Nefesh Hachaim #7: Shaar 1, Perek 6, part 3

In the first of the two long paragraphs here in Perek Vav, I think it works somewhere around

וזהו גם כן מאמר הוא יתברך אחר כך הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו ועתה פן ישלח ידו,

Perek Gimel Pasuk Chaf-Beis-Gimel, if you're using the Rubin edition.

ועתה פן ישלח ידו ולקח גם מעץ החיים ואכל וחי לעולם. והוא חפצו יתברך שמו להטיב לברואיו. ומאי אכפת ליה יחיה לעולם? אמנם רצה לומר שאילו היה אוכל מעץ החיים וחי לעולם,

if that would have happened, ישאר חס ושלום בלא תיקון. Since as a result of the chet there was this irbuvya, this confusion and mixture of ra and tov and tov and ra, so that if a person would be immortal in that state then that would result שלא יתפרד הרע ממנו עד עולם חס ושלום. So then the tov would never be separated out and purified from the ra ולא יהיה מאורות וטהרה מימיו and that would place a cap on what the person was capable of being mekabel and nasig.

ולזאת לטובתו גירשו מגן עדן כדי שיוכל לבוא לידי תיקון גמור כשיתפרד הרע ממנו על ידי המיתה והעיכול בקבר.

You mentioned Ramchal has this same understanding on misa that it allows for the separation of ra and tov of tov from ra. There's a midrash which the Rav used to quote in his drashos that וירא אלוקים את כל אשר עשה והנה טוב מאוד, so I don't remember the exact lashon of the midrash, something like בנוסחא של רבי מאיר, Rebbi Meir used to say טוב מאוד זה המוות. So according to Ramchal, according to Nefesh Hachayim, the pshat is tov me'od, again exceeding tov, the pure tov achar hachet what makes that possible is the reality of misa.

וזהו עניין הדורות שמתו בעטיו של נחש שאף שלא היה להם חטא עצמם כלל עם כל זה הוצרכו למיתה מחמת התערובת הראשון של הרע על ידי חטא אדם הראשון מעצת הנחש.

There is no notion of a burden of guilt that an individual has for the chet of Adam Harishon, that's not a Jewish concept. But the Nefesh Hachayim says, but the fact that human nature, human nature metaphysically changed, so in that sense the imprint of the chet of Adam Harishon is one that does affect every subsequent individual. וימשך העניין כן עד עת קץ הימין Bila hamaves lanetzach

וגם עוד יתרון שיתבער אז הרע מן העולם ממציאותו כמו שכתוב ואת רוח הטומאה אעביר מן הארץ. וכן המצוות כולם קשורות ותלויות במקור שורשן העליון בסדרי פרקי המרכבה ושיעור קומה של העולמות כולם ושיעור כל מה שלעומתם כולם שכל מצווה פרטית ושורשה כלולה בריבוא רבבן כוחות ואורות מסדרי השיעור קומה.

So the same way the neshama of of a person and its shoresh lemala contains within it the kochot hakedusha, in a similar similar sense whereas the physical embodiment and fulfillment of mitzvos happens here in our world, but the shoresh ha'elyon of of the mitzvos, there is a shoresh ha'elyon of of the mitzvos which again contain within them tremendous again spiritual forces, energies vechulu. So the more technologically advanced the world becomes, so the more meshalim we have in the physical world for this kind of idea of sort of an action setting off a whole chain reaction, triggering a whole whole chain reaction. And and that's a reflection, it's a symmetry of of again the relationship between say the physical ma'aseh hamitzvah and how that through the through the shoresh hamitzvah, how that releases and impacts the the briah.

כמו שאמר בזוהר ישראל ומצות התורה מסתחדין במלכא קדישא עילאה מהון ברישא דמלכא ומהון בגופא ומהון בידי דמלכא ומהון ברגלי דמלכא.

So the midos with which Hakadosh Baruch Hu relates to the briah can be mapped in the form of of the human body. That's what that's what this imagery reflects. Obviously not imagery of Hakadosh Baruch Hu chas veshalom, but meaning the midos, the sefiros with which Hakadosh Baruch Hu relates to the world. So they can be mapped in in a way that that corresponds to the human body and all the mitzvos hatorah have their root in that again spiritual reality which which can be diagrammed and and metaphorically described in in terms of of the human body. The idea here, and again a little bit of a nigladika dimension of it, is you see here that there is a basic underlying unity to all mitzvos hatorah. Right? We sort of think of mitzvos hatorah as discrete and independent, which they obviously are on on one level. One mitzvah isn't meakev another mitzvah. So obviously on one level they they are very much discrete and independent. And yet on another level in terms of ultimately, this again this imagery even if we don't really understand what it's about, but it's clear that what it does convey is a certain sense of a an underlying or how about a a supernal unity of all all mitzvos hatorah, right? כל מצות התורה מסתחדין במלכא קדישא עילאה. Similarly, the next quote that the Nefesh Hachaim quotes:

בשם הזה כלולם תרי"ג מצות שהם כללם של כל הסודות העליונים והתחתונים וכולם חלקים ואיברים.

What follows from this reality of Achdus Hatorah is that both the hashlama of the macrocosm as well as an individual the microcosm requires Torah b'shleimusa. Again משל למה הדבר דומה. Let's say a person wants to be healthy. A person wants to be healthy, so, okay, so I'll, I'll, I'll exercise my, my right arm and my right wrist and my right shoulder. Okay, so then the right side of me will feel good, but the left side of me is not going to feel good, or maybe my knees are not going to feel good, or maybe my, my heart is not going to be in such good health. If a person wants to really be in good health, so it means the entire body. You can't neglect any part of the body. And, and you, as your personal trainer tells you I'm sure, you have to do this, you have to do that, you have to have to do this for this part of you, you have to do this for your, for your aerobic exercise and this for your, for your muscle strength and this for, if, if a person's going to be in, in best shape, so it means the entire body, all of them has to be in, in good shape. The fact that, that Torah, which is the source of life and, and vitality, again, both for the macrocosm as well as the microcosm olam katan, the fact that there's an achdus hatorah also means that there is a sort of underlying unity to a person's health, and a person can't even compartmentalize his, his health. And the Rav Chaim Vital explains, and they quote, that that's the part of the remez, or one aspect of the remez of רמ"ח מצות עשה כנגד רמ"ח איברים and שס"ה מצות לא תעשה כנגד השס"ה גידים that the real correspondence is not to the physical body. But based on the pasuk in Iyov and elsewhere that a person's body is like a levush. So that means that if there are ramach eivarim in the physical body, so again if a person, so why does a suit jacket have two, two sleeves? Why does a shirt have two sleeves? Because a person has two arms. So the levush reflects what, what it's clothing, what it's, what it's intended to, to envelop. When a centipede goes to the shoe store, he buys 50 pairs of shoes, not, not one pair of shoes. And the levush has to is going to reflect what the metzius of that which it's enveloping. So the fact that the body has ramach eivarim means that there's some spiritual notion of, of ramach spiritual eivarim. And the fact that the body has shasa giddim is also a reflection of some spiritual reality. So the real correspondence says, says Rav Chaim Vital, is not between the mitzvos and a person's body, it's between the mitzvos and a person's spiritual reality because the physical reality, again, if a person is, is so tall, so that's, that's going to dictate what, what the suit size is. Because the levush is a reflection of the guf. So the same way the levush is a reflection of the guf, if the guf is only a levush to the, to the, to the spiritual reality of a person, so then whatever it means, but the correspondence of ramach and shasa is not to the physical body but is to the, is to the spiritual person. And that's the idea that again for a person to be healthy, the ramach eivarim have to be healthy. Torah b'shleimusa is, is necessary for shleimus ha'adam. How, how exactly is the mashal? We also say that like how, how precise is the mashal? Like could we also say that just because I have, I have let's say you know different parts of my body are in closer proximity to each other, that means that different, some mitzvos are more closely related? I don't know, I suspect, I don't know, but I suspect the answer is yes. I suspect the answer is yes.

ובעשות האדם מצוות קונו יתברך שמו ומקיים באיזה איבר וכוח שבו אחת ממצוות השם התיקון נוגע באותו עולם והכוח העליון המקבילו.

Again so every mitzvah in its physical manifestation in this world is rooted has its root in olamos elyonim. Every physical reality in this world is a reflection is animated by some spiritual koach force source of vitality. So when a person again in this world is mikayeim those physical embodiments of the mitzvos with his guf so in so doing התיקון נוגע לאותו עולם והכוח העליון המקבילו. The effect of that mitzvah registers again in the source of the mitzvah and given this equivalence between the guf ha'adam and the mitzvos hatorah. Again the mitzvos hatorah can be you can metaphorically diagram spiritual reality in the form of guf ha'adam. So every mitzvah is rooted in a certain part of the guf ha'adam and it's that part of the spiritual guf ha'adam of the individual which also becomes perfected through his kiyum hamitzvos and not only does the perfection affects the olamos elyonim it affects the person himself.

ובעשות האדם מצוות קונו יתברך שמו ומקיים באיזה איבר וכוח שבו אחת ממצוות השם התיקון נוגע לאותו עולם ושל כוח עליון המקבילו לתקנו ולהעלותו ולהוסיף בו קדושה על קדושתו מחפץ רצון עליון יתברך שמו כפי ערך ואופן עשייתה.

Not all mitzvos are equal. The more mehader a person is in a mitzvah the more kavanah lishmah so then the more powerful and the greater the effect of the mitzvah.

ולפי רוב ההזדככות וטהרת קדושת המחשבה בעת עשיית המצווה המצטרפת לטוב ולמעשה העיקר וכפי ערך ומדרגת אותו העולם והכוח העליון ומשם נמשך הקדושה והחיות גם לאותו כוח של האדם שבו קיים מצוות בוראו המכוונת כנגדו.

As it were it goes up it affects the olamos elyonim and then it affects that part of the person. V'zeh she'tiknu the next paragraph we have to try to be omed on there was a subtle point here.

וזה שתיקנו נוסח בברכת המצוות אשר קדשנו במצוותיו וכן וקדשתנו במצוותיך כי מעת שעלה על רעיון האדם לעשות מצווה תכף נעשה רישומו למעלה במקור שורשה העליון וממשיך משם על עצמו אור מקיף קדושה עליונה חופפת עליו וסובבת אותו.

So Nefesh Hachaim says something remarkable. One of the extraordinary things about Nefesh Hachaim is how he shows how so many of the ideas that he presents are just so necessary not for a deeper understanding but for a basic understanding for pshat hamilos. He says Asher Kidshanu Bemitzvosav what that means is he says really it should have been Asher Kidshanu says we think Asher Kidshanu should mean ich veice one of two things. Asher Kidshanu by giving us mitzvos Asher Kidshanu through kiyum hamitzvos. No he says what the words Asher Kidshanu Bemitzvosav means is the etzem fact of being metzuveh. The mitzvah k'she'le'atzmah itself is mekadesh the person which means and that's why it follows. כמי שעולה על רעיון האדם לעשות המצוה, the very minute a person is mekabel the mitzvah upon himself in the sense that he resolves to do a mitzvah, so Asher Kidshanu, the mitzvah itself, not just the kiyum hamitzvos is makadeish a person, it's not just that a person is mitkadesh through the asiyas hamitzvah, through the kiyum hamitzvah. No, the mitzvah itself is already makadeish the person, not rachmana litzlan if a person is ignoring the mitzvah. But the mitzvah itself and therefore the very moment a person again resolves to be mekayeim a mitzvah, so at that moment already Asher Kidshanu. That's what Asher Kidshanu means, Vekidshtanu BeMitzvosecha, that you sanctified us through your mitzvah, that the etzem hamitzvah is makadeish a person. And the minute a person again resolves to do a mitzvah, already then naaseh roshem lemailah, again this chain reaction is triggered where it affects, again, the that physical, that metaphysical reality above which is depicted in the form of guf adam, וממשיך משם to the corresponding part of his personal reality, על עצמו אור מקיף, he's enveloped by a light, וקדושה עליונה חופפת עליו וסובבת אותו. Vekosov meforash Vehis-kadshtem Vehayisem Kedoshim. So here the rayah I think is not so much this previous paragraph the Nefesh Hachaim tells us two things: A, he tells us that attainment of kedushah is basically a bilateral process. It's as it were a cooperative effort, meaning it begins with us, but then there's a kedushah which is bestowed. It begins with עולה על רעיון אדם לעשות המצוה and then mamsheich misham a kedushah elyonah which is chofefes alav. So there are two ideas here. A, number one, that kedushah, the process of attaining kedushah is a bilateral one. It's not one that a person is just makadeish himself, but that min hashamayim they makadeish him. And number two, it's also that that process begins already before the actual asiyas hamitzvah, before the actual kiyum hamitzvah, just through the resolve to do the mitzvah. Lichoira, the vekosov meforash is intended to further document and provide source for the first of the two ideas. I'm not sure that it's intended to also lend more support to the second of the ideas. Vekosov meforash bemikra Vehis-kadshtem, that's our part of the cooperative effort, of the bilateral effort, Vehayisem Kedoshim, that's min hashamayim, that's the complementary, reciprocal part of this cooperative effort, ukemamaram zichroinam livrachah כל המקדש עצמו מלמטה makadshin oso lemailah.

ורצה לומר שמלמעלה נמשך עליו הקדושה משרש העליון של המצוה.

Ukemo shekosuv baZohar מי שמקדש מקדש עצמו מלמטה makadshin oso lemailah,

שקדושת השם שורה עליו, אם מעשיו מלמטה הם בקדושה מתעוררת קדושה למעלה ובאה ושורה עליו ומתקדש בה.

VeHanchalas Sadeh and the last paragraph of Mesillas Yesharim, as you know, when he talks about about kedushah, so the Ramchal writes ענין הקדושה כפול הוא, again that it's bilateral,

דהיינו תחילתו עבודה וסופו גמול תחילתו השתדלות וסופו מתנה, והיינו שתחילתו הוא מה שהאדם מקדש עצמו וסופו מה שמקדשין אותו. והוא מה שאמרו

zichroinam livrachah, quoting the same gemara in in Yuma that the... So in Ramchal the bilateral nature of Kedusha seems to be more sequential in the sense that first a person spends years doing his half and then the Hashpa'ah mishamayim kicks in. In Nefesh HaChaim basically it's present at every step of the way. This bilateral reality of Kedusha is not just sort of over the course of a person's lifetime but every step of the way you have this kefaylus of Kedusha.

ובפרשת קדושים בשעה שאדם עושה מעשה למטה באורח מישור נמשך ויוצא ועובר עליו רוח קדושה עליונה ובאותו מעשה שורה עליו רוח קדושה ורוח עליונה ונתקדש בה.

Bo lehiskadesh, again Bo lehiskadesh, מקדשים אותו ככתוב והתקדשתם. Not just he's miskadesh a little bit, but Bo lehiskadesh מאינשא דההוא רעיין דההוא אדם, Bo lehiskadesh

מקדשים אותו ככתוב והתקדשתם שממשיך על עצמו רוח קדושה עליונה כמו שנאמר עד יערה עלינו רוח ממרום. ועל ידי זה הקדושה והאור המקיף הוא דבוק כביכול בו יתברך גם בחייו וזהו שאמר ואתם הדבקים בה' אלוהיכם גם בעודכם חיים כולכם היום.

The Nefesh HaChaim says something staggering. He says that when a person elicits the Kedusha mima'al, when that Kedusha encircles and envelops him, so kavyachol he's davuk b'Hashem. And then he adds on the next page, shehu mesovav, the end of the third paragraph, שהוא מסובב בקדושת המצווה ומוקף מאווירא דגן עדן. A person while in this world is surrounded, is encircled by the avira d'Gan Eden. The question is, the question is given this reality, so how come we don't experience it? How come I don't experience it? I won't project onto anyone else. What's pshat? How is that not that chush mushash? We're experiencing it but we're not recognizing that we're experiencing it. Maybe to a degree. But certainly lichora to a degree, the explanation also is the following. Let's say someone touches you softly over here. So if you're let's say you're wearing short sleeves so you'll certainly feel. Maybe even if you're wearing long sleeves but it's a thin shirt, you'll still feel. But the thicker, once it's a sweater or a jacket, so then you're less likely to feel it. And certainly if you're wearing a heavy, heavy fur winter coat, so then you're much less likely to be able to sense what's surrounding you and what's enveloping you. So avadah that's the reality. The Nefesh HaChaim tells us based on, based on what it says in Zohar HaKadosh and other sources, that that's the reality. So avadah that's the reality. And he obviously didn't have a question, isn't it chush mushash? He obviously was chush meier and that's the reality. I don't know, so the same way if you go like this to me, so I don't feel it through my winter coat, so all kinds of layers that we have, of layers of chomrius, layers of some other things which result from chomrius, so that prevents a person from, from experiencing it the way it can be. But the reality is, the reality is again that a person is mukaf with this avira d'Gan Eden. Just going back to fill in the lines that we'd skipped.

וזהו וזהו המקיף המלווה לו לעזר לגמור המצווה ועל ידי הגמר האור נתחזק יותר ויראה שהוא לו וזה על זה אמרו הבא לטהר מסייעין לו.

So it's this dynamic which is what Chazal are describing in הבא לטהר מסייעין לו - so it means haba letaher, the very minute that עולה על רעיון האדם לעשות המצווה, the very minute that a person resolves, so already then, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav, the mitzvah is mekadesh, the very kabbalas hamitzvah, the very resolve to do the mitzvah is mekadesh. That kedusha gives a person a boost and and helps him then go be mekayem the mitzvah. The pasuk in Tehillim, there's a pasuk in Tehillim that goes something like that ki lecha hachesed or something, אתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו. A pasuk like that in Tehillim. So the Sfas Emes says, why is that chesed? אתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו, that's din, that's not chesed. So the Sfas Emes explains: No, the emes is, every mitzvah a person does, a person does with tremendous siyata d'shmaya. So really, Hakadosh Baruch Hu should have discounted that much. Hakadosh Baruch Hu says look, we were partners in this. I did 99%, you did 1%. So I'll keep 99% of the schar, and you'll get 1% of the schar. No, אתה תשלם לאיש כמעשהו, the gevaldik chesed the Ribono shel Olam gives us schar for mitzvot is as though we did the mitzvah unilaterally, as though we did the mitzvah without any siyata d'shmaya.

גם רושמת וגוררת את לבו מזה לסגל עוד כמה מצוות אחר שהוא יושב עתה בגן עדן ממש.

When a person is being mekayem a mitzvah, so because he's enveloped with the kedusha, because he's יושב בגן עדן ממש, so then mimmela, that's why he's nimshach to do other mitzvot. חוסה בצל כנפי הקדושה ובסתר העליון. He's shaded and and protected by the umbrella of kedusha.

אין מקום ליצר הרע לשלוט בו ולהסיתו ולהדיחו מעסק המצווה.

So itachen that this reality that the Nefesh HaChaim is explaining to us explains, accounts for the, at least partially - I don't know if it does entirely, but but partially sometimes what will account for what Chazal tell us about

מצווה הבא לידך אל תחמיצנה. מצווה הבא לידך אל תחמיצנה,

so we think of it as just: okay, so it's a chashivut of a mitzvah. So if you ignore a mitzvah today, why should you be postponing the mitzvah till tomorrow? If you can do a mitzvah now, why should you be postponing the mitzvah till till 30 minutes from now? And the, but it is true on that level as well. But according to the Nefesh HaChaim, it's often going to be true on another level, that right now when a person has a hissorerus to do a mitzvah, maybe it's because of some kind of special level that he's on, and the procrastinating might not just make the difference between - he may forfeit that boost, that assist, that momentum which would allow him to do the mitzvah now, and if he loses the momentum, so who's to say if he's going to have that same momentum later? And if it's just the question of, well, I won't have done it and and showed the same chashivus, I won't have done it as promptly or punctually, no, itachen it could make the difference between how well I do it or even whether whether I do it. Could that also be a potential explanation of schar mitzvah mitzvah, that like that the schar of the mitzvah is the continuation of that kind of state of mind or that state of being? I think he, I don't know if he says it here, maybe he has it in Ruach Chaim, I think the Nefesh HaChaim does say that. Maybe he implies it to that as well. He's about to say mitzvah goreret mitzvah, but I think he also I think he applies it to that as well.

גם רושמת וגוררת את לבו מזה לסגל עוד כמה מצוות אחר שהוא יושב עתה בגן עדן ממש חוסה בצל כנפי הקדושה ובסתר העליון אין מקום ליצר הרע לשלוט בו ולהסיתו ולהדיחו מעסק המצווה זהו שאמרו שמצווה גוררת מצווה וכאשר ישים אלה ללבו.

the assiyas hamitzvah, yavin veyargish benafsho that

מסובב ומלובש כעת בקדושה, והוא פלא נתחדש בקרבו. וזהו שאמר הכתוב אלה המצוות אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם.

Bahem translates in them. בהם היינו בתוכם ממש. Babayis, in the house. Bahem, in them. Shehu mesovav, he's in the mitzvah in the sense that he's encircled, he's enveloped

אז בקדושת המצווה ומוקף מאוירא דגן עדן. וזהו ומזהה וסובב אותם. וכן ההיפך חס ושלום בעת עבר אחת ממצוות השם, אמר גם כן במאמרם ז"ל כל המטמא עצמו מלמטה מטמאין אותו מלמעלה. פירוש גם כן כנ"ל.

That what a person does in this world triggers a reaction in the olamos elyonim. It triggers a discharge in the olamos elyonim,

שמשתרש אותו האדם למעלה בכוחות הטומאה וממשיך אחריו לזו רוח הטומאה על עצמו וחופפת עליו והתבזו בהם וסובבתה. ואם הוא מטמא עצמו למעלה, מתעוררת למטה מתעוררת רוח טומאה למעלה ובאה ושורה עליו ונטמא בה. שאין לך טוב ורע קדושה וטומאה שאין להם עיקר ושורש למעלה.

Everything that a person does in this world, because ultimate reality isn't physical, so everything in this world has to have a shoresh lemalah. And it's that shoresh which is affected, which is triggered by what a person does in this world.

ובשעה שהוא עושה מעשה למטה בדרך לא ישרה עקומה, אז יוצא ושורה עליו רוח אחר. ועל זה אמר הכתוב ונטמתם בם.

Again, the same diyuk that bam, not through them, but in them.

היינו בתוכם ממש חס ושלום שהוא קשור ומסובב אז ברוח טומאה.

And here the opposite effect: ואוירא דגיהנם מלפפת ומקפת גם בעודנו חי בעולם. Kemo she'ameru razal,

כל העובר עבירה אחת בעולם הזה מלפפתו והולכת לפניו ליום הדין. וזהו שאמר דוד המלך עליו השלום עוון עקבי יסובני.

My sins encircle me. Now let's try to understand here the

ולזה יובן מאמרם ז"ל בפרק יום הכיפורים, גדולה תשובה שזדונות נעשות להם כזכויות. שנאמר ובשוב רשע מרשעתו ועשה משפט וצדקה עליהם הוא יחיה.

So the Nefesh HaChaim is about to talk about what the rayah is from the pasuk, but kimedumeh that he is also offering an extraordinary pshat in this whole musag of teshuvah. It's clear the way chazal depict teshuvah that teshuvah changes the past, which would seem to be an absurd notion. It's not just that teshuvah is a is sort of an amnesty mikan ulehabah that a person won't be punished rachmana litzlan. Not just an amnesty mikan ulehabah that he's given a clear record in terms of moving forward. No, when chazal say גדולה תשובה שזדונות נעשות להם כזכויות, so clearly chazal are telling us that teshuvah changes the past. But the question is isn't that an absurd concept? You can't change what was. So let's read again: ostensibly the Nefesh HaChaim is just solving a difficulty in what the proof text for the pasuk is, but in reality, he's he's doing more than that as well. He's explaining to us how teshuva works. לכאורה אין הראיה מוכרחת. The pasuk that Chazal quote that zedonos na'asos kischuyos doesn't seem to be compelling. Why? דברשע טפי יש לפרש דעליהם הוא יחיה it doesn't refer to the rasha that a person the aveiros that a person committed. It's rather it's referring to the antecedent for that is על המשפט וצדקה שעשה אחרי רשעתו. So where did Chazal see in this pasuk? Again, Chazal are understanding the pasuk that aleihem hu yichye means everything the rasha did in the course of his life berishaso. Says the Nefesh HaChaim, no, how do you know that's what aleihem hu yichye means? No. בשוב רשע מרשעתו ועשה משפט וצדקה so now moving forward the משפט וצדקה עליהם הוא יחיה. Well what's the raya from the pasuk?

ולפי מה שכתבתי הראיה לנכונה. לישנא דקרא דייק הכי, דקאי עליהם הוא יחיה על המשפט וצדקה.

If the antecedent of aleihem were the mishpat utzedaka in which he's presently engaged, hava lei lomei then the pasuk should have said bahem hu yichye וכמו שכתוב וחי בהם ukemo shenisba'er. That's the correct idiom. However, umideka'amar from the fact that the pasuk in Yechezkel says aleihem, ודאי דקאי על רשעתו ועונותיו הקודמים שעל ידי תשובתו let's try to a little bit try to understand these next two lines:

שעל ידי תשובתו בעזיבת מעשיו הראשונים ועשותו אחר כך משפט וצדקה המה יתגברו על מעשיו הראשונים להפוך גם אותם לזכויות וחיי עולם.

So lichora the idea the Nefesh HaChaim again just to try a little bit superficially, simplistically to understand. The idea the Nefesh HaChaim is presenting that explains how teshuva can and does function. When one thinks of a mitzvah in terms of if you measure it only in terms of a mitzvah means I listen to Hakadosh Baruch Hu and rachmana litzlan means that the person didn't listen to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. So what was was and what happened happened. So either a person was careful with his speech this morning or rachmana litzlan the person spoke lashon hara. Either he listened to the mitzvas HaTorah לא תלך רכיל בעמיך or rachmana litzlan he didn't. Either he bentsched after breakfast or he didn't and you can't change what was. But if every mitzvah, if every action a person does isn't just a question of did he comply or rachmana litzlan not comply, but every action creates a reality that's here. Right? When the person does a mitzvah so it creates a reality. That's what the thrust of this whole hagaha has been, right? That there's every action there's an embodiment of every action the person does. So then everything a person does is in the present. Do you hear? If an action just is, if you measure the action by okay look at everything a person did yesterday and then check it against the mitzvos HaTorah and then you can say so at this point he was doing what he was supposed to do and at this point he wasn't doing what he was supposed to do. So it was, you can't change what was, the past was and gamarnu. Okay, you can and when you cry over it on a certain level if a person thinks if that's the only dimension of actions, so then a person is crying over spilled milk because the milk is spilled already and that can't be changed. But if... On a spiritual and metaphysical level, everything a person does creates a reality, right? And that's the thrust of this Haggadah. So everything a person does is present. Everything a person does is present. And if everything I've ever done in my life, if everything each one of you has ever done in your lives, there's an embodiment of that which is present, so that can be transformed. But that can be transformed. And that's what the Nefesh HaChaim is saying. That's sort of what develops here. The fact that this perspective and understanding of actions or mitzvos or let's use aveiros, that they create, that they generate. So what the mitzvah creates, הן הטוב הן המוטב. What it generates, so that's present. And that's what the Nefesh HaChaim says,

שעל ידי תשובתו בעזיבת מעשיו הראשונים ועשה אחר כך משפט וצדקה המה יתגברו על מעשיו הראשונים,

because the ma'asav harishonim are embodied. They're there. And that's the pshat of aleihem hu yichyeh. And that's how a person can transform the past because the past, because whatever a person does becomes embodied in this reality that he created, that reverberates. That can be transformed. You hear what I'm saying? But that's not working retroactively though. That's only going on to it? I mean it's only from the point of teshuvah? You can't use that category. Exactly. Yes, it's affected by teshuvah, but yes, it's the whole point is this raises it above time. You can't measure it that way. If you are measuring it that way, then the answer is yes, it is retroactive. משל למה הדבר דומה. You're a tailor. Someone tells you to make them a sweater. And they wanted a blue sweater and you weren't listening carefully, you weren't thinking, you made a gray sweater. So you don't have to take everything out, right? When you dye the sweater, retroactively... No, that's not the point. That's not the point. In other words, after you dye the sweater, so you now have the right sweater by virtue of what you did. It's not helpful to try to force it into that category. If you want to, it really is retroactive on a certain level, but I don't know how helpful it is to try to frame it that way. Anyway, I just give this as a mareh makom and maybe we'll begin with this next time. If you take a look in the second half of Sha'ar Aleph, the part that's entitled Koach Hayotzer Sheba, beginning in os bais, and look at the discussion of teshuvah that the Rav has. And then maybe in the im yirtzeh Hashem maybe next Thursday, maybe we'll begin with this, which you'll see more.