Beha’aloscha 5784: Understanding the Ways of Hashem (II)

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Part 1: Gilgulim: Understanding the Ways of Hashem (II) (5780)

Part 2: Teshuva Comes From Shabbos (5769)

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Part 1

Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakai – Yosef’s Gilgul

The Ramchal writes, in Derech Hashem, about the concept of gilgulei neshamos, how a person could come back in different forms.^[i] As a matter of fact, one person can even have a number of neshamos. There are many people who don’t understand what motivates them and where they get their koach from. The gemara (Bava Metzia 84a) tells us, for example, that Rabbi Yochanan said: אנא מזרעא דיוסף קאתינא, “I come from the offspring of Yosef.” Rav Chaim Vital explains that Rabbi Yochanan was a gilgul of Yosef Hatzaddik. Rabbi Yochanan had a terrible experience in his life where he had ten sons, illustrious sons, all of whom died (Brachos 5b). I’m sure many of us would have thought Rabbi Yochanan had a very bad ayin hara. Rabbi Yochanan was one of the most beautiful human beings around. Rabbi Yochanan had ten amazing children. If a guy would lose ten kids, what would everybody say? Ayin hara. But since Rabbi Yochanan said אנא מזרעא דיוסף קאתינא, the gemara says, he wasn’t afraid of ayin hara. The gemara says that Rabbi Yochanan used to sit outside the ladies’ mikvaos so that when they would come out, they would see him, they would look at his face, and then they would give birth to beautiful, special children.

They asked him: “Are you concerned about ayin hara?” He said, “No.” Everybody would have thought all his tzaros in his life are because of ayin hara. That’s what everybody says today. It had nothing to do with ayin hara. He told them, “I’m from Yosef. I don’t have any ayin hara.”

This is part of the gilgul haneshamos. Rabbi Yochanan said he was from Yosef. He now became the father of ten sons who were all gilgulim of the ten sons of Yaakov. He understood clearly that these neshamos were born to him so that they should experience a tikun. Rabbi Yochanan was supposed to bring them to their tikun. And he did. And each one of them died when they fulfilled their tikun. They didn’t die young. There are many people who have children who die young. A neighbor ran them over. They fell into something. They tripped on something. Crib death. They choked. Whatever the story is. You have to know a lot of these things are just gilgulei neshamos. These souls were given to a person to raise them and bring them to a tikun. So a person has to feel lucky that they brought this child, this neshamah to a tikun, and not feel bad for the loss.

Bear Story in the Catskills

Now, I always tell a story that took place a number of years ago in the Catskill Mountains. There was a woman who put her baby on the porch outside the back of her house. The next thing she sees is a black bear on her porch that had come straight out of the woods. She didn’t see the bear coming, but it climbed on the porch, took the child’s head in its mouth and sauntered away. That, the lady saw. I can only imagine the nightmares and how bad she felt. Did she do anything wrong? Not in the least bit. Putting your child on the back porch is not a problem. It’s a gated porch. But it wasn’t designed for bear protection.

Now, there’s no safek in my mind that this child had a neshamah that came back to earth and needed to go through a tikun and that was its tikun. As horrifying as it is to all of us and to that mother, but if a person understands the darkei Hashem,then they’re capable of accepting things like this.

The Gilgulim of Rav Chaim Vital

Rav Chaim Vital (1543-1620) was the star pupil of the Arizal (1534-1572). The Arizal moved to Tzfas from the land of Mitzrayim. In Mitzrayim, Hashem started to reveal His secrets to the Arizal, and over there he was told that he should move to Tzfas because in Tzfas there is a person named Chaim Vital. By moving to Tzfas the Arizal would be able to teach Torah to Rav Chaim Vital. The Arizal was told that the only reason he was to be in Tzfas was to teach Rav Chaim Vital. And not only that, the main reason why the Arizal came back to the world during that lifetime – this is 1571, more than four hundred years ago – was for the purpose of bringing Rav Chaim Vital to his perfection and to his hashlamah. The Arizal didn’t come for himself. He had no need to come back on his own.

You see from here that sometimes a neshamah can be sent back to this earth just to complete someone else.

It wasn’t incumbent upon the Arizal to teach any person other than Rav Chaim Vital Torah. And if not for the fact that he was teaching Rav Chaim Vital Torah, he would not need to remain in this world.

Rav Chaim Vital writes that the Arizal told him as follows: “He said to me that my neshamah comes from high places and I could have a tremendous aliyah through my existing neshamah, through my actions. I could rise above the highest of heavens.” (Sha’ar Hagilgulim, Hakdama 38).

“I asked him to tell me what the shoresh of my neshamah is. He didn’t want to explain all the details to me, but he said, I’m going to reveal to you some general principles.” He said, a number of lifetimes ago, there was a person named Rebbi Chaim Vidal (Vidal of Tolosa, late 14th century). He authored a famous sefer on the Rambam called the Maggid Mishneh. That’s the same name that you have now. Now your name is Chaim Vital. The name of the Maggid Mishne was Chaim Vidal. The daled and the tes are interchangeable.

Then the Arizal said to Rav Chaim Vital, “After the Maggid Mishneh, you came back as a gilgul of a man named Rav Shaul Trishti. And then you came back in the gilgul of a neshamah named Reb Yehoshua Soriano. Reb Yehoshua was a very rich man. He was a chacham. He was a ba’al tzedakah. He was somebody who came early and stayed late in the batei kenessios and the batei medrashos. Then afterwards, you came back as a gilgul, as a bachur named Avraham, who died when he was thirteen. The next time you came back is right now, and you are therefore called Chaim Vital, after your original name.”

Then  the Arizal revealed why the last three gilgulim came back.

Listen to this because it’s very insightful. Rav Chaim Vital writes: “The Arizal told me that every gilgul that I came back for was for me to be mesaken something that I did wrong in my previous gilgul. The Maggid Mishneh had to come back. He was a tremendous tzaddik, a tremendous talmid chacham. But he sinned inadvertently.” For example, if one had some sand in his shoe and was unaware of it on Shabbos, that would be an aveirah b’shogeg.

This is unbelievable. Speaking about carrying inadvertently on Shabbos, I once saw a talmid chacham who I consider a very big talmid chacham. It was before Shabbos, and he was checking his suit that he was going to wear for Shabbos. He was looking to see if there was any lint and was picking each one out. He was mamash checking his garment like it was a sefer Torah. I said, “What in the world are you doing?” He said, “It’s shtait in halachah. You’re supposed to check your garments beforehand so you don’t walk out carrying something by mistake.” He was checking each pocket inside out. I was thinking, “Wow!” Then I remembered this story about Rav Chaim Vital (and although the aveirah b’shogeg in that story was different), I said, that’s exactly what could happen if we inadvertently forget. We walk out with things in our pockets all the time. We don’t even check our pockets even though in the Bameh Madlikin it says you’re supposed to check your clothes. You see some people at least putting their hands in their pockets when they say Bameh Madlikin. They’re checking a little bit. In any case, we are learning here that a small act of a shogeg made the Maggid Mishneh come back.

Now, R’ Chaim says: “I was faced with the exact same sin (that the Maggid Mishne was faced with).” That’s what happens. Hashem brings the same aveirah to you again and you have a second opportunity, and if you correct it, that’s the tikun. He said, “If I would have passed the test, I would have fulfilled my mission, and it would have been a great accomplishment to complete the years of the Maggid Mishneh’s life (who had left the world 44 before his time, as a result of that aveirah b’shogeg). But I blew it a second time. Even though the sin that R’ Chaim did was a relatively very small sin and he did it beshogeg – he didn’t do it intentionally, but by accident – still in all, since he came to the world for that specific purpose, to be mesaken that ma’aseh and he didn’t pass the test, therefore he would live for only 44 years. It’s unbelievable! But the Arizal told him: “Maybe you could be mesaken it through teshuvah.” So Rav Chaim Vital fasted for three days, one after another, one, two and three. After he fasted, he came to his rebbi again, the Arizal, who said, “The slate is wiped clean; tehillah leKel.” (R’ Chaim Vital lived until the age of 77).

Can you imagine that? The Arizal told Rav Chaim Vital there’s an eitzah, even if you messed up on something!

He also said another thing happened to the Maggid Mishneh, which also caused him to come back again, even though the main reason that he had to come back was what we just said. What happened was that one time, a shaylah of an אשת איש came to the Maggid Mishneh. There was a question regarding whether a certain woman, known to be married, was permitted to remarry due to a certain situation. The Maggid Mishneh permitted her to get remarried. But it was a mistake. It was really forbidden. The Arizal told Rav Chaim Vital that he was once also presented with a shaylah of an אשת איש, and made a similar mistake. It was when Rav Chaim Vital was a young bachur. A question of an אשת איש came before his rebbi, the Alshich Hakadosh (1508-1593). Rav Chaim discussed the issue with the Alshich, and then he said, “I think she’s mutar.” The Alshich agreed with him, and they permitted her to get remarried. But because he didn’t look into the din well enough, he made a mistake. Rav Chaim Vital says that the Arizal revealed to him that the only reason that shaylah came to him was in order to rectify what he had done when his neshamah was in the Maggid Mishneh. If he would have looked into it more intensely, he wouldn’t have erred and would have rectified that sin. So, in the future, he will be presented with such a shaylah again, and when he answers correctly, he will rectify it. That’s what Rav Chaim Vital says the Arizal told him. Unbelievable!

Then R’ Chaim Vital writes that R’ Yehoshua Soriano came back for one reason. One time he ate a forbidden cheilev from an animal. In a beheimah, there’s a certain part of the fat that is totally forbidden to eat. R’ Yehoshua ate it knowingly and intentionally, and he wasn’t careful with it, so he had to come back to rectify that sin. Rav Chaim said, “Even now in my lifetime, I’m being mesaken that aveirah.” How? He said, “I’ll give you the siman.” He said: “It takes me two hours to devein an animal (i.e. remove that fat), which is an exceptionally long amount of time. My rebbi said, ‘Why do you think you’re so medakdek in that? Why are you so nervous about that? Because your neshamah came back to this world because of the aveirah of eating cheilev.’ Also, my rebbi said: ‘You throw away double the meat with the fat because of your concerns. From now on, because that is your tikun, never let deveined meat go in your mouth, unless you know that it was done by an expert and a chassid.’”

He also said to me, in one of those last gilgulim, I was a mohel and a shochet, by the name R’ Shaul Trishti. One time, I had a milah early in my career, and I really wasn’t a baki. I did the milah, and the child died. It was a shogeg karov lemazid.

It turns out the first case was a shogeg. The second one shogeg karov lemeizid. The third one was meizid gamur. It was עבירה גוררת עבירה. The Arizal explained that’s why now R’ Chaim Vital stays very distanced from being a mohel or a shochet and can’t even look when someone’s doing milah or shechitah.

“When I came back as that bachur Avraham, and I died when I was 13, that was for the aveirah of having eaten in the previous lifetime the cheilev bemeizid. That’s why I died young.”

This is such an eye-opener. You know what I see from all this? We’re talking about a person who is now Rav Chaim Vital! He was the heir of the Arizal. The Arizal was sent by Hashem to be mesaken this person’s neshamah and to make it mushlam, complete. This tzaddik in the last few generations made some blunders. Now, when you say, “Oh, those are big blunders,” I will tell you, “Trust me, it’s nothing compared to our blunders.” They had one cheit, but that was enough to get him to come back as a gilgul to be mesaken it. Sometimes you wonder. You see a rasha and the guy is being mechallel kol davar shebekedushah. He is transgressing many isurei kares and you see he’s not dying. The guy is living. The guy is making it. The guy is doing a great job. What’s the pshat? The answer is, sometimes the kares is not meted out in this world. It’s metedout in the next lifetime.

Gilgulim in our Generation – Young Children

Here is a young couple who gives birth to a child and then they have to spend time in the hospital with this baby suffering tremendous yesurim. Unbelievable. But you know one thing. It’s a gilgul neshamah. They were the parents appointed to oversee this child.

There was a child in Lakewood a couple of years ago named Malky Hirth, alehah hashalom. She was a wonder child. What this girl accomplished in her life was mind-boggling. She only lived until the age of 7, but she wrote drashos and chizukim. Her emunah and her bitachon, the things she said and she expressed, were beyond belief. She almost never went to school. From when she was a little child, she was in the hospital for years, battling leukemia. They wrote a whole book about her with such testimonials, the things she wrote, and did, and said, and accomplished in her short life. Goyim, Yidden, people who came in contact with her were mind-blown! How did she become like that? Some want to say her father and mother trained her. It wasn’t shayach. I’m sure they were amazingly special parents, extremely supportive and encouraging, but it was a special special neshamah that she had, that had to be mesaken something. And that tikun is something that we have to acknowledge.^[ii]

Gilgulim of Iyov and Chana

We all know the famous story of Iyov.  Everybody knows Iyov is the symbol of yesurim, the symbol of a person who was wealthy, successful, and who also suffered tremendously. There’s a whole book on Iyov’s suffering. His discussion with his friends, the whys, the whats, the ins and the outs of this. And the question is, why? Why was such a nice man, a tremendous ba’al chessed, subject to such suffering? He did a lot of chessed. Chazal wonder what the difference was between him and Avraham Avinu. You know what kind of kasha that is? They don’t ask that kasha about anybody else. He was in that league! They say a difference. But what’s the pshat? Gilgulim.

When the Arizal came, you know what he revealed? He said Iyov was a gilgul of Terach, the father of Avraham. Terach did terrible things. He was an oved avodah zarah. He wasn’t supportive of his child, Avraham. He wouldn’t listen to the emes. He actually handed his own child, Avraham, over to the authorities, and he was put into a fire! Avraham was put into jail. Terach committed tremendous aveiros. But now you know what he had to be mesaken. Terach had an opportunity, but he missed it. To be mesaken his neshamah, he came back as Iyov, and he suffered tremendously. The Torah reveals to us the suffering that he had to endure for all his aveiros.

Now, Ramo MiPano (1548-1620) adds a very interesting thing. He says that the wife of Terach who was the mother of Avraham (Amaslai bas Karnevo) also tried to prevent Avraham from being moser nefesh for kiddush Hashem.^[iii] She tried very hard to convince him to give up his philosophies, his “narishkeit” and so they also gave her an opportunity. You know what her tikun was? She came back as Chana. Chana, who was the mother of those seven children whom she had to sacrifice, had to be moser her kids when Antiochus tried to get them to do idol worship. Remember that story? Unbelievable. You know what it says in gemara in Gittin (57b)? It says that after all her seven kids died, she said, בני, my children, לכו ואמרו לאברהם אביכם, go and say to Avraham your father, אתה עקדת מזבח אחד, you made an akeidah one time, with Yitzchak, ואני עקדתי שבעה מזבחות. You know what she was telling him? I was mesaken the cheit. I tried to get you not to be moser nefesh. I was mesaken it by offering up seven children.

This Should Prompt us to do Teshuvah

Now you know what this does? It reveals to us such revelations. Now we can understand some of the horror stories that we heard or we read about the Holocaust. Hashem keeps the cheshbon and sometimes, a person who murdered somebody, has to come back to this world to now father that person as a child and bring him back to the world. Just like he took him out of the world, now he has to bring him back to the world. Sometimes, I see children act in ways that are very challenging to parents and the parents want to know, “What in the world did I do to this child?” These are cheshbonos from Hashem. Sometimes these are gilgulim. Maybe you once did something to that child in a previous lifetime and now the child senses that.

The Ramak (1522-1570), in his sefer Shiur Komah, relates that there was a certain adulterer who had died. He came back in the gilgul of a kelev, a dog, who then went and killed the adulteress. The dog itself went and killed the adulteress! And then the son that was born from this adulterous act killed the dog, and then that son died. The reason is because Hashem wants to rid the world of mamzerim. He was a mamzer. And everybody is thinking, “Shrek. What happened here?” Maybe there were rumors. Ramak said that people didn’t know what really happened. This dog was a gilgul of the adulterer. The Ramak writes וזה ראינו בעינינו, we saw the whole chain of events with our own eyes, but sometimes it takes years until the neshamah comes back.

You could have big talmidei chachamim and big tzaddikim who need tikunim for things they did in previous lifetimes. Hakadosh Baruch Hu presents them with these tikunim, and in that way, they’re mashlim themselves. So understand that if you messed up, do teshuvah. Teshuvah helps because the whole requirement of coming back is if you didn’t do teshuvah. And don’t delay doing teshuvah because maybe you won’t be zocheh to do the teshuvah at the proper time.

Right now, when people are home and they’re bored, it’s a good time to ponder and think about their previous actions. To think and analyze their lives. (The shiur was given over during the Covid-19 pandemic).

Fix up rather than Run Away from the Cheshbon

Many people have challenging wives. Many people have challenging husbands. People want to know, “Why did it happen to me?” Here is a woman who said, “I can’t take my husband any more. He’s emotionally a little disordered.” I said, “Does he beat you?” “No.” “Does he provide for you?” “Yes.” I said, “You have a whole bunch of children already from him. Let me tell you. Don’t run. Because you can’t run from yourself. There are cheshbonos in shamayim for everything that happens. Maybe in a previous lifetime you were this man’s wife and you caused him tzaros tzeruros. Maybe you weren’t as sweet as you are now. So now Hashem says, “You’ve got to pay it back.”

I know somebody who suffered from a very, very tough situation, a wife that was untenable. He was able to handle it, but his wife was really not well. A lot of people told him to get divorced. He went to an adam gadol who told him, “No. Don’t get divorced. The fact that you could handle it shows that that’s what Hashem’s plan was for you.” And then it was revealed to him through a certain way, that in the previous lifetime, he caused his wife a lot of tzaros. I told the guy, “Remember this.” He was supposed to fix it up with chessed.

And a very strange thing happened. He did it for a number of years. He tolerated it. He did chessed with her and all kinds of wonderful things. Then one day, something snapped. He said, “I’m not doing it anymore.” I’m thinking, he had an opportunity to be mesaken himself, and what did he do instead? He repeated the mistake. He couldn’t hold out for so long so he pashut went back to his old ways. He turned against her and of course, he said she was crazy. I said to the guy, “For years, you were able to tolerate it. You carried it and you did it.” He said, “I can’t do it. Enough is enough.” What a sad situation. I said, “You’re not going to get out of this. You’re committing yourself to a lifetime of tzaros until your last day. That’s a terrible tragedy. And if you tolerate it and you accept it and you ask Hashem to give you the strength to be mesaken yourself and do some teshuvah, then perhaps you’ll be zocheh to some happy days and some better days.”

Hakadosh Baruch Hu should help us all find menuchas hanefesh in this world to be able to carry on in the next world.

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Part 2: Teshuva Comes From Shabbos (5769)

Introducing The Concept of Teshuvah

I saw a very interesting yesod in a sefer of R’ Tzadok HaKohen (1823-1900) on the topic of Shabbos Teshuvah. Reb Tzadok writes as follows. The whole koach of teshuvah comes from the koach of Shabbos. The whole power for us to do teshuvah comes from the gift of Shabbos. Meaning to say, if not for the gift of Shabbos, there would be no power for a person to do teshuvah. This needs to be understood.

What is the shaychus of teshuvah to Shabbos? When Adam Harishon ate from the tree after Hashem forbade him to do so, he became very depressed (Bamidbar Rabbah 13:3).^[iv] He realized how he had messed up. Hakadosh Baruch Hu told him, “Adam, do teshuvah.” Hakadosh Baruch Hu opened a pesach for him, and showed him how to correct his cheit. Adam Harishon did not want to do it. Chazal say, אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא אפילו עכשיו, Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him, even now, עשה תשובה do teshuvah still, ואני מקבליך and I will accept you. אמר אדם Adam responded and said, אי אפשר, “It is not possible.” You hear? Hashem told Adam Harishon to do teshuvah and emphasized, “I’m telling you, you could do teshuvah.” And what did Adam Harishon say? אי אפשר “It’s impossible.” What’s the pshat? The pshat is azei. Adam Harishon could not believe or fathom the concept of teshuvah.

Mishpat: Teshuvah is not Possible

There is a famous Yalkut on a pasuk in Tehillim (Yalkut Shimoni, Tehillim 702). Chazal say on the pasuk (Tehillim 25:8), ‘טוב וישר ה, Hashem is tov and Hashem is yashar, על כן יורה חטאים בדרך and therefore Hashem guides and instructs the sinners on the derech of teshuvah. The Yalkut brings down a midrash that says as follows: Be’emes,according to the concepts of chochmah and according to the concepts of nevuah, and the dictates of the Torah, indeed, teshuvah is not shayach. Chazal say they asked people of chochmah, people of the nevuah, they asked the Torah, “What should a sinner do if he sins?” And each one answered that teshuvah is not shayach.

But when they asked Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, “You could do it.” There’s a derech, the way, that a choteh does teshuvah.

I want to tell you what Chazal are telling us. Chazal are telling us that in any of those hanhagos, the world is based on a system of mishpat. The world has a system of Torah. The world has a system of chochmah. The world has a system of nevuah. Based on all the systems in this world, it is not shayach to have teshuvah. You have to know that teshuvah is something that is not shayach to the sheshes yemei hamaaseh. Where does teshuvah come from? Chazal tell us that the power of teshuvah preceded the world.

What does that mean? That means Hakadosh Baruch Hu created ‘a world of teshuvah’ before He even created the world. What is the world of teshuvah? It means a world where somebody who is dirty, someone who sinned, could enter and take a shower. It means he can enter that world and it removes the cheit. The world of teshuvah is such a world, that in our world there is no place for that world. This is called the ultimate giluy of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

We have to realize that the world of teshuvah is from Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s highest revelations. In this world, there are many secrets. There is chochmas hakabbalah, for example. Kabbalah is shayach to that world. Part of the universe is kabbalah. How Hashem created the world, all the goings on, and Hashem’s plans, מאד עמקו מחשבותך. It’s ’מה גדלו מעשיך ה, it’s all part of the world. Teshuvah is bichlal not even shayach to the toras hanistar, it’s not shayach to toras hakabbalah. Teshuvah is lemaaleh from the כל העולם כולו. There is nothing about this world that says that if a person sins and he does teshuvah, that it’s possible to take away that maaseh.

Awakening Gilui Hashem and Teshuvah

You have to know what is me’orer the opportunity for teshuvah – it is Shabbos. Without Shabbos, we would have no comprehension and no understanding of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, or any of the giluyim of Hashem in this world of hiddenness, in this world of darkness. Similarly, without Shabbos, we would have no concept and no comprehension of teshuvah. You have to know the window into the world of teshuvah is only through Shabbos.

Olam hazeh is domeh to a midbar. A person was sent into this ‘midbar’ from his place next to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. In olam hazeh, when a person follows and gets drawn after the yetzer hara, you know what he’s forgetting? He forgets the Shabbos. He forgets Hakadosh Baruch Hu. He forgets His olam haneshamos. And then the day comes that the person decides that he wants to come back to Hashem with teshuvah, and now he wants to go with what we call ‘clean clothes,’ he wants to wear begadim nekiyim, and he wants to remember and live with that concept of Shabbos. That person has to know that the yesod of his whole teshuvah is coming from Shabbos.

Revealing Hashem in the World

The Reishis Chochmah in Sha’ar Hakedushah explains the yesod of Shabbos: we connect with the reality of this world because it is Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s world. When a person does a cheit he goes away from that connection. The Ramchal explains the yesod of the briah of this world is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted to reveal His yichud. Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants to reveal Himself. What did Hashem want to reveal? Everything that is expressed in כי אני ראשון אני אחרון. The job Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us in this world is to take all klalah and turn it into brachah. Where does the klalah come from? Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted the world to be a place where He could be megaleh Himself, reveal Himself, so He created in the world a makom of hester. He created mekomos that are choshech and Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants us to go and take that choshech, the ra that is in the world, and He wants us to remove that ra from the world. If we remove the ra from the world, what happens is, we restore the yichud of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

The Ramchal says that is the ikar emunah of Klal Yisrael – to know the yichud of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, He was metzamtzem Himself, he limited Himself, limited His Presence, so that we could feel Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The whole reason for this world is so that we could reveal Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s Presence in it.

So what happens is like this. Every time we get involved with cheit, instead of being megaleh, revealing the yichud of Hashem, what are we doing? We are adding and increasing the choshech and the hiddenness of this world. So every cheit we do is in direct opposition, in direct contradiction to our whole purpose in this world, which is to reveal the yichud of Hashem. Our purpose is to minimize the ra, to enhance the kavod of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And instead, when a person does an aveirah, he is increasing the choshech. Every one of us, as a member of Klal Yisrael, has a job to reveal and be mevaer the ra in the world. Instead, what do we do? We get involved in chata’im. And when we get involved in chata’im, we increase the choshech in the world.

Revealing Light in your Olam Katan

Now, just as it applies to the world, it applies to every person on an individual level. Every person is considered an olam katan, a small world. Every one of us has a neshamah within ourselves. That neshamah is in a hidden form. That means, just like Hakadosh Baruch Hu created the world, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu hid His presence from this world and wants us to reveal His presence, the same thing is true with every person. Every person has within himself a neshamah. That neshamah is a chelek elokah mima’al and that neshamah is hidden within us, and our whole avodah is to connect to that neshamah and to bring it out! When a person does a cheit, what happens? The cheit is marchik him, it makes him distanced, it pulls him away from his neshamah, and he becomes an earthling, an adam chumri. By that, he distances himself from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Whenever a person does a cheit, he is increasing the hester, the hiddenness of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

What happens when a person does teshuvah? When a person does teshuvah, a person enlightens himself. He brings a light to himself. He brings himself closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s presence, firstly, to that place where he brought choshech to the world and, secondly, within his own neshamah as he connects to his own spirituality, his own ruchniyus. That brings the ohr into the person.

The Purpose and Function of the World: Teshuvah

Look at the letters of the word שבת. The same root letters are found in the word תשובה. The whole idea of Shabbos is from the word tashuv. The whole idea of Shabbos is returning the world to Hashem. That is what we do on Shabbos. The Maharal says (Nesivos Olam, Nesiv HaTeshuva, Perek 2) as follows: עיקר הפירוש כי התשובה the essence of teshuvah is, מה שהוא שב אל השם יתברך בכל לבבו ובכל נפשו, that a person returns to Hashem with all his heart and all his soul. And he says like this, ודבר זה הוא סדר העולם this is the seder ha’olam, שהעולם הזה שב אל השם יתברך, that this world returns to Hashem Yisborach. The whole tachlis of this world that we are in – what’s the order of this world? The order of the world is to return Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and thereby cause the giluy of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. ואין לו קיום מצד עצמו. The whole existence of the world is only justified insofar that it is being שב אל השם יתברך. The Maharal says, וזה עצמו this itself is the zechus ha’adam. This itself, that the person is נמשך אחר סדר העולם, that he is following the seder ha’olam of returning to Hashem is a zechus for the person! When a choteh does teshuvah and returns to Hashem, what happens? Maharal says, החוטא הוא שנתרחק מן השם יתברך על ידי חטאו, that through his chet the sinner is distanced from Hashem, והריחוק הוא מחייב השב אל השם יתברך, and this distancing obligates a person to return to Hashem; ולפיכך הריחוק הזה נעשית לו זכיות כאשר יש כאן השבה אל הש”י, and therefore this distancing becomes a merit for him when he returns to Hashem (out of love)! This is the whole essence of teshuvah.^[v]

The Powerful Effects of Teshuvah

When we think about the concept of teshuva, we have to understand that it’s not just a matter of ‘behaving’ and ‘not doing bad things.’ It has to be a mehalech of us ‘returning’ to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, to restore the seder ha’olam. This is the real meaning within the concept of teshuvah.

In the past, we’ve spoken about the fact that when a person does aveiros, he separates the vav from the hei in the yud kay vav kay. Whenever we do an aveirah, we separate, we make pegamim in the Presence of Hashem, and teshuvah means tashuv hei. You restore the hei. You separated the vav and the hei in the yud kay vav kay, and teshuvah restores the hei to the vav. We bond back with Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

So this Shabbos, see Shabbos in its power. It is the only way that a person is going to return himself to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and the only way a person is going to be able to key into the olam hateshuvah. That’s why it says (Shabbos 118b) if a person is shomer Shabbos kehilchoso, he is forgiven for all his sins, even the avonos of avodah zarah. What does that mean? It means that even for a pgam that had such an onesh, a pegam of avodah zarah which could bring a tremendous roshem, it’s shayach for a person to come back to the olam hateshuvah through Shabbos! You understand, such a koach of teshuvah doesn’t come stam from eating cholent and from eating gefilte fish, but it comes from a person utilizing the Shabbos, and trying to take out from the Shabbos some restoration of the wrong that he did.

7 Steps to a Shabbos with a Higher Purpose

Every one of us should feel and should be mechaven that our maasim, our pe’ulos, and our whole existence have a higher purpose. (1) We should first acknowledge what our existence was. It was a complete contradiction from the tachlis of the brias ha’olam. (2) On this Shabbos [this shiur was said before Shabbos Shuvah 5769], we should be mechaven to, at least, be aware and ask ourselves, “What is the tachlis of the brias ha’olam?” (3) We should attempt throughout this Shabbos to notice what we can do to restore our connection to Hashem. Even for a few moments throughout the Shabbos, take off some time, but do it a number of times throughout the Shabbos. Say to Hakadosh Baruch Hu, “Hakadosh Baruch Hu, I’m learning Torah this Shabbos because I appreciate the gift of Shabbos. And by learning Torah on Shabbos, I want to be megaleh, and say eidus on the yichud of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. I want to diminish a little more darkness from this world.” (4) When you eat on Shabbos, it can be a plate of natural materialism. But if you eat lekovod Shabbos, a person says, “Hakadosh Baruch Hu, today it’s a mitzvah to eat lekovod Shabbos. Today, it’s a mitzvah to eat le’oneg Shabbos.” What you are doing is, you are restoring Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s Presence in this world of choshech. (5) Whenever you talk to somebody, think, “It is the dibbur of Hashem.” (6) Im yirtzeh Hashem Shabbos, in the beis hamidrash, at least, let’s try not to mess up in the presence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. At least in the makom Torah. (7) Altogether, by using these steps to experience Shabbos with a higher purpose, we should attempt to key into this koach of teshuvah which we get from the koach of Shabbos.

In that zechus, we will be zoche hopefully, to get some kapparah and to get some tikkun for our maasim.

In Summary

As a chessed from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, great tzaddikim who lived near-perfect lives were sometimes presented with an opportunity to do tikunim as their neshamos came back to this world as gilgulim. This enabled them to do tikunim for things they did in previous lifetimes. This phenomenon still apparently occurs in our days, when we see otherwise inexplicable events occurring around us. We can appreciate the power of Hashem to enact justice even over many centuries. We can also take the opportunity to see difficulties in our own lives or in the lives of people we know of, as darkei Hashem, as He gives us and them an opportunity to do a tikkun. Rather than seeing challenges as meaningless suffering, we can see them as an avenue to understand the ways of Hashem. This week (bli neder), when I think of the suffering that I or someone I know is facing, alongside feeling for their suffering and davening for rachamei Shamayim, I will focus for a few moments on the possibility that Hashem is giving a holy neshamah a tikun and on the opportunity to do teshuvah.

Adam Harishon initially could not imagine that there could be a concept such as teshuvah. If the world would run only on a system of mishpat there would be no possibility for teshuvah. However, Hashem put the derech of teshuvah into the world, and it is a gilui Hashem of the highest form. Shabbos is me’orer the opportunity for teshuvah. Shabbos is our opportunity to decrease the ra, and to enhance the kavod of Hakadosh Baruch Hu by revealing it in the world and doing teshuvah. This Shabbos (bli neder), I will try to incorporate some practical steps toward teshuvah into my Shabbos, such as positively restoring my connection to Hashem by saying, “Hakadosh Baruch Hu, this Shabbos I’m learning Torah to be megaleh the yichud of Hakadosh Baruch Hu and diminish the darkness,” by remembering that my speech and eating is Shabbosdik, and by behaving with higher purpose in the beis hamidrash.

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^[i] מקרים לאדם מצד גלגול נשמתו: עוד שורש אחר נמצא להנהגה בעניני העה״ז והוא שהחכמה העליונה סידרה להרבות עוד ההצלה כמ״ש שנשמה אח׳‎ תבא לעה״ז פעמים שונות בגופים שונים ועי״ז הנה תוכל לתקן בפעם א׳‎ את אשר קלקלה בפעם אחרת או להשלים מה שלא השלימה ואולם בסוף כל הגלגולים לדין שלע״ל הנה הדין יהיה עליה כפי כל מה שעבר עליה מן הגלגולים שנתגלגלה ומן המצבים שהיתה בם והנה אפשר שיגיעו ענינים לאדם שנשמתו מגולגלת כפי מה שיוגרם לה מצד מה שעשתה בגלגול קודם וינתן לאדם ההוא בעולם מצב כפי זה וכפי המצב שינתן לו יהיה המשא אשר יוטל עליו וכמש״ל וכבר דינו ית״ש מדוקדק על כל אדם לפי מה שהוא בכל בחינותיו. פי׳‎ בכל פרטי מצבו באופן שלא יעמס לעולם על אדם לעה״ב שהוא הטוב האמיתי אשמה שאין לו באמת אבל יגיע לו מן המשא והפקוד בעה״ז כפי מה שתפלג לו החכמה העליונה וכפי זה יידונו מעשיו והנה פרטי בחינות רבות ימצאו בענין זה של הגלגול איך יהיה האדם נידון לפי מה שהוא בגלגולו ולפי מה שקדם בגלגול אחר לשיהיה הכל ע״פ המשפט האמיתי והישר ועל כל זה נאמר הצור תמים פעלו כי כל דרכיו משפט וכו׳‎ ואין בברואים ידיעה שתוכל לכלול מחשבות ית״ש ועומק עצתו רק הכלל הזה ידענו ככל שאר הכללים שא׳‎ ממקורות מקריהם של בני האדם בעה״ז הוא הגלגול ע״פ אותם החוקים והמשפטים הישרים שהוחקו לפניו ית׳‎ להשלמה זה הענין כלו (דרך ה’, חלק שני, בהשגחה האישיית)

^[ii] Ed. note: the following is a short excerpt from an online article about this truly remarkable girl, a’’h: “At the young age of two, Malky’s pure closeness to Hashem was already apparent. ‘I wish I could be a bird,’ Malky said to her mother one day while walking outside. ‘Then I would be able to sing to Hashem all day!’ Malky overflowed with thanks to Hashem, singing songs of gratitude for everything in her life.Thanks for her family, thanks for the sun and the stars, thanks for the trees and the grass. And again and again, thanks to Hashem for her life. During the five-and-a-half years in which she was treated for leukemia, Malky’s love for Hashem grew to unfathomable proportions. Throughout her long stays at the hospital, her many surgeries and painful medical procedures, Malky continued to raise her voice in joyful singing and dancing, twirling with genuine happiness. She remained full of fun, holding tight to her emunah and bitachon in Hashem and never letting go. Once, on her way to the emergency room with a raging fever and the onset of yet another infection, Malky turned to her father and said, ‘I talk to Hashem, I sing to Hashem. I thank Him for my life. Even though I would like it to be different, I know Hashem has a plan for me…the best possible plan…’” (www.baltimorejewishlife.com)

^[iii] אמתלאה בת כרנבו אשתו של תרח אמו של אברהם אבינו עליו השלום [סנהדרין צ”ה ב’], נתקנה  בהאשה עם שבעה בניה דהמיתם המלך כנזכר בדברי רבותינו ז”ל בגיטין פרק הנזיקין [נ”ז ב’], דאמרה התם בני לכו ואמרו לאברהם אביכם, אתה עקדת מזבח אחד ואני עקדתי שמעה מזבחות, אתה נסיון ואני מעשה, וגם היא עלתה על הגג ומתה, וכמו שתרח נתקן באיוב על ידי יסורין, וכאן גם היא נתקנה על ידי יסורין אשר באו עליה, ויצתה בת קול ואמרה אם הבנים שמחה, ושם נמרוד השליך אברהם בנה לכבשן האש ולא עשה רושם, וכאן עשה רושם לתיקונה על קידוש השם. (גלגולי נשמות לרמ”ע מפאנו, אות א’)

^[iv] וַיְהִי הַמַּקְרִיב בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן אֶת קָרְבָּנוֹ נַחְשׁוֹן, וגו’ (במדבר ז, יב), הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (משלי כט, כג): גַּאֲוַת אָדָם תַּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ וּשְׁפַל רוּחַ יִתְמֹךְ כָּבוֹד, אָמַר רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא בַר אַבָּא גַּאֲוַת אָדָם תַּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ, זֶה אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, כֵּיצַד בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁעָבַר אָדָם עַל צִוּוּיוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וְאָכַל מִן הָאִילָן, בִּקֵּשׁ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שֶׁיַּעֲשֶׂה תְּשׁוּבָה וּפָתַח לוֹ פֶּתַח, וְלֹא בִּקֵּשׁ אָדָם, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (בראשית ג, כב): וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים הֵן הָאָדָם וגו’. אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּא בַּר כַּהֲנָא מַהוּ וְעַתָּה, אֶלָּא שֶׁאָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֲפִלּוּ עַכְשָׁו עֲשֵׂה תְּשׁוּבָה וַאֲנִי מְקַבְּלָךְ, וְאָמַר אָדָם אִי אֶפְשִׁי. הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אָמַר וְעַתָּה, וְאָמַר אָדָם פֶּן, אִי אֶפְשִׁי. אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן לָקִישׁ כֵּיוָן שֶׁיָּצָא אָדָם מִן הַדִּין הִתְחִיל מְחָרֵף וּמְגַדֵּף, נֶאֱמַר כָּאן כְּרֻבִים, (בראשית ג, כד): וַיַּשְׁכֵּן מִקֶּדֶם לְגַן עֵדֶן אֶת הַכְּרֻבִים, וְנֶאֱמַר בְּסַנְחֵרִיב כְּרֻבִים, (ישעיה לז, טז): ה’ צְבָאוֹת יוֹשֵׁב הַכְּרֻבִים, מַה לְּהַלָּן חֵרוּפִים וְגִדוּפִים, אַף כְּרֻבִים שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר כָּאן חֵרוּפִים וְגִדוּפִים, הֱוֵי גַּאֲוַת אָדָם תַּשְׁפִּילֶנּוּ, לְפִי שֶׁנִּתְגָּאָה עַל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מֵעֲשׂוֹת תְּשׁוּבָה הִשְׁפִּיל אוֹתוֹ וְגֵרְשׁוֹ מִגַּן עֵדֶן. וּשְׁפַל רוּחַ יִתְמֹךְ כָּבוֹד, זֶה אַבְרָהָם שֶׁהִשְׁפִּיל רוּחוֹ וְאָמַר (בראשית יח, כז): וְאָנֹכִי עָפָר וָאֵפֶר, לְכָךְ קָרָא אוֹתוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא (יהושע יד, טו): הָאָדָם הַגָּדוֹל בַּעֲנָקִים, שֵׁם זֶה גָּדוֹל מִן אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹ, וכו’.

^[v] אמנם עיקר הפירוש כי התשובה מה שהוא שב אל הש”י בכל לבבו ובכל נפשו, ודבר זה הוא סדר העולם שהעולם הזה שב אל הש”י ואין לו קיום מצד עצמו רק שהוא שב אל הש”י אשר ממנו הוא נמצא ואליו שבים כל הנמצאים, וזהו קיום שלהם מפני שהם שבים אל הש”י, ובדבר זה הארכנו בפ’ משה קבל מה שהעולם עומד על העבודה הוא מטעם שהעולם יש לו השבה אל הש”י והוא קיומו וזולת זה לא היה קיום אל העולם, ודבר שהוא סדר העולם שכך ברא הש”י את העולם וזה עצמו זכות האדם כאשר האדם נמשך אחר סדר העולם אשר סידר השם ית’, כי זהו ענין כל התורה שהיא סדר העולם שסידר הש”י את העולם, ומפני כי התשובה היא שהנמצאים שבים אל הש”י כמו שנמצאו ממנו וזה ג”כ הוא סדר העולם, ולכך כאשר החוטא שב אל הש”י נעשים הזדונות שלו כזכיות שהרי יש כאן השבה אל הש”י כמו שהוא סדר העולם, ולכך החוטא הזה שנתרחק מן הש”י על ידי חטאו והריחוק הוא מחייב ההשבה אל הש”י, ולפיכך הריחוק הזה נעשית לו זכיות כאשר יש כאן השבה אל הש”י. ודוקא כאשר התשובה מתוך אהבה שכאשר התשובה היא מתוך אהבה אשר האהבה הוא הדבוק בו ית’ לגמרי כמו שנאמר לאהבה את ה’ אלקיך ולדבקה בו, לכך התשובה שהוא סדר העולם שיהיה העולם דבוק בו יתברך שיהיה לעולם קיום, ומפני כי אין דביקות רק מכח אהבה לכך כאשר התשובה היא מתוך אהבה דוקא נחשבו לו הזדונות כזכיות, במה שזכיות כל הנמצאים מה שהם שבים אל הש”י וזהו סדר העולם לכן זה שהוא שב אל הש”י כאשר ראוי אל הבריאה להיות דבקים מתוך אהבה זדונות נעשים כזכיות, ואלו הדברים אין לפרש אותם לעומק שלהם (נתיבות עולם, נתיב התשובה ב׳)