On the evening of Yom Kippur we
enjoy special nearness to Hashem. We are like sons to our Father in
Heaven and beg Him to forgive us, as a father forgives his sons.
"Please forgive this nation's sin according to the greatness of Your
mercy, and according to how You have forgiven this people from Egypt
until even now." We afterwards make the berochoh of
shehecheyonu with great joy and unquestionably sincere
thankfulness to the Creator for our having merited reaching this
yom kodosh. Jews overflow with simchah at being numbered
among the King's loyal legion, a King "Who pardons and forgives our
sins and the sins of His people beis Yisroel, Who removes their
iniquities year by year."
The Ralbag (I Melachim 8:2) explains that Tishrei is called
yerech he'eisonim (the month of the mighty) because during
Tishrei fall the mightiest yomim tovim, days that guide a
person in how to perfect himself. It is a month of rising to sublime
levels of ruchniyus and kedushah. Tishrei teaches us the
uniqueness of am Hashem, who received Torah from Heaven. Writes
HaRav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch zt'l, "Only in Judaism does one
find such a process, that lends an atmosphere of kedushah to an
entire month. It is a month whose influence extends to and embraces
the whole nation. Everyone, even those who have gone astray, feel this
kedushah. It resuscitates the ideology of spiritual life and of
self- preparation for such a life. Anyone wishing to see the victory
march of Torah's mitzvos and to envision Judaism's salvation
should reflect about the array of mitzvos during Tishrei. These
mitzvos envelop us from the moment we hear the first
shofar blast, something that even today recalls the sound of
the shofar we once heard at Sinai and with holy trembling
awakens bnei Yisroel to the revelation of Hashem's glory. [The
mitzvos] continue until sunset on the seventh day of Sukkos, the
yom tov of simchah, when we are in the shade of the
Shechinah. A Jew prays with reverence for the coming rainy
season and is full of simchah when he has finished the yearly
circuit of kerias HaTorah. This is the Torah, that always
renews itself and that bestows eternal life on a Jew.
"Doubtless this month's focal point is Yom Kippur. On this day the
process of return that starts on `the day of remembrance' - - the day
of self-contemplation, which is also the `day of the shofar-
blast,' should lead a Jew on to arouse himself and accept the
obligation to do teshuvah and renew his life by atoning for the
past and purifying himself for the future. The process ends with
Sukkos, when the fruits of simchah and emunah are
harvested." EDITOR'S NOTE THESE TWO PARS. ARE NOT, REPEAT NOT, WHAT R.
HIRSCH SAID. SEE COLLECTED WRITINGS VOL. II P.105 END NOTE
Yom Kippur steers the process of teshuvah and coming nearer to
the Creator to its climax. It fully utilizes the spiritual perceptions
obtained during the days of "Seeking Hashem while He may be found,
calling upon Him while He is near" (Yeshaya 55:6). R' Shimshon
Raphael Hirsch explains that a Jew whose heart trembles on Rosh
HaShanah when he hears the shofar, who understands to what
degree he needs inner purification and external freedom [from the
yetzer], who knows and feels the great need to be saved from
the many dangers surrounding him on all sides — one who
understands that he must make practical use of these special days of
teshuvah — has tirelessly utilized each moment to
entirely change his inner self and his external lifestyle, to purify
himself inwardly and improve his deeds outwardly. He stands on Yom
Kippur before Hashem as a Jew who is afflicting his body with fasting
and is engulfed in an atmosphere of yom tov, full of hope and
anticipation for the gift of mechilah that Hashem will grant
him after he severs the chains tieing him to his past. Now he can
proceed to a new future, one purified and laden with lavish
aspirations, one with lofty objectives.
"How fortunate are you, Yisroel! Before Who are you becoming
tahor, and Who is metaheir you? Your Father in Heaven"
(Yoma 85b). HaRav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch zt'l
continues: "[Who is metaheir you?] Not a foreign god, not some
power remote from your essence and your objective as Jews, not a
powerless idol that is itself dependent upon the physical laws of
nature, nor a mortal who can sin like you, a person all of whose
kedushah is summed up in his clerical gown and who needs no
less than you to become tahor from tumah and to be saved
from the curse of his decadent past. Not these will be metaheir
you. They are powerless even to be mataheir themselves. Can
their feeble and tomei mouths tell you: `Be tahor'? Who,
then, is metaheir you? Your Father in Heaven Himself! He is our
Father in Heaven and you are his children who have returned to Him
with complete teshuvah. There is no place for anyone to
intercede between a father's heart and that of his children. No one
will stand between these people and their Father in Heaven. You run
towards Him and He embraces you with His arms. Only He can be
metaheir you as He has promised you: `for on this day He will
atone for you for all your sins.'"
Yom Kippur is a day of complete and unequivocal breaking off from all
earthly events and man's abundant physical lusts. It is both a day of
total cessation of work and a day on which we afflict the body.
"Therefore because of Your great mercy You have given us this fast day
of Yom Kippur and this day of forgiveness for sins, of forgiving
iniquities and atoning for transgressions, a day when eating is
forbidden, a day when drinking is forbidden, a day when washing is
forbidden . . . a day of forsaking jealousy and rivalry" (an excerpt
from the techinah said after the seder ha'avodah at
Musaf). This total awakening raises the Jew on this holy day to
inner spiritual pinnacles, to a unique elevation, until even the Soton
comes before HaKodosh Boruch Hu and says: "Ruler of the World!
You have one nation on the earth; they are like malochei
shoreis in heaven" (Pirkei deR' Eliezer).
Salvation from the chains of materialism helps man reach the annulling
of all worldly vanities on this holy day. He acquires purity of
thought and an exalted understanding of his duty in this world. This
has been caused by his suffering and regret over what he has perverted
in the past and his sincere acceptance upon himself to improve his
future. On this day man is stripped of all his raiment of self-
deception that wraps around him in his daily life; now his only
aspiration is to come nearer to the source of truth.
This one-time reality to which we are zocheh once a year
prepares not only the individual for teshuvah but also the
public at large. If during the whole year a person is emerged in the
delusions of Olam HaZeh, and the smut of ideological fantasy
that pollutes the atmosphere is likely to cling to him, the
kedushah of the yomim nora'im comes and dissolves all
false popular ideologies; it dwarfs the idols of falsity and crumbles
them to dust as if they had never existed.
Shattering the idols of heresy, of trusting in physical means and
bodily power, is a prerequisite for the teshuvah process.
"Return, Yisroel, unto Hashem Your Elokim," (Hoshea 14:2) says
the novi, and "take words with you and return to Hashem" (v.
3). Among the conditions necessary for teshuvah is included the
recognition of the truth that "Ashur will not save us, we will not
ride on horses, and we will no longer say `O our gods' to the work of
our hands, for it is with You that an orphan finds mercy" (v. 4). The
commentaries explain: "Ashur will not save us" — we will not ask
for the aid of man, neither from Ashur nor from Egypt. "We will not
ride on horses" — we will not trust the might of a horse in war.
"We will no longer say `O our gods' to the work of our hands —
we will not say that the work of our hands is our Elokim. "For it is
with You that an orphan finds mercy" — You alone can have mercy
on an orphan. If someone does not have strength, You will give him
strength and save him. So will You do for us, since we do not trust or
have any hope from anything else; therefore we will find mercy with
You (according to Rashi, Radak, Metzudos Dovid, and Malbim).
If this crucial contemplation has been a Jew's duty throughout the
generations, then it is still more so in our period. We are living in
a generation in which the heretic view of `My strength and the might
of my hand made me all this wealth" (Devorim 8:17) is
widespread. The competitive race and aspirations to material
achievements in the modern era cause people to invest all their power
in accumulating possessions, wealth and imagined esteem. Their aim is
to improve the quality of their lives — that is, to satisfy
their lusts. Above all this hovers the make-believe feeling that man
has the power to attain everything he wishes if he can only find out
how to invest his efforts and resources in the correctly productive
way. This refers to both the individual and the general public.
Nations and countries fight to gain control and political influence
over extensive areas while arming themselves with sophisticated and
powerful weapons. In these weapons they put their hopes to gain
military superiority and international status by frightening their
enemies.
The secular bodies that have controlled klal Yisroel in recent
generations has tried to copy these alien desires. They have,
unfortunately, succeeded in diffusing aspirations for vanity within
the hearts of multitudes of Jews. These Jews have been poisoned by
these improper feelings. How great is the influence of one's
environment, when these feelings of power have unintentionally
penetrated even among the Torah- observant, although they are
diametrically opposed to the Torah way. They have made their progress
within the fringes of the camp that defines itself as "dati."
It is therefore especially fitting today to pay attention to the
nevu'ah of "Return Yisroel," that calls out to us not to trust
in man's help or in the might of the horse, and not to idolize man's
abilities. We must cling only to the Creator, with emunah and
trust in Him, and in that way the rest of the prophecy will be
fulfilled: "for it is with You that an orphan finds mercy."
The events of recent years make it easier for us to contend with these
attempts to disseminate false views. Vain beliefs have been collapsing
one after the other. All the futile hopes and haughty declarations are
smashing to pieces against the rocks of reality. A chain of failures
and blunders that has cost am Yisroel a painful price of blood,
and has brought completely opposite results from those declared in the
pretentious declarations that preceded them, are causing many of our
brethren who have previously strayed from the Torah to open their eyes
and wonder if the ideologies of power that they have followed in the
last decades are reliable.
Among these "beliefs" is included also the delusion that political
daring and diplomatic wisdom will change the relationship of the
nations to am Yisroel, and that am Yisroel will become a
nation like other nations, living "normal lives" without hatred or
animosity. Sad reality shows us that although we are surely obligated
to take measures to prevent bloodshed and obviate the dangers of
terrorism and the like, no peace agreement will bring salvation to
am Yisroel. We will continue to live as a sheep among seventy
wolves until the Moshiach comes, as the techinah says in
Selichos: "Look, please, upon the lowliness of the smallest of
the nations, spread out and separated among the nations, given over to
smiters, their bodies [given over] for strokes. In the morning they
say, `Who will bring the night?' and in the evening they say, `Who
will bring nearer the light of day?' They have no rest, tranquility,
or peace, with which to comfort themselves and find consolation. They
look to see peace but instead are fighting; they hope for good but are
paid with evil."
All the exaggerated anticipation of a period of complete peace and
love among the nations, for a constructive, gracious attitude towards
us from the nations, are repeatedly met and countered by the ancient
sinas Yisroel. Although those who trust their power and wits
still adhere to their foolish way, more and more Jews today understand
that no earthly acts will bring us salvation. We can only rely on our
Father in Heaven. The declaration of "Ashur will not save us, we will
not ride on horses, and we will no longer say `O our gods' to the work
of our hands" is being voiced by many Jews who have merited in the
last few years to discern true light, after all their hopes from
heretic initiatives has been frustrated.
Out of these bothersome thoughts and the stress of the present period
we are approaching the gates of Yom Kippur and are busy purifying
ourselves and preparing with cherdas kodesh for the
avodah of this holy day. On erev Yom Kippur we must
remember what our mentors, the eminent mussar giants, have
taught us: that the avodah of man during this time is to
prepare his heart to recognize the exalted level of this day.
HaRav Chaim Friedlander zt'l (in Sfas Chaim, Yom
HaKippurim) explains: "The greatness of Yom HaKippurim is shown by
the fact that `the day itself atones.' It has a special power not
found in other days of the year. All this depends upon how much we
`make the proper preparation to mend our ways' (Or Yisroel,
letter 7). How can we do this? Let us learn from what the gaon
R' Naftoli Amsterdam zt'l wrote in his letter to R' Yitzchak
Blazer zt'l, in which he describes the way R' Yisroel of Salant
zt'l used to behave during the month of Elul: `The Rebbe would
darshan during the whole month, almost every day, until after
Yom Kippur, with a great and wonderful hisorerus. He would,
however, not speak loudly but softly, without much emotion and
modestly. The root of what he would say was that we need to pray
b'tzibur about the precious pearl that Hashem has given in the
world, that is Yom Kippur, that it should make an impression on us and
not pass by without teshuvah, chas vesholom' (Kochvei
Or, pg. 256). The main message of R' Yisroel (during the period
that he was feeling weak) was about the importance of Yom Kippur, its
preciousness, and the great possibilities it offers. Since our
utilization of the day is dependent upon the degree to which we
appreciate it, he therefore urged us to prepare ourselves properly and
pray about this, so that we can be zocheh to utilize the holy
day fully.
"There are two sides to Yom Kippur: the first to merit being forgiven
by Hashem, as is written, `for on this day He will atone for you'
(Vayikra 16:30), and the second is our mitzvah to do
teshuvah, as is written `Before Hashem you will become
tohor' (see Sha'arei Teshuvah 4:17). It is such a great
gift that Rebbe (Yoma 85b) held that the day itself atones even
if a person has not done teshuvah. Although Chachomim
disagree about this point, they agree that the day alone atones
providing the person does teshuvah. This means that a
person must toil to prepare himself well for Yom Kippur so that he can
be able to receive the power hidden in this day. This should be our
avodah too: to prepare ourselves well so that we will merit the
atonement of `the day itself.'"
Gmar Chasimah Tovah to all of Beis Yisroel.
