הסח הדעת מן התשובה when a person procrastinates in doing teshuva, you have vonosav yeshanim, his sins become old and stale, veyishkach yigonom, and the person will forget the sorrow and distress associated with chet. ולא ידאג להם כאשר בתחילה, and Rabbeinu Yonah here is applying a very very fundamental principle in terms of the realm of human experience. There's lots of experiences that we have which are incredibly powerful at the time. They're very intense experiences. And at the time the experience is so gripping and the message as it were or the implications of the experience are so resoundingly clear that a person can't imagine ever losing that clarity. And yet the reality is that even these type of experiences, experiences again that in the moment were so powerful, they also wane. And as the experience wanes its effect upon us weakens and diminishes. And the only way for a person to capitalize upon an experience is to act on it immediately, to act on it while the person is still feeling that immediate aftermath of the experience. And thus we find the Shem MiShmuel says he explains Chazal, Rashi quotes, explains the smichus haparshiyos between Parshas Nazir and Parshas Sotah that הרואה סוטה בקלקולה יזיר עצמו מן היין. As a type of typology Chazal are assuming that the isha sotah became uninhibited and engaged in chet because she was intoxicated. So one who sees the sotah b’kilkulah, one who sees the degradation of the sotah and sees just how dangerous the effects of alcohol are, who sees just how dangerous intoxication is, יזיר עצמו מן היין, that person should be inspired to accept upon himself a neder nezirus. So the Shem MiShmuel asks adeiraba, you would have thought someone who’s never seen the sotah b'kilkulah, so that person is unaware of the dangers of drink, he needs a neder nezirus. But the person who has witnessed the sotah b'kilkulah, so he can be guided by that memory, by that experience. And the Shem MiShmuel answers again it's the same yesod as this Rabbeinu Yonah. Shem MiShmuel answers and says no, ירדה תורה לסוף דעתו של אדם. The Torah again via Chazal is teaching us this fundamental principle of human psychology that regardless of how powerful and compelling an experience is, it's gonna wane and therefore its effect will weaken. The only way for a person to hold on to that experience and its lessons is at the moment to consolidate it by translating it into a concrete kabbala. The takeaway from the Shem Mishmuel is not literally that we should become nezirim. That's not the, that's not the takeaway from the Shem Mishmuel. But short of literally becoming a nazir, the yesod is so important. And basically what Rabbeinu Yonah is saying is the same application. It's the same yesod with, excuse me, with a different application. Rabbeinu Yonah is saying when a person is chotei, so a person experiences the failure of cheit. A person experiences the tumah of cheit. A person experiences the sense of inconsistency of cheit. And those are all experiences which create anguish within a person. But that anguish, as powerful as it is at the time, will also wane because that's the teva ha'adam, that again, experiences wane. If the person does teshuvah right away, so then the teshuvah will be a deep and appropriate teshuvah because it will be fueled by that yagon, it will be fueled by that anguish. But if the person doesn't cash in, as it were, he doesn't capitalize, and he postpones the teshuvah, at that point the whole experience, the memory of the experience is much weaker, and the teshuvah will be commensurately weaker. Hashminis, os lamed gimmel. Uvo bayamim, as a person ages, ואברהם זקן בא בימים. When a person ages, when a person gets older, veyechalash koach hayetzer. The body, as a person gets older, the body gets weaker. As a person's body gets weaker, so too the physical urges and temptations, they don't go away, but they get weaker. They're not the same as they are when a person is younger. לא יקבל שכר על התשובה כאשר בתיקון לבבו ובימי בחורותו.
Teshuvah is still possible, teshuvah is always possible. Teshuvah is possible beyom moso. But the ideal teshuvah, the optimal teshuvah, the teshuvah me'ula as the Rambam describes in פרק ב מהלכות תשובה, is when a person's at that same stage of life, the same age and stage of life. ואמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה, אשרי איש ירא את ה' be'odo ish. ואמרו, קשה למצוא יד הגנב לגנוב יחשיב עצמו כאיש שלם.
It's less impressive when a ganav hits retirement age anyway that he decides that he's gonna give up robbing banks. It's obviously much more meaningful and much more impressive if he adopts that course of action before he hits retirement age. Hatshi'is, bimei haziknah, when a person is a zakein, beheder koach hahargashos, as a person's energy diminishes, איננו עוזר כח לחדש מסילות בלבבו ולערוך מחשבות להלחם בהם ביצרו ולהשיג המעלות ולטרוח ולעמול בתורה ובפעולות.
Again, all these are impediments, nothing is making it impossible, but another impediment is, Rabbeinu Yonah says, you know, to do teshuvah requires effort. Tikun hamidos, to change, to correct a midah is something which requires considerable effort. It requires exertion. The older a person gets... The more difficult it is to muster the strength and energy. There's a correlation between mental strength and physical strength. The older a person gets, the more difficult it is to muster that energy necessary for the milchamas hayetzer, for the tikkun hamiddos. כמו שנאמר זכור את בוראך בימי בחורותיך עד אשר לא יבואו ימי הרעה והגיעו שנים אשר תאמר אין לי בהם חפץ. על כן ראוי לאדם להחיש מפלט לנפשו,
a person should should act quickly in finding refuge for his nefesh, כענין שאמר דוד עליו השלום חשתי ולא התמהמהתי. I acted quickly with zerizus. I didn't procrastinate lishmor mitzvosecha. Okay, well we'll stop here. So בלי נדר אם ירצה השם we'll resume around around 12:45. Okay rabbosai have a good productive morning. Everyone should be well, be safe im yirtzeh Hashem.