During Elul, Maran the mashgiach of Yeshivas Ponevezh,
HaRav Yechezkel Levenstein zt'l, would advise the
students to designate certain topics to concentrate on
primarily during the coming year. He would urge them to adopt
the contemporary gedolim's guidance not only in
matters affecting Klal Yisroel but in questions of how
to conduct one's private life, too. The gedolei Torah
have always instructed yeshiva talmidim to be mindful
to daven consistently in the yeshiva's beis
midrash, to fix times for studying mussar and
halocho, to follow the yeshiva's study schedule
carefully, to beware of the various sorts of gezel,
including gezel sheinah, and to behave strictly
according to the takonos of behavior established by
the roshei yeshivos for their talmidim. Each
ben Torah should cling to his rav and seek individual
guidance from him. In this way he will fulfill "and you shall
cling to Him" (Devorim 10:20), as the Rambam
(Hilchos Dei'os 6:3) writes, and will come nearer to
Hashem and His Torah.
@Big Let Body=If you see a talmid chochom committing
an aveiro at night, do not think ill of him in the
morning, for he surely did teshuvah" (Brochos
19a). Let us understand this better. Why should we be so
confident that this talmid chochom who has sinned has
done teshuvah? Is it so easy to do teshuvah?
To make the above Chazal more intelligible let us paraphrase
its wording as follows: If you saw a talmid chochom
committing an aveiro this year, do not think ill of
him during the next year, since Elul and the Yomim
Noraim have passed and he has surely done
teshuvah.
The Teshuvah of a Talmid Chochom
"An am ho'oretz cannot be a chossid"
(Ovos 2:5). Rabbenu Yonah explains this as meaning
that "an am ho'oretz is someone who gets along well
with others, possesses virtuous attributes and some correct
opinions, knows how to beware of aveiros, and can be a
tzaddik by doing and fulfilling what he is told that
he is commanded to do. However, only a godol beTorah
can reach the level of chassidus, since this is a
virtue requiring purity of heart and refinement of
nefesh, and the am ho'oretz does not have the
wisdom to turn himself from the middle course of behavior to
its uttermost extreme and do more than the halocho
requires."
A talmid chochom, with his power of Torah, being a
person who boasts an awakened nefesh, pureness of
heart, and elegance of nefesh, can do real
teshuvah. Doing teshuvah is not like performing
mitzvos, in which it is enough to do what one is told that he
is commanded to do.
In the Novardok Yeshiva there was a popular concept called
"the am ho'oretz of Rabbenu Yonah," taken from the
beginning of Sha'arei Teshuvah (1:3). Rabbenu Yonah
writes that "belated teshuvah can be found only in an
am ho'oretz, who is sound asleep and does not take
matters to heart. Such people possess no intelligence or
power of discernment to rescue their souls promptly." The
definition of a talmid chochom is therefore the
opposite: his nefesh is alert and sensitive.
The Reason Not to Delay Doing Teshuvah
The Sha'arei Teshuvah (1:2) describes the feelings of
a talmid chochom who has sinned: "He knows that anger
has been aroused against him . . . [but] he can extricate
himself from the ruins so that he will not have to be
terrified of [Hashem's] anger and wrath." This "terror of
anger and wrath" stems from what Moshe Rabbenu said
(Devorim 9:19) when he ascended his second time to
Mount Sinai after the cheit ho'eigel: "For I was
terrified of the anger and wrath with which Hashem was
incensed against you to destroy you." The Ramban (ibid.)
explains that although this followed "Hashem relented of
the evil which He thought to do to His people" (Shemos
32:14), Moshe was still worried about the previous anger and
wrath that had resulted from the cheit. Even though
the gezeira was retracted, the danger was still great
as long as that anger and wrath remained. When Moshe Rabbenu
ascended Mount Sinai for the third time, after all of the
anger and wrath had lapsed, the period of goodwill began.
"Hashem hearkened to me at that time too, and Hashem would
not destroy you" (Devorim 10:10). The Ramban
(ibid.) explains that after the anger and wrath had
lapsed and Hashem no longer wanted to destroy bnei
Yisroel, the period of goodwill "added the presence of
His great Name with the nation."
We start off Ma'ariv by saying "He, the Merciful One,
is forgiving of iniquity and does not destroy," alluding to
the stage of Hashem forgiving us for our aveiros. We
continue: "Often He withdraws His anger, not arousing His
entire rage," suggesting the stage of cancelling Hashem's
anger and wrath. We end by asking, "Hashem, save! May the
King answer us on the day we call," implying the last stage,
when Hashem's great name is with us -- the full goodwill of
Hashem.
A chotei should continually fear Hashem's anger and
wrath. Postponement of Divine punishment abates man's fear of
Hashem, as Shlomoh Hamelech writes (Koheles 8:11),
"Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed
speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set
within them to do evil." Anger and wrath from Hashem,
however, occurs quickly, immediately after the aveiro
is committed. The gemora (Rosh Hashanah 16a)
writes that a king is judged before the rest of Klal
Yisroel, "so that [his judgment] will come before the
wrath intensifies." We see that even before the gzar
din there is Divine wrath. This has nothing to do with
the fact that the final sentence for one's sins (even for
tzaddikim gemurim!) comes on Yom Kippur, as the Vilna
Gaon writes (Orach Chaim 582, s.v. venohagin).
This point, the fear of Hashem's anger and wrath and a
chotei's ability to escape it, is what awakens a
talmid chochom to do teshuvah immediately.
Is Doing Teshuvah Easy or Difficult?
"Why did you not save your soul at once?" (Sha'arei
Teshuvah 1:2). Is it really so easy to do
teshuvah?
"But this thing is very near to you, in your mouth, and in
your heart, that you may do it" (Devorim 30:14). The
Ramban (v. 11) explains that this posuk is referring
to the teshuvah done in later generations -- meaning,
among others, our generation. Nonetheless, we cannot ignore
the fact that teshuvah done easily has less worth.
True teshuvah demands much effort and tremendous
kochos hanefesh. It is surely not easily done. The
first step, however, is that "He taught them and warned them
to return to Him when they sin against Him" (Sha'arei
Teshuvah 1:1). This is, as the Mabit writes, that
teshuvah is coming nearer to Hashem after the
cheit has taken a person far from Him.
Maran the mashgiach, HaRav Yechezkel Levenstein
zt'l, compared doing teshuvah to a person who
was travelling to Yerushalayim, but in the middle of the way
he found out that he was going in the wrong direction. The
first step he should take is to change the direction he is
facing, a step that is of course not difficult to do. This
step, however, is only of value if afterwards he also changes
the direction his vehicle is driving in. "Turn us to You,
Hashem, and we shall turn" (Eichah 5:21) -- we must
change our direction of approach to Hashem and His Torah. A
person can do this immediately and continue doing so his
whole life. Of course, right afterwards we must change our
habitual behavior, so that our initial change of direction
will be of worth.
If teshuvah demands enormous sacrifices and a fierce
internal battle, extreme effort and persistent attempt to
advance in ruchniyus, a lifelong endeavor, how can the
Torah say, "But this thing is very near to you"?
Teshuvah is surely a demanding task. The Chovos
Halevovos (Sha'ar HaTeshuvah, ch. 2) writes:
"There are three types of teshuvah one can do. One
[baal teshuvah] is someone who has repented because he
did not have a [further] opportunity to do an aveiro.
When, however, he once again has the means to sin and his
yetzer overcomes his understanding, he will not
refrain from sinning. After he finishes committing [the
aveiro] he realizes the shamefulness of what he has
done and regrets it. Such a person is someone who repents
with his mouth and not with his heart, with his tongue and
not his actions. Such a person merits the Creator's
punishment.
"The second type is the person who repents with his heart and
in his acts. He uses his intelligence against his
yetzer, trains himself to coerce himself [to do good],
and fights his desires until he is victorious over them. In
that way he abstains from doing what the Creator detests. His
yetzer is always inclined toward the opposite of
serving the Creator and longs to do aveiros. He
attempts to restrain [his yetzer], and sometimes he
will win over it, but sometimes the [yetzer] will win
over him. This person's teshuvah is imperfect. He will
not have a kaporoh until he moves completely away from
doing aveiros."
We must understand that doing teshuvah does not
require more than what the Torah already requires from us.
The Torah wants a person to progress gradually according to
his ability. True, as far as concerns following the Torah's
mitzvos there are no different levels of practical
observance: everyone is obligated to fulfill the entire
Torah, rectify his unsatisfactory middos, improve the
way he speaks, and develop his chovos halevovos. This,
however, should be done step by step. The Vilna Gaon says in
his famous iggeres: "Proper speech and middos
need much training, and through this training one can gain
control over them."
Teshuvah only requires a person to go in the virtuous
way of the Torah as the Torah Sages have explained. Everyone
has the ability to advance gradually in spirituality. Rabbenu
Yonah (Sha'arei Teshuvah 3:17) writes: "The lofty
levels were given to us in the mitzvos aseih . . . and
for each one of them there are several levels . . . What hope
does a creature [of Hashem] have if he does not labor over
his nefesh, and if his main concern is not about the
things he was created for?"
Teshuvah requires a person to climb through the
Torah's levels. A person's main objective in life is to
proceed, to move -- not to remain in one place.
What is the chiddush in doing teshuvah? What is
the immediate change a person must feel to be considered a
baal teshuvah?
In Or Yisroel (Kochvei Or 6) HaRav Yitzchok
Blazer zt'l, the rav of St. Petersburg, writes that
there is actually no chiddush about the way
teshuvah obligates a person to fulfill the Torah's
mitzvos. What teshuvah does innovate is
charotoh, vidui, and kabolo le'osid.
Merely discontinuing sinning is, however, no chiddush
at all.
R' Yitzchok explains that this is what the Torah means when
it says "But this thing is very near to you." Proper
observance of the Torah is difficult, but it is not the
chidush of teshuvah. It is something a Jew must
do anyway -- "Someone who has already eaten garlic and a bad
odor emits from him should surely not continue eating it"
(Brochos 51a) -- and charotoh and kabolo
le'osid are not so difficult. The Torah therefore says
that doing teshuvah is "very near to you, in your
mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it."
What R' Yitzchok has written is perplexing. There is surely a
chidush in doing teshuvah, besides afterwards
dutifully fulfilling the Torah. The real way of repenting is
to investigate the reasons for sinning: is it our
environment, habits, or circumstances that have motivated us
to sin? We must attempt to rectify the very roots of sin so
that we will not sin again. Furthermore, after a person sees
that he does not have enough yiras Shomayim to
withstand temptations he must constantly intensify and
refresh his power of yirah. This should be done by
studying Torah and seforim dealing with yirah,
or by utilizing tefillah as a means of strengthening
yiras Shomayim. The baal teshuvah must expand
the ways he clings to mussar and avoda so that
yirah will dominate his nature.
Rabbenu Yonah (1:26) writes: "The baal teshuvah is
obligated to acquire the attribute of humility. He must
remove from his soul the middos that caused him to
sin." Moreover he writes (30) that since ta'avah
provokes one to sin he must forego physical pleasures and
follow the ways of abstinence.
Perishus (abstinence) -- disengaging oneself from
permitted pleasures so as to better use his intelligence and
concentrate more on avoda (Mesillas Yeshorim,
ch. 10) -- belongs to the lofty level of chassidus.
Not every Jew is obligated to follow this path, since not
everyone can tolerate it (Mesillas Yeshorim, ch. 13),
but a baal teshuvah is required to conform to this
level.
Likewise, improving one's middos and refining his
yiras Shomayim is surely necessary for a baal
teshuvah, although he has not yet realized the need to
work on this level of ruchniyus. He must study
mussar seforim daily and work on understanding and
improving his character traits. Although it is not included
among the mitzvos of the Torah, someone who has sinned and
wants to repent is required to occupy himself with this
avoda. Teshuvah requires a person who has
sinned to insure his future success in fulfilling the Torah.
We see that new obligations have undoubtedly been added to a
person in his avodas hateshuvah, more than what he is
regularly obligated to do.
Rabbenu Yonah tells (1:2) of the jailer complaining, "The
escape tunnel is dug for you; why did you not try to save
yourself right away?" It is well known what R' Yisroel
Salanter zt'l said, that it is easier to learn all of
the Shas than to completely eradicate one bad character
attribute. If so, how can going against our nature be
considered an "escape tunnel that is dug for you"?
The way of teshuvah is as Rabbenu Yonah writes (2:10):
"In one moment this person will emerge from darkness to great
brightness. When he carefully listens and realizes what he
must do, and repents and accepts upon himself to act as the
guardians of the Torah guide him, he will have succeeded in
doing teshuvah and have become another person. The
moment he completely agrees to do this he has acquired a
zechus for his nefesh and a reward for all the
mitzvos and virtuous acts that he will do. How fortunate is
he that in a brief moment he has made his soul righteous . .
. Afterwards he should diligently frequent the doors of those
who rebuke him, daily. He should learn from all his teachers
and he will be rewarded for doing so. This is as is written,
that Yisroel in Sinai said `We will do and we will hear'
(Shemos 24:7). They accepted upon themselves to do the
Torah before they had even heard what they must do."
Rabbenu the mashgiach commented that the baal
teshuvah can add the seforim hakedoshim to the
count of those who rebuke him.
We see that the "escape tunnel" is indeed "dug for us." It is
easy for us to return to Him, take ourselves far from sin,
and come nearer to Hashem. We must seriously accept upon
ourselves what our spiritual mentors guide us to do in
fulfilling the Torah. A chotei's turning point starts
at that moment when he begins to carry out their
instructions.
HaRav Yitzchok Yeruchom Bordiansky is the menahel
ruchani of Yeshivas Kol Torah in Yerushalayim.
