambam
doesn't say what to do first. You know,
it's mashma in the Rambam
that
first you do azivasa chet and then you
do charata. But the Rambam doesn't say
it's makeiv in that way. Reb Yonah says
no. Really the correct way to do it is
charata and then aziva. Cuz the pasuk
says umodeh
someone who says vidui. Now you vidui
means an expression of regret. v'oizev
then and who leaves his avera, Yerucham,
will be forgiven. So, the pasuk is
mashma moider oisev Yerucham. First
comes charata and then aziva. But says
Rabbeinu Yonah, that's only a regular
person who only sins upon occasion. If
you only sin upon occasion, then in
order to do aziva, build up the regret,
build up the regret, that will ensure
you'll be able to forsake your sin.
However, somebody who's so immersed in
sin and constantly doing the the averas,
constantly doing the averas, then to him
we say, "Stop sinning and only then have
charata." Because if you first have
charata, you're what is called toivel
v'sheretz b'yadei.
Moreover, Raboisai, I'm going to tell
you a chiddush that is oy oy oy oy oy oy
oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy
oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy oy
that if you look in Rabbeinu Yonah,
Rabbeinu Yonah says, and look at number
three in the top left-hand column. This
is not a diuk that I would ever make or
even now that I know it, see how he made
the diuk, but this is the masora of the
baalei mussar.
They say ach ha'ish hamis natzeiv al
derech lo le toiva tamim, a man who's
always on the wrong path, a guy who's
just on the bad road.
So, his mahalacha is, "Stop sinning and
then have charata."
Says Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter, "You
know what a person needs to do if
they're misnatzeiv al derech lo le toiva
tamim?
You know what a person needs to do if
they're on the bad road? Get off the
road and get onto the good road and
that's all you need to do."
And if you do that,
you're doing teshuvah.
Now, I maybe not I wouldn't read it like
that because Rabbeinu Yonah says, "If
you're on the bad road, you need to do
azivas acheit and you need to do
charata."
No, that's not how Rabbeinu Yisrael
Salanter read it.
The way Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter read
it is there two types of azivas acheit.
One type of azivas acheit is for a guy
who's basically a good guy. He's He
occasionally sins when the yetzer grabs
a hold of him. He does charata and then
he gets rid of the sin forever.
But a guy who's just on the bad road,
the first step is a different kind of
azivas acheit. You know what kind of
azivas acheit?
The kind where you get onto the right
road. I'm going to give you a mashal.
This is grand slam mashal. Okay, you
ready for this?
Everyone here heard of Bnei Brak?
Okay? So, there's a guy in Bnei Brak.
Excuse me.
He's headed to Bnei Brak. He's standing
in Yerushalayim. He's at the gates of
Jerusalem and he's He needs to get to
Bnei Brak. What's in Bnei Brak?
He needs a bracha from Rav Chaim. They
say he's going to the kever of the
Chazon Ish.
Bnei Brak, it's a great place.
Bnei Banav Shel Hamon, he's going to
meet Hamon's grandchildren.
And he asks, "No, uh eifo Bnei Brak?"
They say,
"Holech yeilech."
"Shishim dakot." 60 minutes to Bnei
Brak. He says, "Great." So, the guy goes
60 minutes, no shachris, no Bnei Brak is
nowhere there. He goes another 30
minutes, no Bnei Brak, no signs in
there. He goes 120 minutes and he's
standing at a sign that says Yam
Hamelach.
So, he goes
So, he goes to the guy, "No, eifo Bnei
Brak?" He says, "Shoteh sheba'olam."
You're a blithering fool.
So, what do you mean? They told me to go
60 minutes, I went 60 minutes twice, I
don't see Bnei Brak. He said,
"You need to follow directions. You
can't just go minutes. You need to go
know which direction you walk in. You
made a right, you needed to make a
left."
Says Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter,
question.
At what point is he closer to Bnei Brak?
When he's standing in Yerushalayim this
way,
he's only 60 minutes from Bnei Brak.
Or when he's two hours at Yam Hamelach.
At what point is he closer to Bnei Brak?
So, at first glance you'd say, "When
he's standing in Yerushalayim, he's only
60 minutes from there."
No. When he's standing there, he's at
least five hours away from Bnei Brak.
Two hours to Yam Hamelach, two hours
back to Yerushalayim, and an hour to
Bnei Brak. So, he's at least five hours.
If anything, he could end up in Saudi
Arabia. He could end up in Saddam
Hussein's palace before he makes a turns
around.
It's when he realizes when he's in Yam
Hamelach that he needs to turn around
and go back to Bnei Brak. That's when
he's closest to Bnei Brak.
So, at what point of time do we say this
guy turned it around?
When he stopped walking this way
and he turned his body headed to Bnei
Brak.
You know, you have a guy, he's going to
California, right?
So, he decides to take a rocket ship and
he's sailing up in the you know, the
seven heavens. He's at He's at the moon.
So, we tell the guy, "Hey, pal, you
know, you might you know, California is
not in outer space. You might want to
So, at what point is he closest to
California? Not when he took off.
When he realized he needs to get back
into orbiting, get back down to planet
Earth.
Says Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter,
the ikar turning point in teshuvah
is not how close or how far you are from
Hashem.
It's what direction you're going. You
could have a big tzaddik with a long
beard and a big lamdan and a big baal
mussar that if a guy like that says,
"You know what? I already have a minyan
made. I daven with a minyan three times
a day and I talk I learn five hours a
day. So, you know, I have Olam Haba down
pat. Yetzer har is in my back pocket. Or
even if you're not I'm a baal habayis. I
learn every morning, every night. I'm
the one who comes to the shiur, nobody
else comes to the shiur. So, I could
take it easy tafshin ayin zayin. As long
as I just keep on doing my sedarim, I'm
head and shoulders above everybody
else."
No, hey, pal.
You're on the down. You've now turned
around. You're letting You're letting
letting loose a little bit. You're not
You're not strengthening yourselves.
You're basically instead of heading
upward toward Hashem, you feel you could
uh slacken off a little bit. Now you're
headed You're headed to Yam Hamelach. I
know you're you're standing basically in
Bnei Brak, but you're headed the other
direction. It doesn't matter where you
are. It matters where you're headed,
says Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter. Rabbeinu
Yonah says that the job of someone who
is on misnatzeiv al derech lo le toiva,
all you need to do is be misnatzeiv al
derech toiv. Just get on the right path,
which means it's not important whether
you do teshuvah. You don't have to do
teshuvah in Sabotka.
Sabotka says, "Don't do teshuvah."
Be doing teshuvah.
Meaning, you don't have to actually do
it, but be doing it. And I'm going to
explain what that means.
Listen to the diuk of Rabbeinu Yisrael
Salanter. Now, we have very little
written from Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter
in the Olam HaYeshivas today.
K'mat,
very few yeshivas learn the writings of
Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter Rabbeinu
Yisrael Salanter.
Um in our yeshiva, Chofetz Chaim, they
harv on the Or Yisrael, the writings.
Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter's writings are
extremely
mysterious, are very hard to decipher.
Every word is loaded. It's not a popular
limud. The letters of Rabbeinu Yisrael
were published by Rav Yisrael Peterburg
in something called the Or Yisrael. And
in siman lamed, in ma'amar lamed,
Rabbeinu Yisrael really enunciates what
we're saying over here. Look at number
five, it's the Gemara in Niddah. Listen
carefully.
Kasuv echad omer, one pasuk says, "Ki lo
achpotz b'moit rasha."
"I don't want the person to die," says
Rebbi Yonasan. "I don't want the rasha
to die."
V'kasuv echad omer, and another pasuk
says, "Ki chafetz Hashem b'moit rasha."
"I want him to die."
It's a stira. Does Hashem want the rasha
to die or does Hashem not want the rasha
to to die? Says the Gemara, "Kan b'oisen
teshuvah, kan b'she'ein oisen teshuvah."
If the person's doing teshuvah, Rebbi
Yonasan says, "I don't want him to die."
If the person is not doing teshuvah,
then Rebbi Yonasan says, "Yes, I do want
them."
I do want to take them out.
Comes Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter and
Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter makes a diuk
like only Rabbeinu Yisrael Salanter
could make.
The Gemara doesn't say "Kan b'osa
teshuvah, kan b'lo osa teshuvah."
Doesn't say that if someone did
teshuvah, Hashem wants them to live. And
if a person did not do teshuvah, Hashem
wants them to die. No. If someone is
doing teshuvah, Hashem wants them to
live. If someone is not doing teshuvah,
Hashem does not want them to live.
So, now the question is, we all know
what did teshuvah or didn't do teshuvah
is. The Rambam says, "Did teshuvah is
you reach a level where you commit that
you'll never do the avera again."
But what does the Gemara mean? Here he's
doing teshuvah, here he's not. What does
it mean to be doing teshuvah?
Says Rebbi Chaskel Sarna,
tour of Hoffman,
that the definition of doing teshuvah is
just turning around.
And instead of heading toward Yam
Hamelach,
turn around and head toward
Yerushalayim. But what do you mean? I'm
three hours from Yerushalayim. It
doesn't matter how long it's going to
take to get there.
It doesn't matter.
Meaning like this. Let's say you have a
guy, he comes home 7:00 at night. Fine.
So,
he
he learns with his kids and he plays
with his kids for an hour. And then he
eats supper for So, now an hour and a
half, is 9:30. And then he rests till
10:00, but he's not going to sleep till
11:00. So, he says, "Well, the day is
over. You know what? Hashem doesn't care
what I do now."
So, this guy is in the say,
he's on a bad path. He doesn't feel he's
accountable for his time.
But a guy who's
a guy who is on the right path says,
"You know what?
Yes, I I'm very busy and have family and
I have rest and this and that, but I
have a free hour, I'm accountable for my
time. You know what? I care that I'm
accountable. So, I'm going to try to do
something. I'm not on the level to learn
the full hour. I'm going to start by
learning for 2 MINUTES." THE GUY IS IN
TISHUVAH. He's doing Tishuvah. I he's a
for 99% of his time. Yeah, but the guy
who doesn't care
he's not doing Tishuvah. I'll tell you a
bigger You have a guy who has 3 hours a
night. He says, "You know what?
I'm going to learn for an hour and I
don't care about the other 2 hours cuz
nobody else in the neighborhood learns
even A MINUTE."
THIS GUY is
in Tishuvah. He doesn't care.
He's a
as they say in Israel. He doesn't care.
He feels he's not accountable. Someone
who feels he's not accountable to Hashem
is
Tishuvah. Someone who feels I'm
accountable
Yes, I know. I don't speak to people
perfectly, but I really need to improve
and I'm going to start minimally by
taking one guy and being careful the way
I speak to them. I the guy is not nice
to 99 but he cares. He turned around
from heading to
He's now headed to
I it's going to take him 120 years till
he gets to his desired goal. Says
that's the danger of our generation.
People think they need to become a in
one day in one day and in one hour and
in one minute. No.
Says
told him, "Do you think between
and Yom Kippur you're going to become a
What do you think you're going to open
up the
and learn a thousand and
and 20,000
and it's not possible.
The purpose of
Tishuvah is make sure you're facing the
right direction. I don't care how close
you are. I don't care what a big you
are. It doesn't matter what a big
you are. It's not important. What's
important is where you're headed. You're
headed up or you're headed down. You
know, in uh
I hope I'm saying it correctly.
If you say it in mathematical terms
Judaism is a vector and not a scalar.
A vector means is a
We care about direction and we don't
care about location. We care where
you're headed. We don't care
where you are.
You could have somebody on the highest
if they slacken off and they say it's
time to take it easy and we don't have
to push forward. No, someone who feels
accountable, accountable to correct
their
to work on your
to advance Tishuvah. Someone who is
They're in Tishuvah. Someone who is
I don't care.
They're in Tishuvah. Now, listen
carefully.
defines
further
that the definition of Tishuvah So,
we're defining it now as
getting in the right direction, turning
around.
You see
it doesn't matter even if it's going to
take you 100 years to get from
to
it's okay.
At least you are in Tishuvah. The guy
who's standing in
but his mind is thinking, "How am I
going to get to
is in Tishuvah.
The way Israel um describes it in his
very poetic language
is the definition of Tishuvah
is if you're a
magish.
means what the wants from a person is
that his heart is alive and feeling,
meaning if you in your heart are
sensitive and feel
your shortcomings and your deficiencies
and your lackings
you've turned it around.
And now you're facing that direction cuz
the first step to change is recognizing
your deficiencies. If you're so jaded
and life has become so habitual that you
say, "I'm a great guy." and you don't
you're not magish. You're not magish
You're not magish how much you have to
work on your and your
then you're
in Tishuvah. That's the definition of
Salanter.
And then we can add and this is what
adds
The increases on
says
Yom Kippur is
for those who do and not
for those who do not do
The doesn't say Yom Kippur is
in those who do Tishuvah
and Yom Kippur is not
in those who do not do Tishuvah. Yom
Kippur is
if you're on the right road and the
right direction and Yom Kippur is not
if you're not on the right road and not
on the right direction.
Now, let me qualify everything I said
until now.
This is the conversation that took place
between
Sarna
and
that
said, "We don't pass it like the Rambam.
The Rambam says in order to do Tishuvah
you need
all of you need
that you
that you never return to
We pass it like
just get on the right road.
If we could just clarify that a little
bit.
If you read the writings of
number nine in the
wrote
six volumes of it.
He doesn't actually write the way it's
recorded in this conversation that we
pass it like
and we don't pass it like the Rambam.
I don't really think that there's a
between
and the Rambam.
Everybody agrees
that to actually fulfill the of Tishuvah
to erase your
Tishuvah
of course you have to reach a where
you're not going to sin again.
But
is just saying what
is saying is that there's another
category and that if you meet this
category
Hashem will be
on you and give you
and give you uh certain degree of
if you're
in
Tishuvah. The Rambam is talking about
actually doing Tishuvah.
But since there is a concept of
Tishuvah, not
not having done Tishuvah, but doing
Tishuvah, right? We're basically saying
Let me
rephrase it in
the way
phrases it.
And that is there's something called a
Tishuvah. A Tishuvah is someone who
actually has
accomplished what the Rambam says the
process of Tishuvah is.
And that's a very high level.
But there's another category that we
could all do and all need to do and that
will access the
not the
Tishuvah, but
Tishuvah which the talks about. Tishuvah
is just turn around and make sure you're
headed toward
and Abraham.
Let me bring you a few sites
in
to this you say that everything is
vector and not scalar. It's all
direction and not location.
The end of I say
is going on his way. He just was in
Laban's house for many years. The says
in look number 10
says
meets the angels.
said
when he saw them This
is the encampment of God.
Who are the coming out to greet you?
They're
Israel
who are now greeting
Listen carefully. is by Laban. In
Laban's house he's accompanied by the
Now he's leaving
So, the
are not needed anymore. Now he's going
to have the Israel. The same thing when
he went to
when he went to
the Israel stayed behind and the
came to get him.
What the Rambam a bomba.
What in the world's going on here?
is being greeted
by
Israel.
Israel?
Do you know where
is?
He's nowhere near
a place that's anywhere near getting
anywhere close to Israel. He's three
countries away from Israel.
He's still on
the way to it. Because in next week's he
will cross
He crosses
book. is the border of I mean. He still
needs to go
I mean my I mean
I mean
He's not getting to Israel until he gets
to I mean
So,
what in the world is talking about
that the
Israel came to greet
him? He's nowhere near He's He's
somewhere in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait.
Remember that's a country?
He's nowhere near Israel. What do you
mean the
Israel are coming out to greet him?
What? You would think that
Israel only come out to greet you when
you're in Israel.
You know, you got the geography wrong.
That's
on Rashi.
Says
No, Rashi got it clear.
Because you know what the definition of
being in Eretz Yisrael is?
Once he turned his back on Lavan Lavan
and headed toward Eretz Yisrael, he's
already in Eretz Yisrael. We don't care
where you are, we care where you're
going.
And Yaakov Avinu was going to Eretz
Yisrael, so it doesn't matter he has to
traverse through Ammon Moav and Edom.
He's headed to Eretz Yisrael, so he's in
Eretz Yisrael. So you could have two
guys. You have a guy sitting on his bed
in Yerushalayim. He's listening to the
radio it's a
you know, Tish
Pepsi Maxima mashasha sim be America.
And he's dreaming of, you know, coming
to the big city to the big apple.
He's in a he's in New York, he's not in
Israel. He's in New York.
And you have one guy, he's living in the
Five Towns but he's dreaming libi
b'mizrach. What am I doing here in the
galus? I wish I was in Yerushalayim.
He's in Eretz Kodesh Yerushalayim.
But Rabbi, can I ask you a question? I
mean, he was 14 years in
in the Shiva Shiva before he went to
Lavan Arami. Uh-huh. So he was already
Ah, so the good So Gur Aryeh says good
question.
So Gur Aryeh says like this.
He The way he phrases it similar to what
you're asking is, well then the Malachei
Eretz Yisrael should have come
even earlier.
Right? As soon as he stepped out of
Lavan's door.
So the Maharal says, but as long as
Lavan could run after him and grab him
back
and Lavan has shlita over him, he's
still in Lavan's house. The moment he's
free and able to to act upon his
ambitions, he's in Eretz Yisrael. Then
That's why that's why Hashem That's why
Hashem came to him. You see, when Lavan
was chasing him, the Malachim didn't
come yet. It's only when Hashem came to
Lavan and said, "Don't mess with
Yaakov." At that moment the Malachei
Eretz Yisrael came out to greet Yaakov
Avinu.
I'll give you a interesting interesting
halacha.
You have lishachas in the Beit
Hamikdash. You have chambers that are in
the Kodesh.
But they don't have any din of kedusha.
If the doorway of the lishka in the
Kodesh is opened into the chail,
it has a din of chail. But it But it's
surrounded, it's in the Kodesh. No.
Doesn't matter it's in the Kodesh. It's
headed When you're in there, you can
only go into the chail,
it has a din of chail. Vice versa, the
lishachas the chambers in the chail, if
they open into the Kodesh, have a din of
Kodesh.
This is a I saw in the sefer Ayal
Meshulash Moshe Scheinerman.
P 24.
He brings this idea that we don't in
halacha, we don't care where you are,
who you are, we care where you're
headed.
He gives another nice mashal.
The night of Yom Kippur, right?
The night of Yom Kippur, you're sitting
there in shul, Shema Yisrael Hashem
Elokeinu Hashem Echad. Why? Cuz we're
not afraid of Malachim, we're like
Malachei Hashareis. Like Malachei
Hashareis. This guy is so full to
capacity. The guy ate like nine meals in
a seudas hamasekes. He drank 50
Gatorades. He's bursting like a beheima
gasa. He's going to scream out Baruch
Shem Kvod Malchuso L'Olam Vaed.
He's
And then No, yeah, he's going to say it
out. And then Motzei Yom Kippur by
Maariv, the guy is like a Malach
Hashareis. He hasn't thought about food
in 29 hours. He's Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh.
He then now he's whispering Baruch Shem.
What's the shana? Then he thinks you
should scream Baruch Shem at the end of
Yom Kippur? The night of Yom Kippur, the
guy is in No.
No.
The night of Yom Kippur, it doesn't
matter that you're full to capacity.
You're headed into a Yom Kippur. You're
headed into a day of kedusha. You're
already like a Malach Hashareis.
How about say Yom Kippur, you're already
headed into Bein Hazmanim, you're
already headed into, you know,
you can't say Baruch Shem out loud
anymore.
So this is all the
the Torah of Slabodka, the Torah of
Slabodka.
So we'll end off with one maaseh from
Slabodka with Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel.
There are two bachurim in Slabodka. One
bachur was a metzuyan and a lamdan and a
talmid chacham and the Alter wouldn't
look at him. The Alter wasn't glorious
with this guy. And there was another
guy, a pashuta bachur, a simple bachur
and the Alter gave him shlishi and he
was mechabed him.
And this the you know, the metzuyan
said, "I don't understand." He He was
very upset. It got to him.
And he goes over to the Alter. He said,
"I don't understand. Look, everybody
knows I'm the superstar in this yeshiva.
I'm the lamdan. I'm the ba
The Alter said, "That's exactly the
problem."
He said, "Let me give you a mashal.
It's late afternoon. It's 4:00 in the
afternoon and in halacha it's called
tzilulei erev, the shades of evening.
What do you mean the shades of evening?
It's blazing hot outside. The sun is
shining right on you.
It's 90°. What do you mean the shade of
evening? And in the morning,
alois hashachar, you know how light it
is at alois hashachar? It's pitch black.
What do you mean the morning? It's not
the morning. Says the Alter, we don't
care about light and darkness, we care
where it's headed. The morning, you're
right, it's pitch black and you can't
even see your friend from dalet amos,
but the light is coming and has a din of
morning. But late afternoon, it doesn't
matter that it's blazing hot outside and
the sun is beating on your head, but
it's going to set, so in halacha it's
called tzilulei erev.
Same thing with you, says the Alter
Slabodka. We know you're a lamdan. We
know you're a talmid chacham. The
problem is, so do you. You also know it.
You're what's called in Yiddish in a
fartuga. You think you've made it.
You've made it, you know.
You think you've done it. You're already
a chashuve bachur. And you could rest on
your laurels and therefore you're only
headed down and therefore I view you as
on the bottom of the hill. But this
pashuta bachur who doesn't have the
kishronos and he doesn't have the tools
and he doesn't have the same abilities,
but he is striving for higher and in my
eyesight, in my vision, he's already on
top. So that's the function of the Yamim
Noraim and the Yamim Hanoraim habaim
aleinu l'tova. Avodah, if we're able to
to take an aveira and really regret it
and stop it and confess and be mekabel
never ever to do it again, so of course
if we could reach the level of the
Rambam, matir agunah, that's the highest
level of teshuvah. But the main avodah
has to be
within every aspect of avodas Hashem.
Within limud haTorah. Are we on the
right path? Are we on the wrong path?
Are we trying to do more this year? Are
we trying to go to Yerushalayim this
year? Meaning,
do we have ambition to increase our
learning? That should be more focused,
more be'avah, more to try to remember
and to try to inculcate within
ourselves. In every inyan, in tefillah.
You say, "Yeah, I already davened with a
minyan." But do we have hasagos of
making it better on a higher madreiga?
Are we metzuyav al derech tov? Are we
facing the right direction? To look at
every aspect of life. In other
machshavah, are we facing the right
direction? And the first step to face
the right direction is if your heart is
sensitive to our deficiencies. So we
should take a bizoyon choleh and Hashem
should give us siyata d'Shmaya
to feel and to be margish
our shortcomings and our weakness
and then we could be in the great
category of oisin teshuvah and the
Ribono shel Olam says, "Ki lo achloitz
b'mo esra asha. No, I want you for
another year." So we hope Ribono shel
Olam
gives us the siyata d'Shmaya to be
together oisin teshuvah and we should
all have a year of happiness and life
and health. Thank you everyone for
coming. Shkoyach.
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