כדי לעורר הלבבות לפתוח דרכי התשובה ויהיה זה זכרון למעשינו הרעים ומעשי אבותינו שהיו כמעשינו עתה עד שגרם להם ולנו אותן הצרות שבזכרון דברים אלו נשוב להיטיב שנאמר והתוודו את עוונם ואת עוון אבותם.
Kimidume, if you read this Rambam carefully, there’s a very, very important chidush which is being expressed here. Again, יש שם ימים שכל ישראל מתענין בהם מפני הצרות שאירעו בהם כדי לעורר הלבבות לפתוח דרכי התשובה.
Maybe to give a moshal from another Rambam just to help, even though the moshal is stronger than the nimshal. The Rambam in the beginning of Hilchos Brachos, perek alef, halacha gimmel, writes וברכות רבות תקנו חכמים דרך שבח והודיה ודרך בקשה כדי לזכור את הבורא תמיד אף על פי שלא נהנה ולא עשה מצוה.
So what’s pshat? So pshat clearly in the Rambam is, it’s not pshat that hearing thunder, seeing lightning, seeing a rainbow, that Chazal said that without any other consideration, that is a mechayeiv in a bracha. No, the Rambam says Chazal wanted that we should be making brachos constantly on a regular basis, because if we say a bracha the way it's supposed to be said, it brings about לזכור את הבורא תמיד. And then memaila, given that, given that need that Chazal saw that we should have constant, we should constantly be incurring a chiyuv brachos, so memaila they said, you know, these are appropriate occasions. So when you see a rainbow, when you see lightning, when you hear thunder, that’s an occasion to be mechayeiv in bracha. But it is not purely that k’she’le’atzmo Chazal said that these events, that these experiences should be mechayeiv in bracha. It's because of that, first they identified the goal of saying brachos כדי לזכור את הבורא תמיד and then they said these are the appropriate occasions. And be'emes when you come back here, again the same kedei you have here in the beginning in Hilchos Ta’anios, we don’t fast to commemorate, we’re not fasting to be misabel, we’re fasting kedei le’orer ha’levavos. Why did Chazal choose, me'rov chachameinu zal, mah yom mi’yomayim, that we should fast Asara B’Teves, that we should fast Shiva Asar B’Tammuz מפני הצרות שאירעו בהן? מפני הצרות שאירעו בהן, so these are the days to fast. It’s a subtle point, but kimidumani that it’s there in the Rambam, and bli neder shortly try to give perhaps a conclusive corroboration to this understanding. Or in other words like this, right, Chazal say שוב יום אחד לפני מיתתך. Ay, a person doesn’t know, לא ידע האדם את עתו? So that’s exactly the point, נמצאו כל ימיו בתשובה. So the emes is a person is always supposed to be preoccupied with tshuva, the oft quote... Maharsha at the end of Masechet Megillah when Chazal are illustrating that you're supposed to learn inyana d'yoma, so you learn hilchos chag b'chag, etcetera, and you learn dinei chametz u'matzah on Pesach. So Chazal don't say that you're osek b'hilchos teshuvah on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. So why not? So the Maharsha says because then you would have thought that teshuvah is only inyana d'yoma on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. So chametz u'matzah takeh is only inyana d'yoma on Pesach and and the halachos of Sukkah is takeh only inyana d'yoma on Sukkos. If the Gemara, if Chazal would have mentioned in the same breath hilchos teshuvah, then you would have thought that that's also only inyana d'yoma on Yamim Noraim and it's not true. Because the the ideal that Chazal foresaw for us is kol yamav b'teshuvah. So in the Rambam therefore emerges again corroboration בלי נדר בעזרת השם to come is mashma that the role of the taaniyos of עשרה בטבת וכיוצא בו is that to facilitate kol yamav b'teshuvah. So there have to be certain days on which we're misaneh kedei l'orer halivavos. The historical background suggests that these should be the days that that we single out, that that are designated. Now lichora this type of of relationship exists elsewhere in halacha. For instance, Tisha B'Av is is the yom aveilus for churban habayis. But there's also a din in Shulchan Aruch, the very first siman, ראוי לכל ירא שמים שיהיה מיצר ודואג על חורבן בית המקדש.
There's an inyan all year long, all year long to be מיצר ודואג על חורבן בית המקדש. The pshat, the relationship between these two dinim is that without Tisha B'Av it's impossible or extremely difficult to maintain this sort of ongoing awareness and מיצר ודואג על חורבן בית המקדש. So a person has to at least at a certain time be totally shakua in churban. The Gaon - it's both mashma here in the Gaon as well as later in Hilchos Tisha B'Av - the minhag that we have to, right, m'dina d'Gemara it's only by seuda hamafsekes. The minhag that we have for for the Nine Days to abstain from basar v'yayin. So where does it come from? So the Gaon is metzayer that the Gemara says at the end of Chezkas Habatim that מיום שחרב בית המקדש דין הוא שנגזור על עצמנו שלא נאכל בשר ושלא נשתה יין.
That really there should be an issur basar v'yayin all year long since batel bsar hakorbanos and batlu hanesachim. So really דין הוא שנגזור על עצמנו שלא נאכל בשר ונשתה יין
all year long, but it's אין רוב הציבור יכול לעמוד בו. So the Gaon says that's the basis for for abstaining from basar v'yayin in the Nine Days. So what do you see? That be'emes really it's aveilus of, that really the aveilus should be all year long. And ein hachi nami the aveilus is there all year long. This hanhaga isn't there. This hanhaga can't be maintained all year long, so we at least intensify around this period. But the intensification around this period is also what makes possible to to be מיצר ודואג על חורבן בית המקדש all year long. And the relationship is true in the other direction. as well. A person can't flip a switch on Tisha B'Av if a person is totally oblivious to the churban all year long, so then Tisha B'Av is a very, very difficult day to observe. If a person is metzeir v'do'eig all year long, so then he can immerse himself in in churban on Tisha B'Av. And again, in a reciprocal fashion, based on on the what's internalized through immersing himself in the aveilus on Tisha B'Av, a person is metzeir v'do'eig all year long also. Another example where where you have this type of relationship. If you take a look in in the famous halachos at the end of Hilchos Lulav in the Rambam, so the Rambam is talking of course about Simchas Yom Tov. אף על פי שכל המצוות מצוה לשמוח בהן בחג הסוכות היתה במקדש יום שמחה יתירה
and he describes Simchas Beis Hasho'eiva in Mikdash and מצוה להרבות בשמחה זו. And then the Rambam either segues or digresses depending upon one's perspective in the final halacha. He's not talking about Simchas Yom Tov anymore. He's talking about השמחה שישמח אדם בעשיית המצוות ובאהבת האל שצוה בהן עבודה גדולה היא.
So is it sort of again a digression because the emes is it's two different things, right? The Simchas Yom Tov where the mitzvah is simcha, and then the השמחה שישמח אדם בעשיית המצוות ובאהבת האל שצוה בהן is not a mitzvah kishel'atzmo but it's an attitude, it's sort of a modality which is supposed to accompany other mitzvos. So it's not really the same topic. Okay, so where else is the Rambam going to put this halacha? It's a gevaldige halacha, he's got to put it somewhere. But yitachein that the deeper pshat is that again the same relationship we're talking about in terms of the intensification of churban on Tisha B'Av and its relationship to the ongoing albeit more understated being metzeir v'do'eig all year long, that the Rambam is suggesting the same relationship in terms of simcha, that there are times of the year when we we immerse ourselves in simcha. Simcha isn't just an attitude, it's not just a modality. It's gufo shel mitzvah, it's gufo shel mitzvah. But that carries over and that helps sustain the השמחה שישמח אדם בעשיית המצוות ובאהבת האל שצוה בהן all year long. And again and here too lich'ora in a reciprocal fashion. If if a person is is sort of very parev rachmana litzlan about his avodas Hashem all year long, so again there's no there's no switch to flip to to have the kiyom shebaleiv that the Rav speaks about in terms of Simchas Yom Tov. You learn like the Gaon all year long, then you can dance like the Gaon on Simchas Torah. But the two the two are linked. And lich'ora that's the what we're suggesting is that that's the pshat also on the taniyos as you make teshuva. So the pshat here too is again teshuva isn't, there's no season for teshuva. נמצאו כל ימיו בתשובה Chazal say. There's no season for teshuva. But ella mah for teshuva to be an ongoing focus and preoccupation, there have to be certain zmanim when it's the primary and even exclusive preoccupation. The same way to be metzeir v'do'eig all year long you need a Tisha B'Av, you need a nine-tag, in order השמחה שישמח אדם בעשיית המצוות ובאהבת האל you need zmanim of simcha. In order for נמצאו כל ימיו בתשובה you need zmanim of teshuva. And the zmanim of again zmanim where again teshuva is not only an ongoing preoccupation but it becomes it's center stage in terms of being a primary focus. Lich'ora the the the... Kim-dumani, the clincher that this is what the Rambam means is again, the Rambam's lashon is יש שם ימים שכל ישראל מתענין בהן מפני הצרות שאירעו בהן כדי לעורר הלבבות לפתוח דרכי התשובה.
That's right. What's so significant is the Rambam has the same lashon of darkei hateshuvah earlier in Hilchos Teshuvah in פרק ב' הלכה ד'. And when the Rambam there says in פרק ב' הלכה ד', so the Rambam says מדדרכי התשובה להיות השב צועק תמיד לפני ה' בבכי ובתחנונים ועושה צדקה כפי כוחו ומתרחק הרבה מן הדבר שחטא בו ומשנה שמו כלומר אני אחר ואיני אותו האיש שעשה אותן המעשים
etcetera. So what's the Rambam describing under the heading of darkei teshuvah? A lifestyle. He's not describing a session. He's not describing a day's work, a day's focus. Darkei teshuvah is a lifestyle. He's tzo'ek tamid. He's meshaneh shemo. It's a lifestyle. So now wait a minute, so what did the Rambam say over here? So that means that the Rambam in Hilchos Ta'aniyos didn't only say that the ta'aniyos are yemei teshuvah. He said that they're yemei teshuvah which have to reverberate. So heim heim hadevarim. That's exactly what we're talking about, that again, that the real kiyum in the tonis is, the real kiyum in the tonis is again, the aveilus of Tisha B'Av should sustain the meitzer vedoeig all year long. Simchas Yom Tov should help sustain the השמחה שישמח האדם בעשיית המצוות all year long and reciprocally, the yemei teshuvah of the ta'aniyos should sustain a person. Darkei hateshuvah isn't accomplished, isn't realized on Asara B'Teves. That's not darkei teshuvah. Darkei teshuvah is להיות צועק תמיד משנה שמו. It's a whole lifestyle, it's something ongoing. So heim heim hadevarim, that that's what the pshat is again, that you need zmanim. It's so true on whatever other levels, it's also true metaphysically and spiritually, it's very true psychologically as well, that you need zmanim when this is one's primary if not exclusive focus in order for it to be again, something which is always part of a person's life. And that's what the Rambam says, that the point of the tonis is not lachzor b'teshuvah. Okay, I was chozer b'teshuvah on Asara B'Teves, so now י"א בטבת let's gay veiter. No. The kiyum of Asara B'Teves is only realized if on י"א בטבת there's something different about my lifestyle. That's what it says in the Rambam, כדי לעורר הלבבות לפתוח דרכי התשובה. And that's what the lashon darkei hateshuvah means in the Rambam. So here I just wanted for a couple of minutes just to think aloud or I'm not sure what. One of the big, biggest and ongoing nisyonos in life is that basically almost everyone is very busy. Again, at different stages of life with different things, but one doesn't go through life being busy with midterms and finals forever Baruch Hashem, it's not a life sentence. But even when one's not busy with midterms and finals, Baruch Hashem people, most of us are very busy most if not all the time. And Baruch Hashem productively busy, not I don't mean busy with narishkeit. We have routines which are meaningful routines, which are filled with devarim shel mamash, Baruch Hashem with דברים העומדים ברומו של עולם. And the emes is that a routine which which involves tefillah b'tzibbur three times a day and and extended kevi'as ittim laTorah is a lifestyle of aliyah. There's no question about that. But it can still and k'medumeh, maybe I'm just projecting my own chesronos, that could be. But k'medumeh, it's not necessarily a lifestyle of kol yamav b'teshuvah. Kol yamav b'teshuvah means that I'm I'm working to change something. I'm working to improve something. A person can settle in. Okay, so Baruch Hashem, I I we reached the madreigah, we know we should davven b'tzibbur and therefore and we davven b'tzibbur and that we should learn and and therefore, but shaleim, a person isn't yet. And and a person can again can have a very meaningful routine and the routine which lich'orah should generate aliyah, but נמצא כל ימיו בתשובה it won't necessarily be. And puk chazei, I mean look around now while you're young. You see sometimes you you can see certain middos, certain chesronos that just accompany people through their lifetimes because, not because they don't live and lead meaningful lives with meaningful routines, but there's a difference, there's a crucial difference between a a lifestyle of meaningful preoccupation and busyness and between a lifestyle of darchei teshuvah. A lifestyle of darchei teshuvah means that I'm always focused on on a mida, on something in my avodas Hashem which I realize is is currently lacking. So the tanniyos are our time lifto'ach darchei hateshuvah means to see what can be inserted, what can be injected into each of our routines, each of our lifestyles, again that it should not only be meaningful, but it should be kol yamav b'teshuvah. That there should be things built in to our daily schedules which are teshuvah related. What does that mean more tachlis, more more concretely? I'll give examples, a couple of examples and then we'll try to generalize. Obviously, every person has to look inward and decide. What what the darkei hateshuva for himself are. Someone told me a story not too long ago about at the time he was a young bochur, I don't know if he was already an avreich, who decided that he had to work on the midah of being someach b'chelko and the midah of simchas hachayim. So he was mekabel upon himself to make a conscious effort to smile. And in his case, from what was described to me, it taka over the course of time had a transformative effect. He's taka a person who's now genuinely tremendously besimcha. And might we all know from meeting such people that they exude simcha. It's infectious. It's uplifting. So that kabbalah of to recognize on asara biteves - I have this weakness, I have this chisaron and this is what I can do and this is what I'm now inserting into my daily routine to try to address that weakness, to try to be mechazek, that's a derech hateshuva, that's being poseach a derech teshuva. Another example, and again the examples are trying to illustrate, not dictate obviously. Let's say the limud of Chofetz Chaim yomi. It's impossible not to be more conscious of shmiras halashon, of all the halachos of shmiras halashon, if every day a person is learning one or two halachos about shmiras halashon. Even if the situation in which you find yourself is in klal zayin and today's halacha was in klal beis, and klal zayin hasn't been for four months and won't be for another month and a half or whatever, the fact that a person is always, always holding in hilchos lashon hara means that it's on his mind. If in the cheshbon hanefesh that a person makes on asara biteves or any other time, a person sees that he has to be mechazek himself on that, so that kabbalah is poseach derech teshuva. Because what it means again is not just that this will be a meaningful addition to what I want to be a meaningful routine that my days should be filled with meaning, but it's a derech teshuva because it's something which means that now I've inserted something, I've integrated something into my lifestyle which is targeting something that I need to do teshuva on, something that I need to be mechazek myself on. Let's say a person makes a cheshbon hanefesh on asara biteves and in this cheshbon hanefesh he realizes that he's remiss in not doing what Ramchal says, making a daily cheshbon hanefesh. And he realizes that again the fact that he can have a meaningful routine, but one which doesn't necessarily translate into נמצאו כל ימיו בתשובה is because of that lack of a daily cheshbon hanefesh. So he says, so on Asara b'Tevet is me'orer k'dei l'orer ha'levavos, and he says, you know what? So I takke have to do like it says in Mesillas Yesharim. So then he didn't just spend the day of Asara b'Tevet doing teshuva, but he was posei'ach darchei teshuva. Or in general, Rabbi Kohn is fond of quoting the mashgiach Rav Lazerstein as quoting the ba'alei mussar who say that a Rosh Hashanah without a kabbala is not a Rosh Hashanah. The emes is al pi this Rambam of כדי לעורר הלבבות ולפתוח דרכי התשובה, the same can be said about a ta'anis. That a ta'anis without without some specific concrete kabbala, and a realistic one, a realistic one, not I'm gonna learn 22 hours a day, I have to learn with more hasmada, I'm too much of a batlan so I'm gonna learn 22 hours a day, no, a realistic, concrete kabbala. So without that, the ta'anis is not a ta'anis, because the whole point of the ta'anis is לעורר הלבבות ולפתוח דרכי תשובה. Maybe one one last example, Chofetz Chaim writes, I believe in Ahavas Chesed. He talks about the ג' עמודים על התורה על העבודה ועל גמילות חסדים. So he says Torah, right, kava'ta ittim l'Torah, a person is mechuyav to learn daily. Avoda is temidin k'sidran, whether it was the avoda in Mikdash or whether it's tefilla which is bimkom avoda. So he says gemilas chasadim should be the same. A person should have a kevi'as to do chesed every day. A person should look to ensure, you hear an eitza from the Chofetz Chaim, a person should look to ensure that every day he does a chesed for someone. So not only does that again elevate one's routine and one's life, but it means that a person is working on his midda of ahavas Yisrael, on his midda of chesed, because anyone who learns daf yomi, so ask him, if they haven't learned the daf yet today, so it's on their mind, they have to they can't go to sleep until until they learn the daf. It's on their mind. If a person has feels again this hischayvus, I have to do and try and try to make it as as meaningful a chesed as possible, but the day can't pass without a chesed, so that means a person is constantly, again, he's not settling into a comfort zone in his avodas Hashem, but he's constantly, constantly looking, I have to do something else, I have to do something more, not just whatever comes my way, whatever's part of the routine. No, the routine itself is that I have to go out of my way to make sure. When a person is in that frame of mind, so then it can translate into נמצאו כל ימיו בתשובה.