Teshuva, Rosh Hashana

Wanted to begin this week be'ezrat Hashem by reviewing some I think inyanei malchuyos that we've discussed in past years. The mishna in Rosh Hashana בראש השנה כל באי עולם עוברים לפניו כבני מרון. What does exactly k'vnei maron mean? The Gemara has a few pshatim. One of them is k'vnei maron, the Gemara on yud-ches says אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל כחיילות של בית דוד. Like the soldiers in the army. Rashi כחיילות של בית דוד. K'vnei maron כבני חיילות של מלך. מרון לשון מרות ואדנות. So according to this understanding in the Gemara, the lashon k'vnei maron in the mishna is those who are subjects of the king. Maron lashon marus acknowledging mastery v'adnus and sovereignty. So the simple pshat is lashon marus v'adnus, chayalos shel melech, that the melech is exercising his melucha. He's sending out his forces to battle, the nimshal being that Hakadosh Baruch Hu judges every yachid v'yachid. It's possible that there's another layer of meaning here as well. Rosh Hashana is a Yom Hadin. In addition to being a Yom Hadin, Rosh Hashana is also the first of Aseres Yemei Teshuva. In both of those capacities, Rosh Hashana is a time for teshuva. Right? As in the immortal words of the Rambam in perek gimmel of hilchos teshuva by tekias shofar

עורו ישנים משנתכם והקיצו נרדמים מתרדמתכם חפשו במעשיכם וחזרו בתשובה וזכרו בוראכם.

So Rosh Hashana is a time for teshuva. The Rambam in perek aleph of hilchos teshuva that a person can't attain kapara, can't attain slicha u'mechila without vidui. Mimeila, Rosh Hashana is a Yom Hadin, Rosh Hashana is the first of Aseres Yemei Teshuva, so clearly we have to see to it that we go about a teshuva sheleima. And yet halo davar hu, we don't say vidui on Rosh Hashana. We don't say vidui on Rosh Hashana. There's no vidui in the Rosh Hashana Machzor. The Arizal says the closest thing which perhaps we would otherwise have to vidui, the first line in the Avinu Malkeinu אבינו מלכנו חטאנו לפניך should also be omitted. According to the nusach Arizal, you begin with אין לנו מלך אלא אתה. You don't say אבינו מלכנו חטאנו לפניך. So how can it be that the day of din, the Yom Hadin, the first day of Aseres Yemei Teshuva, we're instructed to omit that which is absolutely me'akeiv in teshuva? Let's leave the question aside for a minute. Forgetting for a moment the fact that vidui is me'akeiv in teshuva, so how would we understand this again, leaving that question, that perspective aside? How would we understand the absence of vidui on Rosh Hashana, leaving that question aside? So lechora as follows. The Malchiyos of Rosh Hashana as distinct from קבלת עול מלכות שמים all year long is that on Rosh Hashana, as absurd as it might ever otherwise have seemed to us had it not been requested by Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so we coronate Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It’s a time of Hachtara, a time of coronation. Imagine for a moment a coronation of a Melech Basar Vadom. So imagine all the pageantry and imagine all the celebration. And of course the essence of all the celebration, of all the pageantry, is everyone professing their absolute loyalty and obedience to the king, identifying themselves as loyal subjects that the king’s wish is their command. In the midst of this celebration of the coronation, someone comes up to the king and says very, very tearfully, full of remorse and regret, and says: forgive me. He kneels, he prostrates himself, he says: forgive me, Your Highness. He says last month when Your Highness visited our village, the village where I reside, so perhaps Your Highness remembers that there was one person who was yelling out insults and all kinds of curses and then even threw things at the king. That was me. And I feel terrible, I’m humiliated about my behavior and please forgive me, I’ll never ever do it again. So what’s our reaction? So the reaction is that everything has a time and a place and at the moment of coronation when the idea is to express absolute obedience, subordination, hishtabdus and hisbatlus, you can’t even allude to the possibility of disobedience or disrespect. The very mention of the possibility of disobedience or disrespect already detracts from the coronation because the hachtara precludes any such possibility, any such hava amina. So that was not the time for this person to be begging forgiveness from the king. That’s why on Rosh Hashana there’s no Vidui. That’s why the Arizal says he can’t even say chatanu lefanecha on Rosh Hashana. You can’t mention cheit on Rosh Hashana. The mere mention of cheit, to eat something where the gematria is within one of cheit, so the minhag Yisrael is that we don’t do. The very notion, any allusion to cheit is already antithetical to malchiyos. So that’s why we takeh don’t say Vidui on Rosh Hashana. But that doesn’t answer the question. The question still remains, but that leaves us in a situation of a Yom Hadin of the first of the Aseres Yimei Teshuva and we’re handicapped. We’re gagged, as it were, and prevented from doing that, from saying that which is meakev in a proper teshuva. Heitachan? And Shabbos says that

כל המשמר שבת כהלכתו אפילו עבד עבודה זרה כדור אנוש מוחלין לו שנאמר שומר שבת מחללו אל תקרי מחללו אלא מחול לו.

Okay, so you learn this Gemara, it gives us a sense for the power of shemiras Shabbos. But the emes is, how are we to understand? How is it possible that כל המשמר שבת כהלכתו is mochalin lo? Again, the same kasha. Where was the chelkei hateshuva? Where was the viduy? Where was the nechama?

ובושתי במעשי עשיתי כך וכך ולעולם איני חוזר לדבר זה.

He didn't say that in Shabbos. So apparently what the Gemara in Shabbos suggests to us is that at certain times there's a parallel track and whatever every other day of the year can only be accomplished through teshuva which is accompanied by the articulation of viduy, at certain special times that can be accomplished through other means. One example is Shabbos. So what is it about shemiras Shabbos which is responsible for the me-chalalo for mochul lo? Two years ago we spent a lot of time talking about Shabbos. Bekitzur, the Gemara tells us, it's a Gemara in Bava Kamma, a Gemara in Shabbos, that Rabbi Chanina would say at the time of Kabbalas Shabbos בואו ונצא לקראת שבת המלכה. I don't know if the Rambam had a different girsa in the Gemara. The Rambam instead of talking about Shabbos malkesa belashon nekeiva talks about Shabbos hamelech belashon zachar. Either way, for our purposes, Shabbos is also, in a different sense than Rosh Hashanah, but is also a time of malchiyos, of malchus shamayim. The reason all melacha has to cease on Shabbos is because when the melech comes to visit so all stores close down, everything stops, everything comes to a standstill, and everyone goes to see the melech who's visiting. Shabbos is a day where if we're zocha we see an aspect, a dimension of malchus shamayim that we don't see all week, if we're zocha. When a person experiences malchiyos so that's the antithesis of cheit. Cheit means that I ignore, I push aside, I override the tzivuy of the melech malchei hamelachim and I cater, I succumb to my whims, my desires, my taivos, my yeitzer horas, my weakness, my flaws. Malchiyos, a real emesdike malchiyos, is exactly the opposite of that. Apparently what the Gemara in Shabbos is teaching us is that in a zman of malchiyos, in a zman that the Torah identifies as a zman. Malchiyos. A person accomplishes through Malchiyos what a whole year long can only be accomplished but dafka if he claps al cheit and he says the viduy expressing the teshuva. On a zman of Malchiyos, at a time of Malchiyos, that can be accomplished through Malchiyos. And hence, כל המשמר שבת כהלכתה. Again, so the obvious question is the redundancy, you can't be meshamer Shabbos in any other way other than kehilchasa. So what's pshat kehilchasa? So apparently it means kehilchasa like Tosafos says in Shabbos by הדן דין אמת לאמיתו. The same apparent repetitiousness, Tosafos says it means le'afokei din merumeh. Din merumeh means that formally, procedurally everything is correct. The edim have been nidrash ve'nechkar, haven't been able to budge the eidus. Procedurally, formally, everything is correct. But the dayanim sense that something is not right, so they're not allowed to pasken and say שיהא הקולא תלוי בצואר העדים, they have to be mistalek from the din. It has to be emes la'amito, not just emes superficially, formally, procedurally, it has to be real emes, emes la'amito. Similarly, apparently to be meshamer Shabbos kehilchasa means not just not to be borer, and not to be dash, and not to be zoreia, and not to be metaltel muktzeh, and to say Kiddush. Now that's kol hameshamer Shabbos. כל המשמר שבת כהלכתה means that a person experiences the kedusha of Shabbos. Shabbos was a day of Malchiyos, it was ישמחו במלכותך שומרי שבת. It was

ביום השביעי נתעלה נתעלה וישב על כסא מלכותו. כל המשמר שבת כהלכתה,

Malchiyos accomplishes in a zman of Malchiyos what otherwise requires the formal steps and stages of teshuva. Lichora, that's the pshat, that's the answer to the question which we raised legabei Rosh Hashanah. How can it be that in Rosh Hashanah, the Yom Hadin, first of aseres yemei teshuva, how can it be that we're muna from saying viduy? Okay, so we understand why that has to be, because the viduy is a stira to Malchiyos. But isn't that moneia our attempt to gain kappara, to gain slicha mechila? And the answer is no, the answer is if a person takes advantage, again Rosh Hashanah is certainly a zman of Malchiyos. In the same way it's true that on Shabbos, on the zman of Malchiyos of Shabbos, if a person only takes advantage of that zman, if a person only takes advantage of that zman, אפילו עבד עבודה זרה כדור אנוש מוחלין לו. So that's the pshat on Rosh Hashanah as well. The equation between Shabbos and Rosh Hashanah, again Shabbos is a zman of Malchiyos not of hachtara, not of coronation, but more of gilluy malchus. Rosh Hashanah is a time of Malchiyos in the sense of hachtara. But the common denominator that they're both zmanim of Malchiyos is reflected in another sense as well. The Gemara in Rosh Hashanah asks: what's the significance of the number 10 that Chazal... assigned that there should be ten pesukei malchuyos, ten pesukei zichronos, ten pesukei shofros. Vus epas ten? The Gemara gives three answers. The Gemara says either it's keneged the עשרה מאמרות שבהן נברא עולם or it's keneged Aseres Hadibros or it's keneged the ten Hallelukas in the final kapitel in Tehillim, the final kapitel of our pesukei dezimra. What's it got to do with the psukim of malchuyos, zichronos, and shofros? Lichora the pshat is as follows. Rashi al hadaf is misyaches to this question as well. Lichora the pshat is as follows. There were three times, three stages, three zmanim of malchus shamayim. The first one was through berias haolam. לעת נעשה בחפצו כל אזי מלך שמו נקרא. The first stage, the first zman of malchus shamayim was through berias haolam. Hakadosh Baruch Hu בטרם כל יציר נברא was molach as a verb, ואחרי ככלות הכל again as a verb yimloch nora, but as a noun אזי מלך שמו נקרא. So berias haolam was the first zman, the first stage of malchuyos. The second stage of malchuyos, the Mechilta tells us that there's a kabbalas malchus and after there's a kabbalas malchus the melech is gozer gezeiros. The second stage of malchus was maamad Har Sinai, was when Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us the Torah at Har Sinai. The last zman, the last stage of malchuyos is

ועלו מושיעים בהר ציון לשפוט את הר עשו והייתה להשם המלוכה ביום ההוא יהיה השם אחד ושמו אחד.

Mashiach tzeit, leosid lavo. That's what the Gemara says, the three possible mekoros that the ten psukim of malchuyos is either the עשרה מאמרות שבהן נברא עולם, Aseres Hadibros, or the ten Hallelukas. Halelu Kel bekodsho. The Targum says is in the Beis Hamikdash. So we're only going to be able to be mekayem that. Bemachol is also עתיד הקדוש ברוך הוא לעשות מחול לצדיקים. The ten Hallelukas will only can only be implemented leosid lavo. On Shabbos you have this also. Kayadua, as as all the sefarim explain, the Friday night Shmoneh Esrei is keneged berias haolam. We quote the psukim of vayeichulu. The Shabbos morning Shmoneh Esrei keneged maamad Har Sinai, ישמח משה במתנת חלקו. And the Shabbos Mincha Shmoneh Esrei, אתה אחד ושמך אחד, leosid lavo. The same three zmanim of malchuyos. Probably next week, probably בעזרת השם בלי נדר we'll have occasion to talk about different aspects of malchuyos. But for now just one one last one last thought. So if only, if only we can really, really experience malchuyos, what we can accomplish is virtually unlimited. Everything is nimchal. But how do you do that? How do you do that? It seems to be a very forbidding task. The braisa in Rosh Hashana tes-zayin

מפני מה אמרה תורה הביאו לפני עומר בפסח כדי שתתברך לכם תבואה שבשדה ומפני מה אמרה תורה הביאו שתי הלחם בעצרת כדי שיתברכו לכם פירות האילן ומפני מה אמרה תורה נסכו מים בחג כדי שיתברכו לכם גשמי שנה.

Okay. You do A so you'll have a zchus so Hakadosh Baruch Hu will reciprocate and do B. You bring the omer Hakadosh Baruch Hu will will see to it you have a good a good grain crop. You bring the shtei halechem Hakadosh Baruch Hu will see to it that the fruit crop is good.

ומפני מה אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא אמרו לפני מלכויות כדי שתמליכוני עליכם.

So this is circular. This isn't like the other three. It's like saying מפני מה אמרה תורה הביאו עומר כדי שתביאו עומר. So A it's circular, B it doesn't follow the pattern of the other three. So the teretz is that what the gemara means is like this. It's one thing to say malchuyos. It's another thing to feel malchuyos. It's another thing to feel malchuyos. What is it to feel malchuyos in the sense of Unesaneh Tokef chila ureda yo'cheizun? To feel malchuyos in the sense of hisbatlus la'Hakadosh Baruch Hu. To feel malchuyos in the sense of שום תשים עליך מלך שתהא אימתו עליך. It's one thing to say malchuyos, it's a much taller order to feel malchuyos. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu knows that. So he says imru lifanai malchuyos. Say malchuyos as sincerely as you can. Concentrate, concentrate on the words vayehi vishurun melech. Concentrate on the words Shema Yisrael. Concentrate on the words of malchuyos. Say it as sincerely, as wholeheartedly, invest yourself in it as much as you can. Make hachanos for malchuyos as best you can. And bizchus that istaka Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to do something different than what we're doing. We bring the omer Hakadosh Baruch Hu is mevareich the tevu'ah shebasadeh, we bring the shtei halechem he's mevareich the peiros ha'ilan, we bring the mayim he's mevareich the gishmei shanah. We say the malchuyos he lets us feel the malchuyos. He lets us feel the malchuyos. Not like the Mesillas Yesharim says about kedusha. Only the beginning of it is human initiative. After that, it's a gift from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. אמרו לפני מלכויות כדי שתמליכוני עליכם. Yitachein that when the gemara in Rosh Hashana explains that nidonim kivnei maron עוברים לפניו כבני מרון. So again we saw that Rashi says kivnei maron כבני חיילה של מלך. Could be that tartei mashma. Not only in the sense that it's the melech's prerogative to send the forces out to battle, but it's kechayala shel melech that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will look upon us on the Yom Hadin as people who are mikabeil malchuyos and a person who is mikabeil malchus, a person accepts, does his best, makes his effort, takes his step to experience malchuyos, so then like the gemara in Shabbos says that אפילו עבד עבודה זרה כדור אנוש מוחלין לו.