Elul: "What Are You So Sad About?"

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. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.