Hilchos Teshuva 8: Clearing Away the Clutter

Even though it's after Rosh Hashanah and maybe revisiting the the Rambam about Shofar one last time. The Rambam as follows in Gimel Daled.

אף על פי שתוקע שופר בראש השנה גזירת הכתוב רמז יש בו.

Chomer עורו עורו ישנים משנתכם. But the Rambam says uru uru twice, this sense of urgency. והקיצו נרדמים מתרדמתכם וחפשו במעשיכם וחזרו בתשובה וזכרו בוראכם. Scrutinize your actions, do tshuva, remember Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Earlier in פרק ב הלכה א, the Rambam also identifies tshuva with remembering Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He has it twice in the halacha, but at the end of the halacha the Rambam writes אם לא שב אלא בימי זקנו. Excuse me.

אפילו עבר כל ימיו ועשה תשובה ביום מיתתו ומת בתשובתו,

even if a person Rachmana Litzlan is a chotei his whole life and does tshuva on his deathbed, kol avonav nimchalin. Shene'emar

עד שלא תחשך השמש והאור והירח והכוכבים ושבו העבים אחר הגשם שהוא יום המיתה.

Michlal שאם זכר בוראו ושב קודם שימות נסלח לו. So here too that same identification with the essence of tshuva means remembering Hakadosh Baruch Hu. When a person is cognizant of being in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, it inhibits cheit and it inspires living properly. But what's interesting is the sequence. In Bet Alef, the Rambam speaks of zachar bor'o veshav, remembering Hakadosh Baruch Hu doing tshuva. In Gimel Daled, the kol shofar if we discern what's implicit within it, tells us חזרו בתשובה וזכרו בוראכם. So in Gimel Daled, the Rambam first speaks of chizru betshuva, then zichru bor'acham, but in Bet Alef it's inverted. It's zichru bor'acham, it's zachar bor'o veshav. So what's the significance of that change in sequence? So lichora the pshat is very simple. We I think we mentioned the first time maybe in the very first chabura about this halacha in Gimel Daled, my father zichrono livracha's he'ara about how the kol shofar the Rambam says is addressed to someone where the root cause is not cheit per se but just his total preoccupation with and immersion in nonsense and futility and emptiness and hollowness. That's the context in Gimel Daled. It's not referring to an extreme case of a person Rachmana Litzlan who's on his deathbed. In that case, a person has to first throw away some of the clutter of his life before he's going to be able to recognize Ribono Shel Olam. When he's tailgating before the football game, there's no room to discern Hakadosh Baruch Hu's presence there. There the person is has this sense of emptiness. So chizru betshuva, distance yourself from that. Then if the person clears away some of that clutter in his life, he makes room for zichru bor'acham. I think it says in Sifrei Chassidus where's Ribono Shel Olam, wherever you let him in, but but first we have to make room to let him in. Ma she'ein kein, the Rambam in Bet Alef is talking about the extreme case of where a person's on his deathbed. When a person's on his deathbed all the clutter is cleared away. There is no clutter. He can either Rachmana Litzlan keep his eyes closed and and not and not see what's in front of him, or no, he can open his eyes and and he can be zocheh bor'o and then and then that will be the sequence of zachar bor'o veshav. Kol tuv.