For a Greater Purpose

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

A basic human desire is to be happy. There is no one in this world who doesn’t seek joy. The goal is the same, though different people have different ways of going about achieving that goal.

Though we seek to bring joy into each day and the Torah demands that we be joyous in our service of Hashem, Yomim Tovim are singled out as periods of joy, when one of the obligations of the day is “vesomachta bechagecha,” to be happy. While that is so for all Yomim Tovim, Sukkos has the distinction of being a particular time of happiness and Chazal define the chag as “Zeman Simchoseinu – Our Joyous Period.”

Pesach, the Yom Tov that celebrates our freedom from Mitzri subjugation, is aptly described as “Zeman Cheiruseinu - Our Time of Freedom.” Shavuos, which celebrates the day when we received the Torah at Har Sinai, is suitably referred to as “Zeman Matan Toraseinu – The Time of the Receipt of the Torah.” Their appellations define them. Why, then, is Sukkos referred to as “Zeman Simchoseinu” and not something that references the sukkos in which Hashem provided protection for us in the midbar, or at least something that makes mention of the daled minim associated with the holiday of Sukkos?

What is it about Sukkos that creates and mandates so much joy amongst the Jewish people to the degree that it defines the Yom Tov?

Perhaps we can explain that the reason Sukkos is the chag of simcha is because it demonstrates that we, humans, have the ability to transform the mundane into the spiritual and holy. We think about our lives and life in general, and we wonder what it is all about; to recognize that we can bring about holiness gives our lives meaning and purpose. And what can be more joyous than that!

People can get into a rut as they go about their daily lives, running errands, doing carpool, and working at a job to be able to buy food and put a roof over their heads. Sometimes it can be very overwhelming and we wonder: What is the purpose of all this? What value is there to a life spent performing myriad manual tasks? How can anyone enjoy the actions that make up so much of the grind of life?

The answer is that we are not merely animalistic creatures whose days revolve around foraging for food and a comfortable place to sleep. Rather, everything we do is for a higher purpose. We aren’t simply performing mundane, senseless tasks. Rather, we have the ability to raise the level of everything we do. We are masters of the universe. Everything we do has the ability to affect the entire world. When we work and earn money to be able to perform mitzvos, we are bringing value to our lives and, at the same time, strengthening the world. We are raising ourselves and giving our lives meaning, making the mundane holy, making our actions holy, and making ourselves holy as well.

When you are taking your child to yeshiva and are stuck in traffic, you aren’t wasting your time. You are fulfilling your obligation of chinuch and teaching your child Torah; what could be more important than that!

When you are standing on a long line in a supermarket on Erev Shabbos and Erev Yom Tov, you need not be upset that you are wasting your time. You are doing the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos and simchas Yom Tov. And if you are on line buying food for a regular weekday and have in mind that you are doing this so that you and your family will be able to eat and have strength to do mitzvos, then you are doing a mitzvah just by standing there. And mitzvos are what make the world go round. They make life worth living and earn us eternal reward.

On Sukkos, we take a simple fruit and turn it into a cheftzah shel mitzvah with so many deep spiritual meanings that we don’t even remember that it is a fruit. Who thinks of an esrog as a fruit? We view it as a holy object, which it is because we made it so. We took a simple, inanimate object known as a citron, which grows on a tree and most of the world has no use for, and we transformed it into the most prized of the daled minim. We carefully select it, spend a mini-fortune on it, and with a huge smile bring it home, wrap it carefully, and place it in its ornate silver box purchased specially for this once-a-year purpose.

We are overcome with joy when we finally find the esrog we were searching for, and we are then confident that we will be able to complete the mitzvah to the best of our ability. Perhaps more than any other mitzvah object, the esrog is handled with such pride and joy because it shows us that if we have the proper frame of mind, we can reach the heavens with the simple act of holding a fruit.

We do the same with the lulav, hadasim and aravos. On Yom Tov, we march with them to shul, demonstrating our joy that we were found virtuous during the yemei hadin and are prepared to live life on a higher plane. We are no longer creatures of the yeitzer hora, viewing everything in creation as tools for physical gratification. We recognize that our mission here is to serve Hashem by utilizing the goodness with which He surrounds us and the strength and abilities he gave us to live in this world and raise ourselves to a higher, loftier plane.

We begin with the esrog and the daled minim and continue with the sukkah itself. We collect items that grow from the ground and are not mekabel tumah and place them atop a few walls. We thus fashion for ourselves another vehicle with which to raise our level of spirituality to that of anshei Elokim, G-dly people. We leave our year-round home and enter a temporary structure, enveloping ourselves in the tzila demehemnusa, the shadow of the Shechinah. We utilize ordinary everyday objects as tools to achieve this state of G-dliness. We become filled with joy. We make a brocha on the sukkah and thank Hashem for keeping us alive so that we can enjoy this special moment, basking in the glory of Hashem.

The Gemara in Maseches Sukkah (9a) derives from the korban chagigah that just as an animal becomes sanctified when the person who intends to offer it to Hashem says, “Korban laShem,” so too, the walls and covering of the sukkah become sanctified and forbidden for mundane use for the duration of the Yom Tov of Sukkos. We take wood, fiberglass, canvas, bamboo and pine branches and turn them into a holy room, fit for the avos and Hashem.

The Vilna Gaon (Shir Hashirim 1:4) teaches that the sukkah alludes to the status of Klal Yisroel after Moshiach’s arrival, at which time we will all sit betzila demehemnusa, as we did while we traveled through the desert on our way to the Promised Land. Just as the sukkah symbolizes the Mishkon in the midbar where the Shechinah dwelled, so does it symbolize the Shechinah’s return to the rebuilt Bais Hamikdosh.

The Maharal, in his Shabbos Hagadol drosha, expresses a similar thought and states that it is in the merit of the Yom Tov of Sukkos that the Third Bais Hamikdosh will be built to house the Shechinah.

This theme, that the sukkah is reminiscent of the construction of a resting place for the Shechinah, is taken to a much higher level by the Zohar (Vol. 3, 103a), who states that when a Jew sits in a sukkah, he basks in the shadow of the Shechinah - betzila demehemnusa.

These ideas are not just allegorical and homiletic, but real and tangible. The Kav Hayoshor (95) states that the reason we are careful to keep the sukkah clean and to ensure that our behavior there is refined and proper is for this very reason: the sukkah is a home for the Shechinah and is a mikdash me’at.

With such lofty thoughts and accomplishments, how can we not be joyous on Sukkos? We place four temporary walls together and cover them with a leaky roof, leaving us with an unheated and unprotected, albeit nicely decorated, room, and we are then able to sit in the shadow of the Shechinah. We see that we have the ability to raise our lifestyle from being ordinary and commonplace to Divine and G-dly. Through our actions, we can bring the Shechinah into our homes, very literally.

The kedusha of the sukkah is so real that it obligates us to behave differently while we are in our temporary home than the way we behave in our permanent homes all year long.

An example of the elevated level of conduct demanded in a sukkah appears in the Mishnah Berurah (679:2), who writes that due to the holiness of a sukkah, it is proper to refrain from idle talk, loshon hara and rechilus there.

Rav Dovid Cohen, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Chevron, in his sefer Zeman Simchoseinu, attaches great importance to the Chofetz Chaim’s warning about speaking lashon hora in a sukkah. He quotes the Nachlas Dovid, who states in the name of the Vilna Gaon that the mitzvah of sukkah subjugates the yeitzer hora of lashon hora. He explains that this power is due to the fact that Sukkos mirrors the final redemption, when the sin of lashon hora will be rectified.

Rav Cohen references Rav Chaim Palagi, who says that the sukkah is emblematic of unity, for when the Ananei Hakavod enveloped Am Yisroel, they were considered as one. As such, lashon hora, which is the root of rivalry and machlokes, has no place in the sukkah. Since every Yom Tov brings with it the spiritual powers that it represents, and since Sukkos parallels, and bears the strength of, the Ananei Hakavod, we merit that when we sit in the sukkah, we are betzila demehemnusa. Thus, actions that are incompatible with achdus have no place in the sukkah.

With this, we can also understand the simcha of the Bais Hashoeivah, which the Mishnah (Sukkah 5:2) and Gemara (Sukkah 52a) famously describe as the greatest simcha ever witnessed by man. Water was drawn from a spring and brought to the Bais Hamikdosh. Nothing is more available than water. Not only is water abundant, but it is also odorless, shapeless, and easily accessible. The lesson is that Jews can take simple water and raise it to the highest level of kedusha as an offering in the Bais Hamikdosh. Recognizing that they could bring about the transition of one of the simplest forms of creation to the highest brought unparalleled happiness and joy to the Jewish people.

So often, we get overwhelmed by olam hazeh. We ponder the purpose of all that we experience and endure. We work hard and don’t always see our plans to fruition. We can easily get frustrated. Too often, the mundane humdrum of life wears us out because we don’t comprehend the purpose of it all.

But on Sukkos, we take a fruit and a stick and they become cheftzos shel mitzvah that are mashpia bechol ha’olamos. We cobble together boards and branches to create a home where the Shechinah rests. We then see that our actions have positive effects and create heavenly places for us to live in. Our feelings of futility disappear, as our inner thirst for spirituality is fed and nourished.

We sit in the sukkah and bask in its warmth and holiness. We welcome our friends, family and the Ushpizin, and recognize that there is a greater purpose in all that we do. Our actions can bring Moshiach. It is not just a good drosha. It is real.

And it is not only Sukkos. Rav Chaim Volozhiner writes in Nefesh Hachaim (1:4) that no Jew should ever say to himself that he is useless and has no power to accomplish anything with his daily activities. Every action we undertake, every word we utter, and every thought we bear can accomplish great things in the upper worldly spheres.

Rav Yisroel Elya Weintraub, in his peirush Yiras Chaim, explains this idea and says that at the root of human failing is a person’s feeling that his actions have no intrinsic value. It is such insecure thinking that leads man to forsake the proper path and engage in sin. If people would be secure in the knowledge of the impact of their actions, they would not sin.

Rav Chaim Volozhiner explains that this is the meaning of the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos (2:1) that states, “Da mah lemaalah mimcha - Know what is above you.” Know, the Mishnah exhorts us, that what transpires in the heavenly bodies is a result of your actions in this world.

Perhaps we can apply that Mishnah to our lesson from the sukkah. Know what is above you. As you sit in the sukkah and look up, know that your actions have caused the Shechinah to hover above you. Know that what you do has significance. Know that you have the power with your actions to dwell in the shadow of Hashem. Know that you have intrinsic value. Remember that you can cause world-altering changes. Know that nothing you do is wasted. It is all for a good purpose.

There is nothing that brings more joy to a person than recognizing that he has value, that his internal battles have heavenly ramifications, and that he can accomplish more than he ever dreamed.

Pesach is when we got our freedom, Shavuos is when we got the Torah, and Sukkos is when it all comes together and we realize that our lives have meaning and there is value and importance in everything we do. Zeman Simchoseinu, indeed!

Chag someiach. Have a very happy Yom Tov.

A New Start

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

In Yeshivas Radin, there was a break before the blowing of the shofar on the morning of Rosh Hashanah to afford the mispallelim an opportunity to prepare themselves for the great mitzvah.

Unfortunately, several bochurim used the time to check out the goings on at the local shuls. They returned to yeshiva and were discussing their findings near the door to the bais medrash, when the Chofetz Chaim, wrapped in his tallis, entered to deliver his pre-shofar shmuess. He picked up pieces of their conversation and moved along without making any comment.

He walked slowly and purposefully to his place at the front of the bais medrash and began his shmuess. The Chofetz Chaim said, “I will start with a moshol,” and began telling a story.

There was a couple who were blessed with one son. They loved him dearly, with all their being, and he loved them. As difficult as it was, when he became older, they understood that they had to send him away to yeshiva in order for him to learn and grow. The yeshiva was far from their town and they never got to see him.

A few months went by and then suddenly his mother became very ill and passed away shortly thereafter. The grieving father knew that he had to tell his son, but he worked hard to come up with a way of breaking the news to him that would not overwhelm him with too much sadness for the only son to bear.

The father came up with an idea. He would purchase a new suit for his son and would send it to him at the yeshiva. He would write his son a letter about his mother’s passing, and he would place the letter in one of the suit’s pockets. That way, when the boy would read the letter, at least he would be wearing the new suit and would be in a good mood.

The father purchased a fine suit and sent it with a messenger to the yeshiva with the carefully written note in a pocket. In those days, nobody got a suit very often, so a new suit was a big deal. When the suit arrived, the boy was overjoyed with it and showed it to his friends with great pride and joy.

Finally, he put on the suit. Everyone told him how great he looked in it. But then he stuck his hand into the pocket and found the note from his father. In a second, his joy was gone and his pride quickly changed to distress. His mother had died and he was saddened.

The Chofetz Chaim explained that throughout the year, everyone has their little enjoyments and pleasures, but we need to know that somewhere, there is a note, and on it is written what was decided for us on Rosh Hashanah for the year.

We can’t reach into our pockets and remove the note to read it and know what is in store for us, but there is a way for us to do something that will improve what is written on the note. That is revealed to us in the posuk, “Tiku bachodesh shofar bakeseh leyom chageinu… – Blow the shofar on the first day of the moon’s renewal, when it is unseen and covered…” What the posuk is hinting at is that through the blowing of the shofar, you can sweeten the judgment that is hidden.

Therefore, said the Chofetz Chaim, before the shofar is blown we need to take a few minutes and become serious, thinking about all that has transpired over the past year and doing teshuvah on those things that require teshuvah so that we merit a good year.

We are now at that time of year, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu sits in judgement and decides what type of year each person will have. This is a time of utter seriousness when we should change focus from whatever else we are thinking about and think about teshuvah and how we can turn the scales in our favor.

What can we do? Where do we start? 

A perfect place is the Rambam’s Hilchos Teshuvah, where he holds our hand and takes us through the process.

It is interesting that after laying out for us over several perokim the obligation and path of teshuvah, the Rambam changes gears in perek 5. He writes in halacha 1, “Permission is granted to every person. If he wishes to turn himself to the correct path and be a righteous person, he can do so. However, if a person wishes to act improperly and be wicked, he can do so as well… Man is the only creature that differentiates between good and bad and has the ability to do whatever he pleases, good or bad…”

It seems that the Rambam is changing gears from helping us through the path of teshuvah to a discussion of something tangential to what he had been discussing. We wonder how this impacts us in our quest for teshuvah.  

In perek 5, halacha 2, he writes, “Let it not enter your mind that unwise gentiles and most unwise Jews say that Hashem decrees upon a person at birth whether he will be righteous or wicked. It is not so. Every person can be as righteous as Moshe Rabbeinu or as wicked as Yerovom. He can be intelligent or dim, compassionate or cruel… Nobody can force him or decree upon him or drag him to either path, for it is a person’s own choice which way to go.”

Then he says, “Therefore, if a person sins, he has hurt himself, and it is proper that he cry and bemoan what he has done to his soul… Because of our own volition, we have done these bad acts. We should do teshuvah and leave our sins behind, for it is up to us.”

The Rambam then writes in halacha 3, “This concept is fundamental, a pillar upon which the totality of Torah and mitzvos rest... The choice (between blessing and curse) is in the hands of man. A person may follow his desires to do good or bad... Hashem doesn’t force or decree that people do good or bad. Everything is left to man’s free choice.”

In halacha 4, he continues, “If Hashem were to decree that an individual be righteous or wicked, or that he would be born with a characteristic that would draw him to a certain way of conduct, attitude or deed, as fools who believe in astrology claim, then how could Hashem command us, through His nevi’im, to do specific actions and desist from others...if it has already been decreed on man that he behave in a particular fashion?

“What would be the relevance of the entire Torah? Where is the sense of justice that would administer punishment and reward? …Don’t wonder how it can be that man has free will to act as he pleases, if nothing can happen in the universe without the permission and will of the Creator. Even though whatever we do is in accord with Hashem’s will, we alone are responsible for our own actions... Just as the Master of the Universe desired that fire and wind rise upwards, while elements of water and earth flow downward...that each creation has its specific nature which He created for it...so too, He wishes for man to have free choice and to be responsible for his actions without being compelled to act in any specific way... Therefore, man is judged according to his behavior.”

And finally, in halacha 5, he writes, “Because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is already aware of what will happen even before it occurs...if Hashem knows that man will be righteous, it will then be impossible for man to be wicked. For if it were possible for man to defy what Hashem knows, then it would mean that His knowledge is lacking...

“Know that this area is ‘longer than the earth and wider than the sea,’ with deep and fundamental principles and lofty concepts dependent upon it... Human knowledge cannot grasp this concept in its entirety, for just as it is beyond the potential of man to comprehend and conceive the essential nature of the Creator...so, too, it is beyond man’s capacity to comprehend and conceive Hashem’s knowledge.”

As you read the words of the Rambam, you can imagine the learned teacher of every observant Jew lovingly reaching out through the ages. With much compassion, we imagine the Rambam’s smile as he says, “Aval tzorich atah leida ulehovin badovor hazeh she’ani omeir.” He begs us, “Please know and understand deeply what I am saying.”

After explaining the difficulty in properly understanding the concepts of yediah and bechirah, the Rambam concludes, “This is certain: Man’s actions are in his own hands, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not lead him in a specific direction.”

And once more, he reaches out to us and tells us, “Know this, without any doubt, that what a person does is totally up to him and Hashem does not pull or push him in any direction, nor does He dictate to him to do this and not to do that.” And then he says something peculiar: “This fact is not verified only through religious tracts, but is proven without a doubt from divrei chochmah.”

We read these words and wonder why the Rambam goes to such great lengths to explain to us and convince us of the principles of bechirah. Why is it so important? Why is it so basic to hilchos teshuvah to know that it is a person’s choice as to what type of individual to be? Why is that so integral to performing teshuvah?

In fact, the Raavad (ibid., halacha 5) comments that he doesn’t understand why the Rambam goes into a lengthy discussion of these topics. He also writes that the Rambam opened up a conversation and did not complete it.

Finally, why does the Rambam conclude by stating that this is a proven fact and has nothing to do with religion?

Let us try to understand the connection between teshuvah and bechirah and suggest what the Rambam’s message might be.

In our generation, the age of entitlement, the most common reaction and defense when a person does something wrong is to look for someone to blame. Everyone claims to be a victim of some type or another. People don’t blame themselves for acting improperly. That would necessitate owning up to their actions and doing something about it. Instead, people - and society at large - search for outside factors upon which to blame improper behavior. If a person fails, he says that it is because his parents were too authoritarian or too permissive. His mother showed too much love; his father didn’t show enough. They blame the behavior on the school - it was too big, too small, too intimidating, too free.

A person’s behavior is blamed on the family he was born into. They were poor; what do you expect? They were rich; he was spoiled. Or on the neighbors. They were rich, they were poor, they had too many toys, they didn’t have enough toys. They ruined me.

The Gemara in Maseches Avodah Zarah (17a) tells the story of Rabi Elozor ben Durdaya. Though he was a most immoral person, in the end he was inspired to do teshuvah.

Overcome with shame and regret for his actions, he fled for the hills, determined to do teshuvah. He beseeched the mountains and hills to plead his case with Hashem. They refused to intercede on his behalf, telling him that he had to argue his case himself. He turned to the heavens and earth to intercede, but they also turned him down. He looked to the sun and moon for help, but was similarly rejected.

Finally, he collapsed, his head in his hands, crying from the depths of his being. Eventually, he stood up and proclaimed, “Ein hadovor talui ela bi. It all depends on me. It’s my responsibility.”

Finally accepting that what he had done was his own responsibility and no one but he could make it right, he collapsed in tears and died. As his soul left him, a bas kol announced that Rabi Elozor ben Durdaya’s teshuvah was accepted and he was destined for Olam Haba.    

Darshonim cite the Gemara as a portrayal of the teshuvah process a person must undergo. They explain that when the Gemara states that Rabi Elozor ben Dordaya turned to the “horim,” the mountains, and asked them to daven for him, this is to be understood allegorically. The darshonim would say, “Al tikri horim, ela hoirim.” He wasn’t referring to the mountains and asking them to pray for him. He was blaming his situation on his parents. Perhaps they had spoiled him or deprived him or hadn’t given him enough love, in contemporary parlance. He tried blaming them, but it didn’t work. So he searched for others to blame.

When the Gemara says that he reached out to heaven and earth, it represents his attempt to blame the environment - his schools, teachers and friends. He tried blaming them. They influenced me. Everyone else was also doing it. They picked on me. The teachers were lousy. It’s their fault.

That tact also didn’t absolve him of responsibility for his sins.

So he tried blaming the sun and moon, meaning his financial situation. He was too rich. Mah yaaseh haben shelo yecheta? He was too poor. What can be expected of him?

When that also didn’t work, he tried blaming the mazalos for his conduct. This is perhaps a hint to the belief cited by the Rambam that astrology influences man’s behavior. Rabi Elozor tried arguing that it wasn’t his fault that he was such an immoral person, for this was his nature; the weakness was inborn.

The Heavenly Court rejected this defense as it had rejected all his previous attempts.

Finally, with all his excuses refuted, Rabi Elozor ben Durdaya concluded that “Ein hadovor talui ela bi.” What he did with his life was his fault, not anyone else’s. He became consumed by that thought and overwhelmed by the weight of the inherent responsibility he had now perceived for the first time. With that realization, he accomplished teshuvah.

And this is the explanation for why the Rambam inserts the concept of bechirah into Hilchos Teshuvah. This is because as a person works to improve himself and turn himself around, he realizes that it is not always easy and he starts looking for ways out. He turned to teshuvah so that he may merit a good year, but he begins looking for other ways to get a good judgement. He shifts blame and says that it is not his fault that he sinned.

He begins to say that his transgressions happened not because of him, but because of conditions of his life which are beyond his control. He took a wrong turn because he is not very smart or because he is too smart. What happened to him was not his fault. It is because of something someone did to him, or said to him, or threatened to do to him. He says that he ended up in a bad place because of other people, because of circumstances he found himself in, because he lives on the wrong side of town, because his wife misled him, or her husband misled her, or it was the kids’ fault.

A person doing teshuvah is forced to come face to face with his failings, and rather than owning up to what he did and the bad choices he made, it is easier to shift the blame and, instead of offering Hashem teshuvah, offer Him excuses.

So the Rambam interjects in Hilchos Teshuvah that every person has choices. Every person can choose on which path to go and whether to go the right way or the wrong way, to the right or the left, the road of chaim or the other road. He tells us not to shirk responsibility. If you want to be written down for a good year, you have to acknowledge that you went wrong, learn your lesson, repent, ensure that you will not act that way again, and do the required teshuvah. Then you will be returned to the good graces of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak.

The Rambam is reminding us that what a person makes of his life is his own choice. Some have it easier and others have it harder. Irrespective of a person’s background or situation, Hashem has granted him the ability to overcome it all and become as great as Moshe Rabbeinu, if he so chooses.

However, as long as a person feels comfortable blaming his present on his past and on things beyond his control, he will not engage in teshuvah and all of hilchos teshuvah will be theoretical.

The Rambam expends much effort in this perek in addressing people with that mindset. He says to them, “What you are and what you make of your life is your own choice. No one can force you to be evil. No one can force you to sin. If you sin, it is because you let your yeitzer hora get the better of you. There are many people who had those same experiences as you, yet they are righteous, outstanding individuals. They triumphed over their circumstances, and so can you.”

There are many people who rose from their unfortunate situations and became great talmidei chachomim. In fact, Chazal say, “Hizaharu bivnei aniyim ki meihen teitzei Torah.” Poverty is not an excuse for a life of crime, just as wealthy children are not guaranteed a blessed life. Every person can become magnificent or feeble, great or small, good or bad.

We have to get rid of the idea that we are victims of circumstances and realize how blessed we are, with everything in place for us to rise above whatever we think is holding us down.

The Rambam says that this is a fact of life and cannot be argued. What a person makes of his life is not preordained, but is wholly dependent upon the choices he makes and the way he deals with challenges. When we come to do teshuvah, we cannot blame our situation on anyone but us. Nobody is ever so far gone to declare that he cannot return to the path of the good and the just.

Even Rabi Elozor ben Durdaya, who was the lowest of the low, was able to do teshuvah and bring himself to the level that a bas kol announced that he would be accepted to Olam Haba.

Every person is unique. Each person has different abilities and challenges. In order to succeed, people must believe in themselves and their ability to withstand the challenges life throws their way.

At this time of year, we need to put the narishkeiten out of mind, curtail the usual chit chat, and instead get serious and introspective and think about ourselves and where we are holding. It is between us and Hashem. When we do teshuvah, we can bring ourselves back to our original starting situation, before things started going downhill for us. We get a new start, with new energy, and appreciate the abilities we each have. Everyone has abilities, there is nobody who doesn’t.

Rosh Hashanah is not only the start of a new year, but a renewal of creation, of the whole world, including us. We become new again, no longer weighed down with negativity and old baggage. We become new, armed with optimism and a positive sense of self and commitment, with a renewed appreciation of who we are and what we can accomplish.

Creation began on 25 Elul and was completed on Rosh Hashanah, with the creation of man. On Rosh Hashanah, everything begins anew, and when we merit to have done a complete teshuvah, we also begin as new, from scratch, with a note in our pocket that tells of the good year Hakadosh Boruch Hu has decided for us.

May we all merit a teshuvah sheleimah and a kesivah vachasimah tovah.

The Way Forward

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

As we near the end of Elul, we should be ramping up our efforts at doing teshuvah, rectifying our errors and setting ourselves on the proper path for the future. This week’s parsha of Nitzovim is enlightening and helpful in our quest.

The posuk states (30:1-10) that when the brachos and the klalos that were described previously will befall Am Yisroel, which will find itself in golus among the nations, the Jewish people shall do teshuvah and return to Hashem. When that happens, Hashem will have mercy on them and gather them in from the places to which He has dispersed them, and He will bring them to Eretz Yisroel. The posuk foretells that we will be blessed when we will return to Hashem wholeheartedly and properly observe all the mitzvos and chukim that are written in the Torah. Teshuvah will bring the geulah.

The pesukim continue: “This mitzvah that I command you to do today is not far removed from you. It is not in the heavens, which would cause you to wonder who could go to the heaven to fetch it and teach it to us so that we can keep it. It is also not far off overseas, which would cause you to wonder who could travel the great distance to procure it and teach it to you. Rather, it is very near to you, in your mouth and heart to observe.”

There is a dispute over which mitzvah the posuk is referring to when it says that it is easy for us to do. Rashi seems to infer that the posuk is referring to the mitzvah of Torah study. The Gemara in Eruvin (55a) clearly states that the pesukim here are referring to Torah.

However, the Ramban and the Seforno clearly state that the pesukim are referring the mitzvah of teshuvah and the pesukim are informing us that it is not that difficult to do teshuvah. Their explanation of the pesukim should be encouraging for us, especially at this time of year.

People may become overwhelmed with the thought of doing teshuvah for all their aveiros and give up before they start. Lest someone think that leaving their bad ways behind is an insurmountable feat for people like them, the Torah informs us that anyone can do teshuvah. We need not cower in fear and give up before we even begin, for the posuk promises us that we can do it.

In fact, Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells us, “Pischu li pesach kepischo shel machat va’ani eftach lochem pesach kepischo shel ulam.” If we make the first effort towards teshuvah, He will help us in our journey to complete teshuvah.

We have one week to go until Rosh Hashanah, and some of us have procrastinated to undertake what we fear is a heavy task to find our way back to where we belong. But we don’t have much more time. There are all types of things going on in our lives, and we are afraid of opening the proverbial can of worms, peering into our souls and hearts to see what is there - what drives us, what motivates us, and where we have gone wrong. We are afraid that the task is too great, so we push it off. But then, just as the deadline rapidly approaches, we encounter this week’s parsha and the Ramban and Seforno, who tell us that teshuvah is not only something that we must do, but something that is also eminently doable.

Let us set aside everything else that can wait and set our hearts and minds to do what we must to gain for ourselves a good year. Everybody wants everything to work out for them, their families, and those they care about. People expend much energy in that regard, but the most important thing that we can do is to concentrate on teshuvah. As the posuk promises, those who do teshuvah will merit the brachos of the Torah. They will also merit to be inscribed for a kesivah vachasimah tovah.

Where do we start? Rav Chaim Volozhiner in Nefesh Hachaim (4:31) and the Chasam Sofer (quoting the Shelah in Drashos Vayeilech and Shabbos Shuvah) state that teshuvah begins with - and is guided by - Torah study. Learning Torah also provides us with the ability to do teshuvah.

Thus, Rav Chaim Volozhiner says, in the tefillah of Shemoneh Esrei, in which we ask Hashem to accept our teshuvah, we begin by asking that he help us in our pursuit of Torah. The brocha begins, “Hashiveinu Avinu leSorasecha – Bring us back, dear Father, to your Torah,” and then we say, “Vehachazireinu beseshuvah sheleimah lefonecha – Bring us back to You with a complete teshuvah.”

When a person sins, he distances himself from Hashem and creates a separation. Teshuvah brings him back to Hashem. The best way to get closer to Hashem is through studying His Torah. The Torah will also empower a person to be able to undertake and succeed in teshuvah.

Additionally, Rav Yitzchok Eizik Chover writes that Torah cleanses a person’s soul from the taint of sin and fortifies him so that he won’t return to do aveiros. The Vilna Gaon’s brother, Rav Avrohom, writes that since all the positive spiritual attributes of a person emanate from Torah, it is incumbent upon a person who seeks improvement to dedicate more time to Torah.

When we learn Torah, our emunah becomes strengthened as we become closer to Hashem. Our minds become attuned to the Torah way of thinking, and we are thus able to be more successful in what we do. Since the world was created with Torah and revolves around it, the more we are connected to Torah, the better we can function in this world of ours.

Yirmiyohu Hanovi (16:11) quotes Hakadosh Boruch Hu, who said, “Osi ozovu v’es Torasi lo shomoru – Klal Yisroel has left me and they have not observed the Torah.” The Medrash adds that Hashem said, “If only they would have left Me but held on to My Torah,” they would have been okay, because “Hamaar shebah machzirom lemutav, the light of Torah would have brought them back.”

Torah is the word of Hashem. When we study it, it connects us to Him, and if we have strayed, it returns us to Him. If you want to understand the success of the Lev L’Achim kiruv organization and you wonder what its secret is, know that there is no secret. The organization’s approach to teshuvah and bringing back tens of thousands of lost Jewish souls is through strictly learning Torah with them.

Totally secular people of all ages are introduced to Torah study, and through studying Torah, they “magically” become religious. There are no philosophical discussions and no history lessons. Nothing of the sort. Just pure, unadulterated Torah, exactly as the Medrash says. And if it works for them, it can work for us. Instead of getting involved in tangled conversations, disputes and arguments with our yeitzer hora, what we need to do in the remaining time between now and the Yemei Hadin is to commit ourselves to Torah.

We need to sit down with a Chumash, Gemara, Rambam Hilchos Teshuvah, Mishnah Berurah, Mesilas Yeshorim, and Chovos Halevavos, and take everything else out of our mind and learn. The rest will follow.

When we learn Toras Hashem, we become connected with our life source and begin once again to appreciate that everything that we have is from Him. We are reminded that every aspect of our existence, including our job, car, home, bank account, environment, social standing and day-to-day accomplishments, comes from Hashem. We are reminded that Hashem created the world for us and provided us with the Torah in order to realize our purpose.

We recognize that there are many ancillary things in life that merely serve to deter us from accomplishing our mission. We begin to recognize the waste of time that so much of modern life consists of. When we learn with seriousness, we are able to separate the important from the trivial and appreciate the necessity to use our time wisely and for things that benefit us. So much of what occupies the contemporary mind and day is not only unnecessary, but is actually detrimental to living the life of a Torah Yid, the way we are meant to. During these remaining days of Elul, we should resolve to do away with things that don’t help raise our level of shemiras hamitzvos and limud haTorah.

Twice a day, during the current period, we proclaim, “Achas sho’alti mei’eis Hashem.” We have one request: “Shivti beveis Hashem,” to merit to dwell in the home of Hashem, studying His Torah, performing His mitzvos, and drawing closer to Him. Teshuvah allows that to happen.

The Rambam writes in Hilchos Teshuvah eternal, oft-quoted words. He describes the greatness of teshuvah: “Teshuvah brings close those who are distant. Yesterday he was hated before Hashem, dirty and disgusting, and today, after doing teshuvah, he is loved and sweet and close and a friend… How great teshuvah is. Yesterday the sinner was separated from Hashem… He shouted out in prayer and wasn’t answered… He performed mitzvos and they were ripped in his face… And today, following his teshuvah, he is connected to the Shechinah… He calls out to Hashem and is answered… He performs mitzvos and they are accepted with joy…”

The Rambam refers to this week’s parsha and the pesukim with which we began our discussion. He tells us, “All the nevi’im commanded the Jewish people to repent and do teshuvah. And Klal Yisroel will only be redeemed at the End of Days in the merit of their teshuvah. And the Torah has foretold that at the end of their exile, the people will do teshuvah and then will be immediately redeemed.”

May we all merit to do teshuvah and return to Hashem’s embrace and be granted a kesivah vachasimah tovah and merit the geulah sheleimah very quickly.