Lifnei Hashem Titharu

Rabbeinu Yonah in Sha'ar Harevi'i of Sha'arei Teshuva famously writes,

ועל מה שאמרו רבותינו ז"ל כי על כריתות ומיתות בית דין תשובה ויום הכיפורים תולין וייסורין ממרקין,

that for averos chamuros in order to attain full kapparah, so teshuva and Yom HaKippurim have to be supplemented by yisurim. Yeish shaylah: והלא כתוב מכל חטאתיכם לפני ה' תטהרו. Doesn't the pasuk seem to assert that kapparas Yom HaKippurim is complete for kol chatosaychem? V'hatshuva b'zeh:

כי מה שנאמר לפני ה' תטהרו מצוות עשה על התשובה. לפני ה' תטהרו מכל חטאתיכם לפני ה' תטהרו

is not a haftacha, it's an imperative. Ve'af pi

כי מה שנאמר לפני ה' תטהרו מצוות עשה על התשובה שנחפשה דרכינו ונחקורה ונשובה אל ה' ביום הכיפורים.

It's a chiyuv teshuva on Yom HaKippurim. Ve'af pi שנתחייבנו על זה בכל עת, החיוב נוסף ביום הכיפורים. There's an additional obligation on Yom HaKippurim. והטהרה אשר בידינו היא התשובה ותיקון המעשים. The pshat in Rabbeinu Yonah when he says that there is a החיוב נוסף ביום הכיפורים is not merely that on Yom HaKippurim there's a kefel ha'asei, and that all year long it's one asei and on Yom HaKippurim it's a double asei. But rather there would seem to be a fundamental difference in the chiyuv teshuva. The chiyuv teshuva all year is occasioned by yedias hachet. If a person is aware of chet, או הודע אליו חטאתו אשר חטא, a person is aware of chet, so that's michayev him to do teshuva. On Yom HaKippurim the chiyuv nosaf is shenechapesa deracheinu venachakora. That a person should replay the events of the year and try to uncover, discover chato'im that until this point he's been unaware of.

ואף פי שנחפשה דרכינו ונחקורה ונשובה אל ה' ביום הכיפורים.

When a person has yedias hachet, so he doesn't have to go searching and scrutinizing. How, but how is that in the pasuk? The pasuk says מכל חטאתיכם לפני ה' תטהרו. Where does Rabbeinu Yonah see there that the chiyuv of nachpesa deracheinu venachakora? Tahara for our purposes is characterized by the following two facts. Number one: whatever tumah d'oraissa a person has, there's no such thing as tahara lachatzayin. There's no such thing if a person is tamei meis that he becomes... half tahor and he remains half tamei meis. There's no such thing if he's tamei sheretz that he dispels half the tumah but half the tumah remains. Tumah and taharah is all or nothing. Either the person is tamei or the person is tahor. There's no taharah lachatza'in. Number one. Number two. Tumah and taharah is not a function of a person's knowledge. If unbeknownst to the person he walked into an ohel meis, he's tamei. Objectively he's tamei meis. He may at the moment be unaware of that fact, but he's tamei meis. מכל חטאתיכם לפני השם תטהרו. The chiyuv teshuvah all year long when there's yedi'as hachet, a person is mechuyav to do teshuvah. Teshuvah can be focused. Teshuvah can be compartmentalized. A person can be doing teshuvah for one chet and there may be another chet which remains outstanding that a person still has to do teshuvah for. It doesn't invalidate the teshuvah for this. But there's no half measures in terms of taharah. When the Torah formulates the chiyuv teshuvah belashon taharah, not just belashon veshavta, but belashon taharah, so that implies that it has to be entirely, and it also implies that the person has to do his best to uncover, to discover chata'im that he may have been unaware of until now. And that's how Rabbeinu Yona, again, once he sees that the word titharu is an imperative, that's what indicates the difference between the chiyuv teshuvah of Yom Kippur and the chiyuv teshuvah of all year. But let's try to a little bit deepen our understanding. And let's maybe take a mashal. Let's say you have someone who's appropriately mindful of dressing neatly, respectably. So if he's aware of the fact that there's a stain, he'll rub it, he'll apply a little water to it, he'll do his best to remove the stain. If he knows that his tie is askew, if he notices that his tie is askew, he'll straighten it up. But even a person who's appropriately conscious of being dressed neatly, respectably, he's not going to run around every five minutes looking in the mirror, you know, did I just get a stain? You know, is my tie still straight? He's aware of a stain, so he attends to it. He's aware that he needs to tuck his shirt in, he tucks his shirt in. But let's say this same individual, he's going for a job interview, for a job that, a really good job. He really wants it, really seems like a good fit. So then, it's not only that if he's aware of a stain that he'll put some stain remover on it. No, then he's going to sort of proactively look, and he's going to check his suit very well. He's going to fix his tie a couple times, look in the mirror and fix his tie. Lifnei Hashem, Yom Kippur is a day of lifnei Hashem. When a person is lifnei Hashem, it's not enough to respond when there is yedi'as hachet. Lifne Hashem is mechayev a person to look to see if there are chata'im of which he's unaware. Lifne Hashem is mechayev a person to ascertain that he's doing his best to be in a state of tahara. And that yitachen is the difference, the sort of in terms of mechayev between the mitzvah's teshuva all year long and that of Yom Kippurim, that the mitzvah's teshuva all year long, the mechayev is yedi'as hachet, chet, yedi'as hachet. And the mitzvah's teshuva on Yom Kippur, the mechayev is Lifne Hashem. But let's perhaps yitachen find and the braisa towards the end of masechet Yoma,

תנו רבנן מצות וידוי ערב יום הכפורים עם חשכה אבל אמרו חכמים יתודה קודם שיאכל וישתה שמא תטרף דעתו בסעודה ואע"פ שהתודה קודם שאכל ושתה יתודה לאחר שיאכל וישתה שמא אירע דבר קלקלה בסעודה ואע"פ שהתודה ערבית יתודה שחרית

etc. So the Ran quotes a very beautiful and very compelling pshat from the Ramban. Ramban says הכי קאמר מצות וידוי של ערב יום הכפורים doesn't mean in Tfillas Arvis. מצות וידוי של ערב יום הכפורים שצריך להתוודות קודם. A person is supposed to say viduy before Yom HaKippurim im chasheicha as the day is turning, as one stands on the cusp of Yom HaKippurim, שצריך להתוודות קודם שיכנס ליום בתשובה. A person should enter Yom HaKippurim already biteshuva.

הוא עם חשכה סמוך ליום עצמו כדי שלא תהא שהות לחטוא בין הוידוי והיום.

So yitachen that the Ramban in one sense, Rabbeinu Yonah himself does not say this, but the Ramban really takes the Rabbeinu Yonah and one step further, that not only is Lifne Hashem mechayev in teshuva, but before the person enters Lifne Hashem, that's already mechayev. Again think to the mashal, right? It's not when the person's in the middle of the interview that he begins checking to make sure that his suit is clean and pressed. It's before he enters. Okay, that's one perspective on Rabbeinu Yonah's chiyuv teshuva on Yom Kippurim, the mechayev is Lifne Hashem. But let's perhaps explore a second, not so much alternative, but complementary perspective. Rambam writes here in Perek Beis, Halacha Zayin,

יום הכפורים הוא זמן תשובה לכל ליחיד ולרבים והוא קץ מחילה וסליחה לישראל לפיכך חייבים הכל לעשות תשובה ולהתוודות ביום הכפורים.

So what does the Rambam mean that יום הכפורים הוא זמן תשובה לכל? I mean clearly he doesn't just mean that it's one of the aseres yemei teshuva because he's singling out Yom Kippurim. Above and beyond the previous nine days, Yom Kippurim is a zman teshuva. And that musag, that metzius of Yom Kippurim being a zman teshuva... zman teshuvah is what triggers the chiyuv to do teshuvah. So what does he mean that it's a zman teshuvah? So yitachen is as follows: We pasken like the Chachamim that Yom Kippurim is mechaper lashavim. It's an interesting expression that we find in Chazal when we talk about kapparas Yom HaKippurim. We find in Chazal that the Rambam preserves it as well. Perek Aleph, Halacha Gimmel, Atzmo or sometimes we have itzumo. עצמו של יום כיפורים מכפר לשבים. Yom Kippurim itself is the source of kappara. עצמו של יום כיפורים מכפר לשבים. I think the Rav zechono livracha said that the pshat in the pasuk כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם is that the beis doesn't translate as on. It's not on this day he will atone, he will grant you atonement. It's rather through the instrument of this day, right? Becharbi u-vekashti. Sometimes the beis has the sense of the instrument that's being used. אשר לקחתי מיד האמורי בחרבי ובקשתי. Ki vayom hazeh doesn't mean on this day, through this day. The day is the mechanism for kappara. The kedushas hayom of Yom HaKippurim, Hakadosh Baruch Hu endowed the kedushas hayom with this potency that it's mechaper. The Rav tells the story. Some had a minhag to be makpid to finish Ne'ilah before shkiya, right? We obviously don't do that. So he tells the story that he was outside with his father and they saw the sun setting on Yom HaKippurim. And that his father said to him, this shkiya is different than shkiya every other day of the year. This shkiya is mechaper. Ki vayom hazeh through the instrument of this day, the kedushas hayom of Yom HaKippurim is mechaperes. But we pasken like the Chachamim, it's mechaperes lashavim. So now is like this. The pasuk ki vayom hazeh according to Rabbeinu Yonah lichora seems to be backwards. The pasuk כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם that's talking about the kappara Hakadosh Baruch Hu grants. מכל חטאתיכם לפני ה' תטהרו talks about our chiyuv to do teshuvah. So heyos that Yom HaKippurim is only mechaper lashavim the pasuk should have said sequentially

מכל חטאתיכם לפני ה' תטהרו כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם.

Why why is the sequence as it is? So yitachen the pshat is as follows. What is the Rambam saying? יום הכיפורים הוא זמן תשובה לכל. How does the Rambam know it? Because the kedushas hayom is a kedushas hayom which is mechaper lashavim. The day is a day of kappara for shavim. So it means the very kedushas hayom it's a zman of teshuvah. That's in the kedushas hayom. And the fact that that's the kedushas hayom is mechayev to do teshuvah. The kedushas hayom... The Kedushas Hayom of Yom Kippurim is a Kedushas Hayom of tshuva and kapara. It's a zman tshuva and mimmela that's what's mechayev to do tshuva. And that yitachen is the pshat in the pasuk according to Rabbeinu Yona: כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם. You want to know what Asiri BiTishrei is? What the Kedushas Hayom is? The Kedushas Hayom is a Kedushas Hayom of tshuva and kapara: כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם לטהר אתכם. And that fact, that underlying Kedushas Hayom, is what's mechayev you מכל חטאתיכם לפני השם תטהרו. So perspective number one, the mechayev of Rabbeinu Yona's special, additional mitzvas tshuva on Yom Kippur is lifnei Hashem. Mechayev number two is the Kedushas Hayom of Yom Kippurim because it's a Kedushas Hayom which is mechaper l'shavim. So it means that the day is a day which is a zman tshuva ve'kapara. כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם. It's a zman tshuva ve'kapara. יום כפור הוא זמן תשובה לכל ליחיד ולרבים. Right, the kapara is given to yechidim betoras yechidim. It's given to the rabim betoras rabim. שעיר המשתלח לפי שהוא כפרה לכל ישראל. The Kedushas Hayom is a Kedushas Hayom of tshuva and kapara, lepichach, mimmela, that's what's mechayev in the tshuva. You know, understandably, whether physically or whether religiously, sometimes we're afraid of Yom Kippur. Physically it's a demanding day. It's a long, enervating ta'anis. So it's a formidable challenge just physically. The awareness that it's the zman of chasima is also something that instills yira and pachad. But that's not supposed to eclipse the recognition and appreciation of the incredible beauty and opportunity of the day. It's a day that a person spends lifnei Hashem. We're elevated. We all live on a different plane on Yom Kippur than ordinarily. It's a day of tremendous sacred beauty and also such a tremendous day of opportunity. And the appropriate yira and pachad. Needs to be blended with an appreciation of and even an enjoyment of spending the day lifnei Hashem. Good yom tov. Shana tova.