The Secret Power of the Mouth

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah

Parshas Nitzavim contains a verse which is very relevant for Elul: “For this matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it” (Devarim 30:14).

The Ramban (ibid.) explains that the matter “in your mouth and in your heart” refers to doing teshuva. The teshuva done through the heart is the abandoning of the sin and the regret one feels for what he has done, and his resolve never to return to his evil ways. The teshuva done through the mouth refers to the vidui (confession) one says at the end of the teshuva process.

However, vidui is the final step of the teshuva process (Rambam Laws of Teshuva 2:3). If the word “mouth” in this verse refers to vidui, why does it appear before the word “heart?” The steps are out of order!

Similarly, Rav Aharon Kotler asks, the Selichos that we begin saying in Elul have two parts: we ask Hashem’s mercy; and we say vidui. Why do we say vidui? Vidui is the final step of the teshuva process, and yet we are saying it even on the very first night of Selichos. Isn’t it too early for this?

Rav Kotler answers that indeed, the main vidui is at the end of the teshuva process, when we stand before Hashem and declare that we have sinned and we have already regretted this and are ashamed of this (ibid. 1:1). Nevertheless, we say an additional vidui at the very beginning of the teshuva process, in order to wake ourselves up to the fact that we have to do teshuva. The Torah alludes to this additional vidui by placing the word “mouth” before “heart” in the verse cited above. Without saying this vidui, we might not realize that we’ve done anything wrong at all! In this additional vidui, we are confronted by alarming words— Ashamnu, we are guilty, bagadnu, we have rebelled, gazalnu, we have stolen, etc.

This additional vidui is important because many of us have a tendency to think: “Me? I sinned? What did I do? I don’t shoplift, I don’t drive on Shabbos!” One feels offended at the very thought that he may have misbehaved. By saying the words of vidui — “we are guilty, we have rebelled” — and thinking about what they mean, this will hopefully get us to look into our ways and find things that need correcting. Even if a Jew does not rebel in a major way, perhaps in minor ways his behavior does not reflect the importance of Torah and mitzvos.

For example, a person is in the middle of a learning seder and steps out of the beis medrash for a few minutes because he feels he needs some fresh air. This may be justified. But if he steps out because he sees someone else step out and he wants to chat with him — isn’t this at least a minor display of rebellion against Hashem?

Moreover, the more we look into our actions, we may see things we know are wrong, but since we’re in the habit of doing them, they seem mutar to us, as Chazal say (Kiddushin 20a) that if a person does a sin three times, from then on it seems to him permissible.

The Yad Ketana (Laws of Teshuva 1:4) adds another point about vidui: By simply saying the words of vidui, we tap into a hidden power within us that wants us to do teshuva. Saying words helps plant within us a will to change. This is inferred from the Rambam’s ruling (Laws of Divorce 2:20) that if a husband refuses to give his wife a divorce, “he is forced until he says ‘I want.'” Now, a forced get is not halachically acceptable, so what difference does saying “I want” make? Rather, Chazal knew that within this man is a will do to what Hashem wants. Only, his yetzer hara covers up this inner will. Even though force is being applied on him, ultimately it is he who opens up his mouth and says “I want.” By getting him to say these words, this allows him to tap into his own sincere will to do the right thing — to the extent that this get is halachically valid!

In our case, speaking about teshuva can shake us out of our complacency and get us on the path to true self-change. For example, a person has a grudge, and he has reasons for it, but he knows that the Torah wants him to act friendly with the person who wronged him. “I can’t,” he thinks to himself, but if he would turn to Hashem and express, in words: “Hashem, please help me and take away my bad feelings toward this person. I know this is Your will, so help me to do it, to be a Jew who lives at a higher level.” Just saying these words will tap into an inner will we may never realize we possessed, and give us that extra bit of strength we need to do teshuva.

Rav Dof Yaffe relates that once, a truck driver set out to work in the middle of the night. Like many secular Israelis, he had no connection to Judaism, except for some vague memories from his childhood. As he drove on to the narrow highway entrance, he suddenly saw two headlights coming toward him — another truck was speeding in his direction! There was no room to veer to the side of the road. A head-on collision was inevitable. ..

He pounded on the horn of his steering wheel, flashed his high beam lights, but the truck kept getting closer.

“Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem echad!” the truck driver heard himself scream, as he closed his eyes and braced himself for the worst.

The moment passed, he looked again through his windshield and saw that nothing had happened. The oncoming vehicle? Did it just disappear? He would never know.

One thing this truck driver did discover was that inside of him was a verse from the Torah that he hadn’t thought of in years.

“Where did those words come from?” he began thinking to himself. “If I said them, it means they were always there. Just who am I, really?”

The more he thought of this, the more this truck driver began what would become a process of teshuva, until he became a fully observant Jew.

May we access our hidden potential and do teshuva!