Nitzavim 5785 - Tshuva Due to Suffering

In parishesim we have the parish of chuva and uh it says that there will be all the kiso and then will bring all this sus on us and then will gather gather us in and so on. We briefly the the the entire um the the the the entire chuva of Kalaku and so on the run over here [Music] poses a question. It says that because we will suffer this akadeshu is going to be um we we will do chuva return. One expects that this return to kadeshu this gula soface this chuva that brings back the gula will be something that is a a worthy type of chuva. We have been taught that doing something out of fear um is not as good as doing something willingly. So the pics seems to be saying we're going to be hit so hard we'll have no choice and we'll throw up our hands and say okay Hashem if you want it this way that's the way it's going to be. doesn't sound as if this is the appropriate chuva that should bring about the the so that's the question that the run sort of poses. So the says it says and the explains as follows. There are two types of chuva that come from doing something um from from suffering. The first one is I really don't want to do it. I'd rather not keep Torah mitzvah, but you know, I've come to realize their consequences. I um weigh one against the other. It's not worth the consequences. And therefore I am going to um do chuva and do mitzvah. I'll do mitzvah. That type of chuva is certainly inferior to um it's certainly second class. It it the Dan says it's it does help protect a person at the end of the day who is fear but but that does not bring about a real um change in Claus's fortunes and makes sense that not there's a a second type of cha and I would like to preface it with a famous gamura. Um it's a gammora that uh he doesn't reference but it it it definitely is something which fits squarely with it. It says that for various um if if a person has to give a get and he doesn't want to and Bezon has decided that it's appropriate, they can force him to um to give the get and they hit him. they they get it's physical pressure until he agrees to it. The Gmorra says that um so Gmorra asks well the only divorce that the only the only divorce that's that that is hly valid is if it's been done something if it's willingly it a a coerced divorce does not help um doesn't is not valid. So, how in the world could it work? It's Gammor's question. Gamar answers since it's the right thing to do, we say that the coercion eventually um gets him we say that the agreement even though it started with coercion is um is done willingly. The same thing with bringing certain carbonos where a person has obligated to bring those carbonos. He he hasn't we force him and he agrees to it over there. You also need to have it done willingly. The same answer. So the point is we look at certain um we we look at a person at a person's wants, desires and so on as being layered. So let's give an example. Imagine a person really would like to go someplace, really really wants to go there, but it's hot outside. It's a long trick and he's lazy. So if we force him to go there, so for the person that never wanted to go there and he's only doing it to do an errand for us that we forced him, he will be upset afterwards as well and really will be angry, but he has no choice. The person that really wanted to go there because he wants to go there. it just that there was this block because it's hard work. It's a steep climb. It's hot. It's cold. Once he's forced to go there, he's going to want to do it because that's really who he is. So, we take we look at Clalasel and we say Clalius's inner self is good. inner self is a desire to do what's right and but there are layers of discomfort um laziness and other things that surround a person. the the language used to describe um the bad that that sort of is get it's keeps a person away from doing good in the kabalis form it's referred to as kipa which means a shell the imagery of a shell is that it it's it might be a tough exterior like a walnut it might be a very prickly exterior like a a a cactus And and there are many other exteriors that that make it difficult to get there. But once you crack it open, the inside is extremely luscious, extremely edible. Claio's nishama is the same way. The nishama itself always wants to do what's good and what's right. The the um the the there is there are layers around the person. some people thinner, some people thicker, some people tougher. When we're able to crack open those layers and we get to the inside, that's when um so we've gotten there. So here also is saying after we have gone astray, he will need to push very hard against us to um to get us to do what's right. But the gula, the chuva that comes from that is not is not because I am giving in and making the a decision to do the the lesser of the two difficulties. It's because once once I've been physically forced to do X, I really relish it. I know that I should keep mitzvah. I know I should be doing it. And once I'm doing it, I'm really really into it. And that's what he says. The says so when you will begin to to search for it to seek it out with your whole heart. So the the the the the grabbing onto it is done wholeheartedly. This is the Ron's point over here is an extraordinary point of how to how do we greet difficulties and challenges? One is a grumbling. We're upset. Why does Hashem keep sending challenges and difficulties? A second um a second approach is it's a sort of atonement. It's a kapara of sorts. And yes, it is true that there are things like that. But I think it really misses out on the main point. The main point is that we need sometimes to counterbalance the physical and pleasure or discomfort that is the mitzvah. So I'm not doing what I'm supposed to do because I'm lazy, tired, whatever. I am doing what I shouldn't be doing because I crave, I have desires and so on. But um when there is a physical force to counteract it, when pushes me and I'm able to um take that out of the equation, so to speak, then what I'm left is a sincere desire to do what's right. So it's important to understand especially the par always comes around the time for chuva and the the right week or two before shashana and so on. It's important to understand that the process of chuva is um it's not enough to regret what we've done bad and so on. Um it's to open up the desire to do good. All the difficulties and all that has sent us that uh that that is that is painful is there to get rid of the the that outer shell. Um the if we can give an example of you know somebody is um somebody has some sort of mechanism where the food that he's that he shouldn't eat someone has put in drops that make it bitter. So the bitter drops are there so that you don't eat it because it's bitter but the real reason is because you shouldn't be eating it. So the the the the point of Yesurium and difficulty is not that we stop doing it because of difficulty. It's that when we stop doing it because of difficulty, we awaken ourselves the sense of wanting to do what's right and wanting to be his Bible.