Tanya Igeres haTeshuva 2a- Are you G-d's Favorite? Purpose of Fasting - Rabbi Chaim Dalfin

so good day we're learning today pic B in on page 182 the AL in the first chapter told us two very important two very important points one is that the mitah of for CH is forsaking Sin from here on making a resolution I will never do again this sin and I won't in general I won't sin against God because it's Rebellion simultaneous L makes makes it clear that although theah for is what I said earlier nevertheless I didn't use that word yesterday but complete Chu includes kapar kapar means to wipe away to rinse away the stain that was created by the sin of the past and to do that just making a resolution that I won't I won't do it anymore doesn't take away this the stain to get rid of the stain you have to put the shirt with detergent in the wash machine otherwise the stain comes back out with the same stain so what what this teaches us is the importance ofua which is the adjunct to Chua but very much to Chua so this is what we learned in chapter one one one more point he also said that Tinus fasting is not an integral part of TR confession is V is but not timus and the he asked he brought several rhetorical questions about fasting and he said that fasting is is is those verses in tanak that imply that fasting is important for Chua it's just to un know a bad decree on yourself or on your family on your community okay so another words the whole idea of of um of fasting is not a a part of chuva and and Dr is going to continue explaining that in today's chapter let's go pic baits all of the above that we discussed what Chua is and and what complete Chua is is regarding total atonement and forgiveness forgiveness for sin that a person is atoned for completely what is he atoned for the fact that number one that he desecrated the command of the king so therefore when a person does complete Chu not only biblical cha but also cha of as mentioned in in in the end of of the three different things which is all elements of kapar when a person so you see he calls it here we didn't have those words in chapter one so the is identifying the that he begins with as and when a person does that we don't remind them of of anything and not and no no word and no half a word in other words you're completely forgiven so when when a person comes to Heaven there's no mention hey on this in this day you did this in the sin because you did already such chuva that incorporated kapara and the stain is gone there's no remnant of the stain that's what he says here we don't mention question yes sure so um I've heard that an Kipper clap Al so we're clapping Al not just on the sins that we did this year but are the sins that we did previous year so we keep doing the we keep asking forap even for sins that were done many years ago we may have done t for those things so is it the case that if we do we still need to CL that no that ver that you said it it I don't it doesn't sound like it has a you heard it from a perspective or a drush perspective it may have been Dr but you know we say I'll on this and I'll on that and I'll this I I I understand but here here we're talking about so when when you when you ask you know we include years before that's a nice word the question once you do and you have kapara do you still need to do toua for them no no the answer is no but but but but but is do who who knows if they did Chu that's the problem but if technically you're right if technically we knew we did Tru really technically you wouldn't have to say it now we would say it anyway because it's the concept in since our sages is establish this could be the we are in no position to omit it I mean then that's you know the the the position of so-called Orthodox Judaism versus conservative and reformed conservative where they started to Omit they took out carbonous and different things because it's only relevant when we have a b no no you know and we say no is Everlasting so the same would be with the AL but in in concept you're right and then there would be the and then there would also be the the idea spiritually that spiritually it still exists so on the spiritual level your V could be a v but I I doubt that you heard that in terms and as says here and he's and he's by the way he's quoting I mean you know he's just using his own words actually we would have to look into the ra if the r look uses those words TR I don't remember if any of you come across it let me know does the does the ra use the words TR after mentioning uh uh you know the details of K could be it's even in the ra but I'll but at least as far as we're concerned let's continue the text here it's a very powerful language when you come to heaven and it's your time to be you know you're coming before the judge the AL Almighty Hashem and the court and the tribunal and all that they're not going to mention anything not even naota not even a hint to the Past why cuz you the TRL yes he live what is theas here it's it's an aism it's like you know we don't mention anything and we don't mention a to it in other words it's so it it's been so forgiven that sometimes you know there's a mark left over take a pencil and you write something and you erase you still have a leftover from the erasing is an expression when you want to when you want to express that it's been totally eradicated totally removed there's there isn't a trace of it left that that that's the okay okay let's continue and therefore to to get be punished when on the day of judgment it won't be the case because with the TR labor and and and the person will have and the person is exempt from judgment in a clean slate straight into because the person has done so remember I'll say it again that on one hand is saying I won't do this again right and I won't and I won't Rebel again but CH requires Kap and what we understand from this is that if you if you did Chua you did chu but you didn't do Chua you will be judged for that when it comes to Heaven you're going to have to go through a process to get that out of your soul you know because unless there's K which comes which is tra there's a stain and a mark and you and you and and our Nama was given to us pristine without stains of Mark it's a it's a it's a brand new shirt you bought from the store you open up the package and it's beautiful and and exact and and right that's the way after R return to hasem how do we do that the answer is through CH it's not enough just to do that's what we're saying here let's continue now adds a very interesting tidbit it's not just a tidb it's a very important point for one to be favorable this is new words that he didn't use until now before God and desired and beloved before hasem like you were before you sinned for for your work your your your avod your service would would be considered causing pleasure for God the T says you have to bring a carbon a carbon o the carbon sense it's all for God right even if you desecrate a positive commandment that's considered a lar one an easy one there's no excision and no execution of BZ Associated as expound it says by bringing theb you are favorable to God right you're favorable like you were before so let's now dissect this the stain the stain has been removed through truish LMA but that is in the exension in in other words you did what about now being considered um the original that you were in the sense of I really enjoy you you're favorable not yet not yet to be near look let's let's break it down someone does something to you you forgive them why do you forgive them because you see they've worked in themselves they made a change okay Hill in your work with addictions and everything else right I would think that you've seen someone who's cleaned up their act changed them as you shared over the years some stories right nevertheless nevertheless it's it's hard to say that they are as favorable as they were before if you knew them before they started with their addictions and their issues it's it's it's just not right you're going to look at the person you'll say okay he was once an anct he was once a troublemaker he now cleaned his act God forgave him man forgave him and all that but he's favorable one second one second here V that's a whole different b h teach us y that the reason we brought a carbon and a carb specifically was to accomplish in God's eyes the that not only forgives us he wants us he we're in other words we're we're his first choice not that we're his second choice in other words until the this concept of if you put two people in front of in front of us and one never did anything wrong and one did but did Chua there's no question we're going to you up here we're going to look more favorably on the one who didn't who didn't do anything ever wrong so that's what the tus says by bringing the carbon which and L is going to tell us that fasting is in Li of the carbon that accomplishes which is an amazing thought which is such a big push for the idea of fasting which again you know we'll talk about it soon that the AL later on doesn't believe we should do excessive fasting but the concept of fasting is to accomplish I'll use this word favoritism in God's eyes but positive fa favoritism not nepotism M favoritism which is negative holy favoritism H what do you want to say I was just thinking that I was thinking about in my in my work one person I encountered I true thought of the person who had done chuba he had done a heinous heinous crime drug and fuse and uh um uh and he went to jail went to prison at a very young age uh but in prison he really worked on himself and he was and he and he came out and he ended up working in a local store in my neighborhood so I see him often outside of the work that we did together and I think that part of uh part of it was that even though he had done a remarkable kind of chuba and um it uh he couldn't you you were he could never really forget that he was capable of doing such a thing and I could never forget you know you could you could not not remember that he was capable of doing oh so that that that last point that you couldn't forget it that that that's something I was learning this and preparing it I'm thinking about it like you know how can we reach a place where we we not just it's not just about forgetting H it's about really believing really believing that this person is so clean and so pure and so trua oriented that that it's impossible for him to become such a to become the way he was just like some us us yeah yeah okay I I I know I know I know I know I understand but the so the AL is adding here could say to the r that we have to accomplish and we learn from the carb that the whole purpose of the was Li to cause pleasure to what does it mean pleasure that our when we brought a car was when we brought a sacrifice AB carbon was we should we should Attain God's favor in a way that that is that is is is new Kash that was the purpose let's I want continue now because you'll see something important here um and he says what does it say the there the carbon atones it for desecration of a positive commandment and it's considered a present after you do CH you bring a present and and and the punishment is Forgiven and is similar to a person he he sinned against the king Clon come along deputies and speak positiv positively about this individual to the king but wait he he asked forgiveness from the King and he demonstrated he that he did chuva why do you need to have paractin deputies to speak on his behalf that he's really a good guy that he really did trua the answer is cuz that's to accomplish that's is bringing that's to accomplish this added phase which is you should you you you're you're as favorable as anyone else and therefore the and and the King forgives him wholeheartedly became no I I learned it wrong sorry I learned it wrong that although the person is asking for foress from the king and the king um and and and he and f means he knew he mefas you know meas means he I'm looking for the English word it's not coming to me he he he he speaks appeases he appeases thank you thank you thank you that's the word and he appeases he has deputies who appease him to the king he's being appeased To The King by the deputies and the King forgives him nevertheless he sends a gift means also a gift for the king so that he should become favorable to see the the fa face of the king you know what the implication is that without the and the and and and and the gift the king says I don't want to see you still you're not you know it's like not I don't want to see that you're a sinner I forgive you but what's still missing is the is a very very so in other words on one hand listen to this on one hand has nothing to do with chuva I've done Chua I've done schas at chuva but nevertheless nevertheless you want to be considered favorable oh for that you have to go One Step Beyond in this case of the musall bring the gift to the King show shower the king with such love and closeness that the king now sees that you are the word in Gish is g means you are sincere very sincere and that you you you you established your connection now with the king in a way it the the way it was even before you sinned under Chu and as you know Hill said you know he only met one person like that but even then there was always a Remnant it's a very hard thing but the the T says H that this can be done and that's the purpose of the okay so by the way this isn't see this this is a aish with a Rashi with a gamor where the gor says that this is the accomplishment of the carbon so if you extrapolate that that means the t is saying that when we commit a sin and we do CH for the sin and then we we kind of bring the the gift to Hashem afterwards we become favorable to God that's a that's an amazing accomplishment and guess what who allows that accomplishment Hashem does you know Hashem puts into the world for a ye the ability MERS the ability to reach a state of not just chuva and not just Chu not just one and not just two but even favor favoritism being favorable in God's eyes let's continue and the term for forgiven the words in the is he's favored favorable God's eyes and he's atone for it doesn't refer to the other type of that we spoke about in here we use the word the used the word to to to mean we we're bringing we're causing pleasure to our Master is another words sincere should you will your will be your fa your favoritism in other words Theus the the the sincerity is expressed in the willingness in the favor now look what he says now that wasn't a time but now that we don't have a to to bring out means to bring this willingness of God towards us to be real that we should be favorable in his eyes this is where fasting comes Inus is in place of carbon what does the say that when you fast there's a reduction of one's blood and and and fat meaning Vis you know fasting sh which has been minimized because of fasting it should be this activity of fasting should be as though I have brought before you a carbon that's what kazal say about fasting fasting is the same idea the Mish meaning the the objective in fasting is not to be weak it's not to be dismissive it's not to be dormant it's to be favorable but in the times of the when we had a carbon we brought the carb now that we don't so we do it through fasting that's why we find amongst many sages even for something lenient we find in they they they fasted many f look at this which was a he permitted top of p b he permitted a an an ax um a cow to to go out on shabas with a strap that you you know move the the the the the cow it's forbidden and once his his neighbor's cow went out like that with that strap on shabas and a he didn't make a protest he didn't say cuz he held it forbidden he held is considered carrying and you're allowing that to happen and he didn't make a so he fasted for not protesting and his teeth became darkened because of the so much fasting for not fulfilling the words of in other words even though he held you're allowed to but since said you're not so he should have made a protest this is what I understand from the G and he didn't what do we see so we see that here it says clearly that he he fasted so many fast till his teeth became darkened from not eating even though this is considered a lenient type of a Mitzvah that was desecrated second examplea who was a Ley he bring bringing a proof from aing I'm embarrassed of your words whatever the is talking about there and his teeth became darkened again because he fasted so much third example one time just once just one shabas and will be all be together just one time his that he wears in the morning supposed to be on the the right one side is is is is is colored black and and dark and you're supposed to it turned over to the raw side of the the the strap of the and he fasted 40 fasts so all of the and he was a is so what does this show that shows that these sages even when they did kind of a an insignificant sin a lightweight sin this isn't you know hurting someone it isn't not breaking shabas and I mean the you knower right just just the supposed to be on the black side turned the it turned over he wanted Chua so he did a lot of fasts 40 fasts says the and so we find many other examples of of sages who did this now says okay we'll stop here and tomorrow we'll finish the P so the but the point that is making here is all about the power of Tinus fasting so in other words although he said he he's arguing in thatness is is not is not for sure andus isn't andus isn't V so you would think that the whole idea of fasting is like superus says Al you should know there's a great importance given to Tinus to fasting and the importance is that it's in Li of carbon of the carbonis and just as the T says that the its purpose was that we should become favorable in God's eyes not just that we were atoned and forgiven and you know and but you as Hill said before there's always a Remnant that you know oh he was the addict he was the ghif he was The Sinner you know what I'm saying that attitude which is common it's very common even if you're not an addict you're not a if and but whatever we whatever we do it's like you know we once did it you know that we once did it and you look you the the the average person and the most looks you know has that in the back of their mind so here's the purpose of Tinus and carbin we should become revert back to the true self where God says I created you cuz I want you you're favorable you're my nice guy I want you on Earth I need you I want you that's that's what we should revert to and how do we come back to that position through the Tinus through the carbon and there's no caronus through the Tinus we'll learn tomorrow great day everybody byebye