Hilchos teshuva 6

It's difficult to get a handle on Perek Aleph of Hilchos Teshuva. If we just sort of get an overview, you run through the Perek to get an overview, it seems to be a collection of disconnected halachos. The Rambam begins with Mitzvas Vidui. That's Halacha Aleph. Halacha Beis is Seir HaMishtaleach. What's the Seir HaMishtaleach doing over here? I don't know what the Seir HaMishtaleach is doing over here. He seems to have lost his way, no? He belongs where he is in הלכות עבודת יום הכיפורים. What's the Seir HaMishtaleach doing over here? Adderaba, and what's he doing in Hilchos Teshuva? The Seir HaMishtaleach is the one exception to where it's poel to a certain extent even without Teshuva. But whatever, he's over here in Halacha Beis, the Seir HaMishtaleach. Then Halacha Gimmel is the Rambam talks about bazman hazeh, we don't have the Seir HaMishtaleach, we don't have Korbanos. Then Halacha Daled, Rambam tells us the Chilukei Kappara, the gimmel chilukei kappara. It doesn't hang together. It seems to be again the Rambam stringing together what are really thematically disconnected halachos. One question. Another question, which what we were discussing yesterday really shines a spotlight on, is that the chronology within Hilchos Teshuva is very strange. The Rambam begins with Vidui even though Vidui comes after Teshuva. At this point we don't even know what Teshuva is. The Rambam says כשיעשה תשובה וישוב מחטאו חייב להתוודות. And then in Perek Beis, so the Rambam has to backtrack and tell us ma hee hateshuva. So wouldn't it make much more sense to begin with Perek Beis, איזו היא תשובה גמורה, ma hee hateshuva, and then you can talk about the Vidui? She-ella mai, l'chora the pshat is as follows. We, yeah, when we were talking about the fact that the Rambam never mentions mitzvos d'rabbanan, so we suggested the following mahalach. That really the basic mitzvas teshuva is not a chiddush of the pasuk but is something that it's misvara. Right, we saw that the Rambam in Perek Hei, כיון שכן הוא נמצא זה החוטא הוא הפסיד עצמו, Hei Beis,

ולפיכך ראוי לו לבכות ולהתחנן וראוי לנו לחזור בתשובה ולעזוב רשענו.

And we showed what the word ra'uy means sometimes in the Rambam, how the Rambam uses the word ra'uy. So the basic chiyuv teshuva is not what the pasuk comes to teach us and again, it's a chiyuv, it's an. absolute chiyuv, but it's not the Mitzvas HaTorah. The Mitzvas HaTorah is the viduy. So mimaila, the Rambam wants to begin Hilchos Teshuvah by focusing on the Mitzvas Asei, which is what in quotation marks forces him or what what makes it compelling to begin with viduy even though obviously a viduy only happens כשיעשה תשובה וישוב מחטאו. But אף על פי כן you have to begin Hilchos Teshuvah by talking about the Mitzvas Asei, which is in Hilchos Teshuvah. The Mitzvas Asei of Hilchos Teshuvah is וידוי זה מצות עשה. So mimaila that's why the Rambam's beginning with viduy not with mah hi ha'teshuvah because it's the viduy which is a chiddush of the pasuk rather than rather than than teshuvah. Now the Minchas Chinuch already points out, the the Rav elaborates upon this in Ish HaHalacha. The Rambam writes again continuing a little bit here in Halacha Aleph beyond where we've seen until now

וכן בעלי חטאות ואשמות בעת שמביאין קרבנותיהן על שגגתן או על זדונן אין מתכפר להם בקרבנם עד שיעשו תשובה ויתודו וידוי דברים שנאמר והתודה אשר חטא עליה.

So even though the person does teshuvah and even though he's mechuyav a chattas, he brings the chattas va'asham he doesn't have kaparah without the viduy. So viduy is me'akeiv. So Minchas Chinuch asks a kasha, the Minchas Chinuch's famous kasha that the mishna says in Kiddushin that hamikadesh es ha'isha he said

אמר לאשה הרי את מקודשת לי על מנת שאני צדיק גמור

is harei zu mekudeshes, the Rishonim explain it means safeik mekudeshes because שמא הרהר תשובה בלבו. Meaning even though this guy is a rasha gamur, his picture's up in every post office you know he's number one here on the list, a m'yuchas, he's number one on the most wanted list there in all the post offices and then he goes to the isha and says על מנת שאני צדיק גמור so she's a safeik mekudeshes. Why? שמא הרהר בלבו תשובה. Says the Minchas Chinuch but we were listening, we didn't hear any viduy, shema hirher, and again Chazal only say shema hirher belibo, ayn hachi nami, there's there's an acknowledgment that he wasn't misvadeh. So says the Minchas Chinuch צדק לחוד כפרה לחוד meaning that teshuvah is po'eles to transform the person from a rasha to a tzaddik and viduy is not me'akeiv for that. A teshuvah belo viduy does transform the person from rasha to tzaddik hence the safeik, maybe he was a tzaddik when he was when he was mekadesh her. Viduy is me'akeiv in again, it's a part of the Torah's expanded mitzvas teshuvah but it's me'akeiv in kaparah. But the teshuvah which is again which is misvara that that transforms the person from rasha to a tzaddik, viduy is not me'akeiv for that. Oh, so nimtzeinu l'meiddem that the Rambam again begins with viduy because that's what the Mitzvas HaTorah is and apropos of that perek aleph is about kaparah. What what the unity here of perek aleph of Hilchos Teshuvah is that פרק א הלכות תשובה if the Rambam had a table of contents, so he would have said that perek aleph is about kaparah or מצות וידוי והמסתעף ממנה לגבי כפרה why's the transition, how do you segue from mitzvas viduy to kaparah? The fact that viduy is me'akeiv in kaparah, but but again there is a chalos teshuvah even without even without being mekayeim mitzvas viduy, there is a chalos teshuvah ve'haraya from Kiddushin. So that's why even though the Rambam ends up saying כשיעשה תשובה וישוב מחטאו before he's defined what teshuvah is, but that's that's why the Rambam adopts the seder as as we have it. From Kiddushin. So that's why even though the Rambam ends up saying כשיעשה תשובה וישוב מחטאו before he's defined what teshuva is, but that's why the Rambam adopts the seder as we have it. Just one point that I came upon with this kapara. He's no longer a rasha, right? He's no longer he's no longer a rasha. He gets to get kapara and be a tzadik gamur? No, the kapara the kapara requires the—no. He said it starts with teshuva. Therefore, so why can't he start with perek bais and then have perek aleph? Because you can't be a tzadik gamur in order to... Because the mitzvah mechudeshes—no, the Rambam does say כשיעשה תשובה וישוב מחטאו. He doesn't just say chayav lehitvados. But the Rambam understandably wants to begin Hilchos Teshuva by focusing on what's contained and mandated in the mitzvas haTorah, in the mitzvas haTorah. The mitzvas haTorah for the Rambam doesn't mandate the teshuva. Where does the chiyuv teshuva come from then? So that's what we said from Perek Heh. It comes from the ratzon. It comes from the ratzon. So the Rambam wants to begin Hilchos Teshuva with what's mandated by the mitzvah, by the mitzvah. That is viduy. Again, agam that that means saying כשיעשה תשובה וישוב מחטאו without having defined teshuva. Okay, but the Rambam's willing to pay that price because that's the priority is to be able to begin Hilchos Teshuva with the associated mitzvah in the Torah. Now heyos that that associated mitzvah is identified with kapara, it's not me'akev in teshuva, it's me'akev and the raya from Kiddushin, but it is me'akev in kapara. So so apropos of of viduy, so the Rambam talks about kapara. And and that's how again the—so he talks about the kapara of sa'ir hamishtale'ach, he talks about the kapara of Yom HaKippurim, and then he talks about the gimmel chilukei kapara which he presents in Halacha Daled.

וכן כל מחויבי מיתות בית דין ומחויבי מלקות אין מתכפר להם במיתתם או בלקייתם עד שיעשו תשובה ויתודו. וכן החובל בחברו או המזיק ממונו אף על פי ששילם לו מה שהוא חייב לו אינו מתכפר לו עד שיתודה וישוב מלעשות כזה לעולם שנאמר מכל חטאת האדם.

The sequence is in the last case is different, right? By the chatas and ashams, the Rambam says the chatas and asham will only be mechaper עד שיעשו תשובה ויתודו. Teshuva, viduy. Misa malkos would only be mechaper עד שיעשו תשובה ויתודו. But by the chovel b’chaveiro or mazik mamono it's ad she’yisvada ve’yashiv. So he inverts the sequence here. Okay, so maybe we'll come back to that question. We'll see. Halacha beis: Seir Hamishtaleach לפי שהוא כפרה לכל ישראל. Kohen Gadol misvadeh alav al lashon kol Yisrael shene'emar והתודה עליו את כל עונות בני ישראל. Seir Hamishtaleach mechaper על כל עבירות שבתורה hakalos vehachamuros.

בין שעבר בזדון בין שעבר בשגגה בין שהודה ובין שלא הודה הכל מתכפר בשעיר המשתלח

vehu she’asa teshuva.

אבל אם לא עשה תשובה אין השעיר מכפר לו אלא על הקלות. ומה הן הקלות ומה הן החמורות? החמורות הן עבירות שחייבין עליהן מיתת בית דין או כרת

u’shvuas sheker

אף על פי שאין בה כרת הרי היא מן החמורות ושאר מצוות לא תעשה ומצוות עשה שאין בהן כרת הן הקלות.

Seir Hamishtaleach is the way we pasken, not like Rebbe. Seir Hamishtaleach is unique in that there is kapara even without teshuva. Right? On kalos, aseh and lo sa'asehs where there's no chiyuv kares or misas beis din, so Seir Hamishtaleach is mechaper even without teshuva. Now generally when someone gives us a present we don't ask too many questions. You want to give me a present so we don't do too much drisha v'chakira about presents. But how does this work? How do you have kapara without teshuva? So the Rav explains as follows: What's the opening line here in the halacha? שעיר המשתלח לפי שהוא כפרה לכל ישראל. So the Rav explains as follows: the background to this is a yesod that I think we've, I don't know if we've had occasion to discuss this year or not, but the Rav explains the Meshech Chochma has a similar idea, that Klal Yisrael is not just sort of a, I don't know, a massive partnership of millions of yechidim but Klal Yisrael is its own, I think in English the Rav used to say, its own metaphysical entity. It's not that Klal Yisrael is that there are millions of yechidim who are Jews, and if you want to refer to all of them together, so then you call them Klal Yisrael. No, that would be sort of a, you know, a massive partnership. Klal Yisrael means that there is an independent metaphysical entity of Klal Yisrael. And how do you see this in halacha, the Rav says? So you see that the Gemara in Temurah says as follows: there's halacha l’Moshe m’Sinai of chamesh chatos hamessos. There are five chatos that you just have to let the animal die. You can't be makriv it, you can't be podeh, you can't do anything, just have to let the animal die. And one of it is a chatas shemesu ba’aleha. So what happens if A person was mafrish a chatas, he ate cheilev b'shogeg and was noda lo, הודע אליו חטאתו אשר חטא, so he was mafrish the animal to be a chatas for his, for his aveira, and then he dies before having a chance to be makriv that chatas. So chatas shemeisu boaleha is tomus. So the gemara says that even theoretically, not just practically, even theoretically there's no such thing as חטאת הציבור שמתו בעליה. If it was a chatas that was hufresha for I don't know chatas of Rosh Chodesh or chatas of Yom Tov, when the tzibur is bringing the chatas, so even theoretically, not just practically, even theoretically there's no such thing as tzibur shemeis. Why is there no such thing? There's no one alive today who was alive 150 years ago. So the tzibur of 150 years ago died and now there's a new tzibur. So the Rav says no, you see here in halacha this idea, it's not just a machshavdik idea. No, it's in halacha, you see that Klal Yisrael is this metaphysical eternal entity, and it's the same Klal Yisrael that exists today that stood at the foot of Har Sinai and was mekabel Torah. That's why other places where you see this in halacha is why does the kabbalah of earlier generations bind us? Why does the kabbalas HaTorah bind us? Why does the kabbalah of that even though Tefillas Maariv me'ikar hadin reshus but shavyuha aleihu chova? So no one consulted me, they didn't ask me about that, I never signed off on having to daven Maariv every night. So why is that kabbalah binding, why is that kabbalah binding for me? So the teretz to again these questions v'chayoitzei bahem is because the kabbalah was made by Klal Yisrael and we are the same Klal Yisrael. It's not that we're their eineklach. No, we are the same Klal Yisrael. Tzibur doesn't die. We are the same Klal Yisrael. That's the background. That's what the koach, then you have sort of you have microcosms of Klal Yisrael. The din let's say of a minhag hamakom being binding is also it's a microcosm, fine. Says the Rambam now, when a yachid brings a chatas, so then he's sort of applying for as it were kapara b'toras yachid. The Seir Hamishtaleach is a kaparas hatzibur. That's what the words mean, לפי שהיא כפרה לכל ישראל, it's not a kapara on five million yechidim, it's a kapara again on this eternal metaphysical entity of Klal Yisrael. That's what the Seir Hamishtaleach is. Mimeila says the Rav, that's how you have the possibility of kapara even though maybe I personally didn't do teshuvah, but the kapara is not coming to me b'toras yachid. The kapara is coming to me because I'm a part of the klal and sort of on the coat-tails of the klal, that's how I get the kapara even without having done teshuvah. I think he adds, this is in I think Hilchos Teshuvah. I think he then adds, although I'm not sure if I'm remembering the whole mahalach, that what's the chiluk between kalos v'chamuros? Again, bracketting shvuas shav and shvuas sheker for today. That if a person is chayav kares, so how does the Torah describe kares? ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מעדת ישראל. Right? The Torah describes a chiyuv kares as sort of separating the person from Klal Yisrael. Oh, so that's the pshat. How is how does a yachid ever get kapara without teshuvah? How can there be kapara without teshuvah? The teretz is because he's not receiving it b'toras yachid. He's a part of the klal and the rabbim are entitled to what Hakadosh Baruch Hu said. The rabbim are entitled to kapara and he's a part of the klal. What happens if he did something which separates himself from the klal? So then of course he's not going to get that kapara. He won't get that kapara. Good, you're asking very well. Okay, so there's something missing in what I'm quoting. That's, you're right. I don't remember what it is, but you're right. You're right. Unless it could be I may be transposing what the Rav said with the shitas Rabbi by Yom Kippur to this where you don't have your kasha. So I don't know, I have to go back and check. But your question is right, your question is definitely right. Okay, we'll stop here for now. Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos, thanks for all your help.