Parshas Yom Kippur Issue
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
We are now in the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur traditionally known as the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, the “Ten Days of Repentance”. And as our Sages taught in the Talmud Rosh Hashanah 16b: “A person is judged on Rosh Hashanah and his decree is sealed on Yom Kippur”. So this is definitely a good time to start doing Teshuvah. [You know what they say: “Better late than never!”]
Rabbeinu Yonah of Gerona (1200-1263), a great Torah scholar and spiritual leader of Spanish Jewry, wrote the classic work Shaarei Teshuvah (“Gateways of Repentance”) to teach his generation (and all of us) how to do Teshuvah properly. [I guess you could say that he literally “wrote the book” on Teshuvah!]
According to most Halachic authorities, there are actually three main principles that comprise “basic” Teshuvah: Regret, Confession (Vidduy), and Forsaking Sin. There are also many higher levels of Teshuvah as well. [Indeed, Rabbeinu Yonah writes that there are a total of twenty Principles of Teshuvah that one must fulfill in order to attain a “perfect” Teshuvah” (see Shaarei Teshuvah Shaar 1:19)
Problem is that many of us get stuck at the very first principle – the Principle of Charatah (Regret). We know we should be feeling this “vague” remorse for our sinful actions of the previous year, but is that all? Are we missing something here? It all seems just too easy and mechanical!!
So I thought that this year I would briefly share with you excerpts of Rabbeinu Yonah’s explanation of the Principle of Regret (see Shaarei Teshuvah Shaar 1:10), so that this way you will know exactly what you should be thinking about as you attempt to fulfill this Principle of Teshuvah.
[Ed. note: I will add comments as necessary to help us better understand Rabbeinu Yonah’s words. – dz]
“Now we will explain the principles of repentance. The first principle is regret: One should understand in his heart that it is terrible and bitter that he abandoned G-d and sinned.
[Ed. note: Rabbeinu Yonah is revealing to us here that for one’s regret to be genuine and successful, he must be aware that sinning, at its core, is not just doing a bad deed, but rather abandoning and distancing himself from G-d. -dz.]
“And you should take to heart that there is punishment, vengeance and full retribution for every sin, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 32:35), "Mine is vengeance, and retribution." And it is further stated (Job 19:29), "You should fear the sword, for [G-d’s] wrath against sin [brings] the sword.”
[Ed. note: The foundation of Teshuvah and the root of proper Regret is the awareness and clarity one has that there is Reward and Punishment in This World and in the World to come.- dz]
"And he should regret his bad deeds and say in his heart, "What have I done? How did I not have the fear of G-d in front of my eyes, and did not become afraid from the rebukes I would I earn for my sin and from the harsh judgments? …for many are the agonies of the wicked. I had no mercy on my body; and for a moment of pleasure, my eyes did not pity its being destroyed. I became like a man who robs and extorts, eats and is satiated; but who knows that after his eating and his drinking, the judge will grind his teeth with gravel - like the matter that is stated (Proverbs 20:17), 'but later his mouth will be filled with gravel.'
“And worse than this, I was cruel to the precious soul that I possess, and it has been contaminated by the filth of my Yetzer Hara [‘Evil Urge’]. Now what has my soul accomplished with all of its positive achievements, if it is evil in the eyes of its Master?
[Ed. note: When a person sins against G-d, even the good deeds that he performs are no longer accepted favorably. -dz]
“And how could I have been so foolish as to trade away for the sake of momentary pleasure in a fleeting world, the eternal pleasure of a world that endures for ever and ever?”
“How could I have behaved in a manner comparable to that of animals? As I have gone after my impulse like a horse, like a mule that does not understand. And I have strayed from the path of intelligence. And behold the Creator blew a living soul into my nostrils – that is wise-hearted and of fine intellect - in order to recognize Him and fear Him and to govern over the body and all of its actions, like it governs over the other animals that do not speak, because it is precious in His eyes. And since I was created for this purpose [of having my soul rule over my body], but I have acted in the opposite manner, allowing my body to control my soul, what is the justification for my life? It is like the matter that is stated (Proverbs 21:16), 'A man who strays from the path of the intellect will rest in the congregation of the lifeless.”
“Moreover I have not [even] acted in the manner of an animal, but have sunk lower than it, or the ox knows its master and the donkey the trough of its owner; whereas I have not known and not reflected. And I have sent my soul to be free from its master.”
[Ed. note: A final point of regret – the most powerful point of all … -dz]
“So I have tasted my nectar, but forgotten my end.”
[Ed. note: I.e., I succumbed to temptation for the sake of a fleeting pleasure (“nectar”), forgetting that my Day of Reckoning will come. -dz]
“And I have stolen and extorted and trampled upon the indigent. I have not remembered the day of death, upon which nothing will remain before my soul besides my corpse and my burial plot."
[Ed. note: In summation, Rabbeinu Yonah has set out for us seven aspects of regret that we should be focusing on as we attempt to feel Charatah, the very first Principle of Teshuvah: (1) The pleasure of sin is outweighed by the pain of punishment in this world; (2) sin contaminates the soul; (3) by sinning one loses his share in The World to Come; (4) in being led by lust, one acts like an unintelligent beast; (5) the Creator gave man an intelligent soul to rule over his body, and one whose body rules his soul cannot justify his existence; (6) by forgetting one’s Master, the sinner acted even lower than animal; (7) when one dies, the pleasure of the sin will be long forgotten, but the reckoning for it will remain.-dz]
HAVE A SAFE AND MEANINGFUL FAST!
[Sources: Shaarei Teshuvah (“Gateways of Repentance”) by Rabbeinu Yonah of Gerona; English translation courtesy of Artscroll Mesorah Publishing and Sefaria.org]
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