Transcript

Perek Aleph, Halacha Aleph,

שיעשה תשובה וישוב מחטאו חייב להתוודות לפני האל ברוך הוא, שנאמר: איש או אשה כי יעשו מכל חטאת האדם למעל מעל בה' ואשמה הנפש ההיא והתוודו את חטאתם אשר עשו. זה

vidui devarim. וידוי זה מצות עשה. The Rambam again discusses the din of vidui in Perek Beis, Halacha Beis.

ומה היא התשובה הוא שיעזוב החוטא חטאו ויסירו ממחשבתו ויגמור בלבו שלא יעשהו עוד, שנאמר: יעזוב רשע דרכו ואיש און מחשבתיו. וכן ינחם על שעבר, שנאמר: כי אחרי שובי נחמתי. ויעיד עליו יודע התעלומות שלא ישוב לזה החטא לעולם, שנאמר: ולא נאמר עוד אלהינו למעשה ידינו אשר בך ירחם יתום. וצריך להתוודות בשפתיו ולומר עניינות אלו שגמר בלבו.

So the Rambam returns to the din vidui. So repetition is not the Rambam's style. B, what's especially telling is the downgrade, as it were, in the lashon ha-Rambam. In Perek Aleph, Halacha Aleph, the Rambam speaks of chayav lehisvados, and here in Beis Beis, it's tzarich lehisvados. What exactly is the best, is an accurate translation of tzarich is a question. It certainly doesn't mean optional, it's stronger than should, but on the other hand it's not synonymous with chayav. In the previous line here in Perek Beis, Halacha Beis, the Rambam says: ויעיד עליו יודע התעלומות, that a person should invite Hakadosh Baruch Hu to serve as a witness, the ba'al teshuva should invite Hakadosh Baruch Hu to serve as a witness שלא ישוב לזה החטא לעולם, and he quotes as his raya: ולא נאמר עוד אלהינו למעשה ידינו. So Rav Kappach in his comments on this, that the Rambam here is following in the footsteps of Rav Saadia Gaon, and that Rav Saadia in Emunos Ve-Deios sees these pesukim in Hoshea, it's the haftarah that we recognize from Shabbos Shuva, he sees these pesukim as encapsulating the elements of teshuva. And specifically, so how do the pesukim begin? So it begins: קחו עמכם דברים ושובו אל ה', and then fast-forwarding a little bit:

אשור לא יושיענו על סוס לא נרכב ולא נאמר עוד אלהינו למעשה ידינו.

So each of those elements the meforshim explain, the ashur lo yoshi'einu and

על סוס לא נרכב, ולא נאמר עוד אלהינו למעשה ידינו

are expressions of kabbalah la'aba. ולא נאמר עוד אלהינו למעשה ידינו we'll no longer turn to avoda zara, and על סוס לא נרכב it's not going to be kochi ve'otzem yadi. Ashur lo yoshi'einu we're not going to place our trust in the gentile superpowers. So the kechu imachem devarim means that you have to articulate and specifically what you're articulating is the kabbalah la'aba. So in light of that, so itachen me'od that the pshat in the Rambam is as follows: that in Perek Aleph the Rambam tells us that distinct from teshuva there's a chiyuv vidui. Vidui is the instrument for kappara, there's a chiyuv to seek kappara, there's a chiyuv vidui, and that's distinct from teshuva. And that's a chiyuv, it's a mitzvas asei, it's a chiyuv. Then the Rambam says based on the pesukim in Hoshea, there's also a din of vidui which is part of the teshuva process itself. That as part of the teshuva process itself, the navi says: kechu imachem devarim, hagam that the teshuva is obviously baleiv, but nevertheless kechu imachem devarim. Is this me'akev? Is it the case that there's no teshuva without the kechu imachem devarim? No, it's not me'akev. המקדש את האשה על מנת שאני צדיק גמור is she's safek mekudeshes שמא הרהר בלבו תשובה, so clearly what the psukim are saying in Hoshea not me'akev; it's not chayav lehisvados, it's tzorech lehisvados. And what's more, yitachen me'od that even what's to be included in the viduy is not the same. In perek aleph, the Rambam tells us that ikaro shel viduy,

חטאתי עויתי פשעתי לפניך עשיתי כך וכך והרי נחמתי ובושתי במעשי ולעולם איני חוזר לדבר הזה.

So the viduy of perek aleph, meaning the independent mitzvas viduy as distinct from the teshuvah, includes not only the kabbalah lehaba, but it also looks back backwards to the nichamti uvoshti bema'asai. Here in perek beis the Rambam says צריך להתוודות בשפתיו ולומר עניינים אלו שגמר בלבו. Gamar belibo, as the Rambam used the phrase in the beginning of halacha beis, ויגמור בלבו שלא יעשהו עוד, gamar belibo means there's a decision taken about the future. Nimnu vegamru. Gamar belibo means a sense of resolve, a decision about the future. Why? Because the psukim in Hoshea after it says kachu imachem devarim don't have any expressions of charata. So the chiyuv, the mitzvah, the tzorech of viduy as an integral part of teshuvah, so that's only, that only relates to the kabbalah lehaba, and hence the Rambam: צריך להתוודות בשפתיו ולומר עניינים אלו שגמר בלבו.