Haazinu

פרשת האזינו ושבת שובה

This week’s Haftara begins with the words, “Return to Hashem, if you have stumbled with sin, and bring with you your words.” Chazal instituted this Haftara during these times in order to generate a feeling of urgency in our hearts for returning to Hashem before it is too late. The famous Mussar master, R’ Yitzchak B’lazar used to say that we should view this verse as if Hashem Himself, through the mouth of his prophets, is calling for us to return to Him so that we will not suffer for our iniquity. R’ Yitzchak goes on to explain that there are two basic categories of sin which require repentance. The first type of sin is one in which we find ourselves being ensnared by the evil inclination to follow our passions. This type of sin is a rather gross rebellion against the will of God, and to repent is relatively simple. All one needs to do is recognize the inappropriateness of his actions and take upon himself to never do them again. It is also a requirement to apologize for his wayward deeds, as not doing so would represent a basic insincerity.

However there is another type of sin requiring repentance which is far more subtle, and that is the sin within the Mitzvos. Mitzvos which are done by wrote, or hastily with very little thought behind them can be a constant source of need for repentance. The Midrash in Vayikra (29:6) says that when the Jewish people blast the Shofar, they must renew their actions, and beautify their actions. R’ Yitzchak B’lazar explains the first part of this Midrash to be saying that the method to renew our actions is by examining carefully whether they measure up to the exact letter of the law in terms of the minutia mentioned in the Halacha. Very often, a general overview of our actions will yield a basic feeling of Torah observance which may be shattered upon closer inspection. The Shofar is meant to stimulate us to take that step and make a careful accounting as to which aspects of our service is up to par, and which needs improvement. And the second part of the Midrash, to beautify our actions is referring to the intent behind those actions. Is our motivation pure in our Mitzvah observance, or is it partially selfish. These two aspects are necessary for proper Torah observance, and if they are lacking in any way, now is the time to bring them up to snuff.

With this understanding, it is now clear that repentance is not designated solely for wicked people per se, but rather is quite applicable to even the most righteous Jews. We all have some aspect of the two dimensions revealed in the Midrash which could use some improvement. Perhaps this is one of the explanations of the Gemorah which says that Teshuva is so great that it reaches the Throne of Glory! If a person takes Teshuva to the level that we are referring to, his actions can become so refined that they reflect those of Hashem Himself. R’ Saddya Gaon, used to accept upon himself severe suffering such as ablutions in the snow, and physical pain in order to try to humble his heart into repenting properly. When questioned what exactly were his “great sins,” he responded, “While it is true that I don’t have many serious sins, many of my Mitzvos are not done in a proper fashion, and for this I need to repent.” He explained to his students that he picked up this understanding during one of his travels. On one of his extended trips, he found himself in a faraway town in which nobody recognized him. While there, one of the wealthier homeowners saw him in the Shul, and invited him to stay in his house, completely oblivious to the fact that he was hosting the leader of the entire generation, and in fact the teacher of all the Rishonim. After staying there for a few days, another guest in the house who recognized R’ Saddya revealed the true identity of the illustrious guest. The homeowner, who had of course treated R’ Saddya quite well, was mortified that he had not known the identity of his guest, and repetitively asked his forgiveness. R’ Saddya reassured him again and again that there was nothing at all to be sorry about, but this simple homeowner was so ashamed of what had happened that he could not be consoled. R’ Saddya later remarked that it was this homeowner who taught him the degree of regret that one must feel if he transgressed the will of the Master of the World. How could a person not recognize who he was in front of?!

The Malbim makes another very interesting remark on this week’s Haftarah. The verse repeats twice the instruction to return to Hashem our God. The Malbim explains this apparent redundancy by saying the first call for repentance is meant to instill fear in us. That we should return to Hashem because we are afraid of the consequences of not repenting. But the second one is telling us to return to our Creator out of a deep love for Him. In fact, the Gemorah states that if a person repents out of fear, his sins are wiped out completely, but if he attempts to return to Hashem out of love, his mistakes are actually credited to him as merits in the world to come. How can we understand such a bizarre statement of the Talmud? Does repentance out of love make it as if the harmful actions were guilty of turn into actions of value?

I once heard a very interesting explanation to solve this difficulty. When a person repents out of fear, he does not necessarily abandon all the negative energy he has built up, he merely has enough terror to keep his passions at bay. However, they remain in his heart and are capable of resurfacing the minute some of his fear ebbs away. Whereas when a person repents out of love of Hashem, he does so from a deep inner regret that his poor exercise of judgment represented a serious affront to his beloved Creator, and therefore his change is of a more permanent nature. This being the case, every one of his sins becomes an individual opportunity to demonstrate his undying love for Hashem, and therefore transforms into a powerful merit in his arsenal. Perhaps we could use a parable to demonstrate the voracity of this point. There were once two experienced thieves who decided to rob the vault of the king. In order to do so, they dug an intricate series of tunnels which ended up directly under the vault. When the time was right, they penetrated the floor of the vault and found themselves face to face with greater wealth then either of them had ever imagined. The first thief upon seeing the enormity of the wealth he was about to plunder, became so frightened about the vastness of what he was about to do, and the punishment that would surely be awaiting him if he were to get caught, and quickly reentered the tunnel and returned home without taking a thing. The second thief stayed there for awhile and began considering what a wonderful ruler that particular king was, and how fair he was to all of his inhabitants. How just his laws were and how much mercy he showed to all of the kingdom’s populace. When he began to speak these things out loud to himself, and got more and more into it, he started to cry when he realized who he was about to pilfer from, and he verbally berated himself for even considering such a loathsome act. Unbeknownst to both of these men, there was hidden surveillance inside this vault through which the king was able to monitor everything that went on. When the king saw what the first thief did, he let him go with a strong reprimand, but the king was so moved by the stirring monologue of the second thief, that he sent him off with wealth and riches beyond his wildest dreams.

May we all merit to return to our beloved creator with complete hearts!