Elul 5785 – Hilchos Teshuva 1: Teshuva as a Fundamental of Judaism

Maybe the this year will begin before Hilchos Teshuva, Rabosai. The Rambam places Hilchos Teshuva in Sefer Hamada. In the Hakdama to the Yad, the Rambam explains that

ספר ראשון אכלול בו כל המצוות שהן עיקר דת משה רבנו.

I include in the first of the Yad-Daled Sefarim Mishneh Torah those mitzvos which are fundamental, foundational, שצריך אדם לידע אותם תחילה הכל. So how does Hilchos Teshuva fit that profile? So the Rambam has the same idea when he talks about the Ta'amei Mitzvos. The Rambam in his discussion of Ta'amei Mitzvos divides all mitzvos into fourteen groups. And he says the first of the fourteen groups is כוללת המצוות שהן דעות עיקריות. I think Ibn Tibbon has shorshiyos, meaning they're foundational, they're roots which support the tree.

והן שמנינו אותם בהלכות יסודי התורה בקבוצה זו גם התשובה.

The same idea. But in what sense is Teshuva so foundational? So the Rambam explains,

ברור שגם התשובה בקבוצה זאת כלומר שהיא מן הדעות שבלעדי האמונה בהן,

if a person doesn't believe in the possibility and the efficacy of Teshuva, לא תסתדר מציאותם של אנשים בני תורה. You couldn't have religious life without Teshuva, מפני שבהכרח אדם טועה ונכשל. Just about inevitably a person stumbles,

או שמתוך בערותו הוא מעדיף דעה או מידה שבאמת אינה מועדפת.

He aligns himself with a he subscribes to a view, he cultivates a wrong mida, a wrong view, a wrong mida, או שתאווה או כעס גוברים עליו, or taiva, anger, overcome him, overwhelm him. ואילו האמין האדם ששבר זה לא ניתן לאיחוי לעולם, if a person contrapositive, if a person were to believe that this break couldn't be healed, haya masmid betauto, so he would continue in his wayward path. ואולי היה מוסיף על מריו, and maybe he would even compound that rebelliousness, מכיוון שלא נותרה לו עצה. Now to sharpen what the Rambam says, maybe we'll contrast for a minute to the Ramban. Ramban in the Hakdama to Sefer Devarim explains that in the beginning of Sefer Devarim,

טרם שיעסוק בביאור התורה התחיל להוכיחם ולהזכיר להם עונותיהם כמה ימרו במדבר וכמה התנהג עמהם הקדוש ברוך הוא במידת הרחמים.

For what purpose did Hakadosh Baruch Hu review all the chataim and review all the how much just how magnanimous Hakadosh Baruch Hu was with his Midas Harachamim? So one of the goals is

לחזק ליבם בהודיע אותם כי במידת הרחמים יתנהג עימהם לעולם. שלא יאמר אדם לא נוכל לרשת את הארץ. כי אין אדם אשר לא יחטא ומיד תהיה מידת הדין מתוחה כנגדו ונאבד לכן הודיע משה רבינו הקדוש ברוך הוא רחמן ומלא רחמים כי הסליחה והמחילה ממנו יתברך סיוע ועזר לבני אדם בעבודתו וכעניין שאמר הכתוב כי עמך הסליחה למען תורא.

So Ramban says that if a person didn't believe in the possibility of mechilas avonos, so then we would all be fatalists because we'd say... possibility of obtaining slicha mechila, so then the person won't fall into that trap of fatalistic despair. And that's pshat כי עמך הסליחה למען תורא as the Ramban. Now what the Rambam is saying though is not the Ramban. The Rambam is saying a different very profound idea. The Rambam doesn't mention mechila, he doesn't mention slicha. The Rambam says אילו האמין האדם ששבץ זה לא ניתן לאיחוי לעולם. When a person sins, he damages his nefesh. If a person were to believe, the Rambam is not talking about liability, culpability, onesh. He's talking about the self-harm that's inflicted rachmana litzlan through cheit, the damage that one does to oneself through cheit. If a person didn't believe that that damage could be repaired, that's why he would have despaired. Not because of the, the Rambam is not focused on the on the accountability and and the onesh rachmana litzlan. The Rambam's talking about that for a person to persist in avodas Hashem, he has to know that he can heal from cheit. He has to know that he can repair the damage from cheit. Now this is something that we'll see other reverberations of b'ezras Hashem as we continue in Hilchos Teshuva, but the Rambam is clearly highlighting teshuva not as an instrument for attaining slicha mechila, it obviously does that as well, but the Rambam's defining teshuva again in terms of the spiritual repair and the spiritual rebuilding which teshuva represents.