Transcript

So what we'll say is that the Ramban says that peshat ki hamitzvah hazos refers to the mitzvah of teshuva. Again, zos means that which has been previously mentioned. But when the Ramban tells us what the antecedent for the zos is, he mentions not only the והשבת עד ה' אלקיך Pasuk B, but the ve-hasheivosa el levavecha Pasuk Alef as well. So there are two parts to the chiyuv and the first of the two is the ve-hasheivosa el levavecha. What does the Torah refer to? Ve-hasheivosa is transitive. Ve-hasheivosa what el levavecha? So it means to be apparently to be misbonen in the הדברים האלה הברכה והקללה specifically in context of teshuva, the kelalah which materialized, which bau alecha. That tzara is mechayev in cheshbon ha-nefesh to be misbonen what Hakadosh Baruch Hu reaction He wants from us that He sent the kelalah rachmana litzlan, and that's the reaction of veshavta with whatever specifics the cheshbon ha-nefesh yielded. So I think we mentioned that we were going to take a little bit a look here just at part of the footnote three in Kol Dodi Dofek. So the Rav has as follows:

הקשר בין צרה לתשובה התבטא במצות זעקה והרעה בחצוצרות כשצרה באה על הצבור.

Right, the connection between tzara, suffering, distress, adversity, and teshuva is expressed in the mitzvah of crying out and blowing the chatzotzros.

אלה הם דברי הרמב"ם פרק א מהלכות תעניות: מצות עשה מן התורה לזעוק ולהריע בחצוצרות על כל צרה שתבא על הצבור, שנאמר על הצר הצרר אתכם והרעתם בחצצרות. ודבר זה מדרכי התשובה הוא שבזמן שתבא צרה ויזעקו עליה ויריעו.

If we respond to tzara with zaakah, with chatzotzros, ידעו הכל שבגלל מעשיהם הרעים הורע להם. The fact that there's a spiritual religious response to tzara reflects the understanding that there's a spiritual cause for the tzara. Then the Rav goes on to explain that

ישנן שתי מצוות מיוחדות. מצות עשה של תשובה וודוי על כל חטא שאדם נכשל בו,

even if it's not an eis tzara.

מצוה זו מבוארת בפרשת נשא: איש או אשה כי יעשו וגומר והתודו את חטאתם אשר עשו. הרמב"ם הקדיש למצוה זו עשרה פרקים המכונים הלכות תשובה. ב, חובה מסוימת של תשובה בעת צרה כמבואר בפרשת חצוצרות: וכי תבאו מלחמה בארצכם ונזכרתם לפני ה' אלקיכם.

So it could be that the Ramban would offer our parsha here in Nitzavim as certainly the source for the second mitzvah, although probably we'll get to it today already, if not today then the next time im yirtzeh Hashem. Could be that for the Ramban, our parsha is the source for both of these mitzvos. Chovah mesuyemes, there's a special chiyuv of teshuva be-shaas tzara. If you're following along I'm skipping here ten lines or a dozen lines to three four lines from the bottom of page ten,

ההבדל בין מצות תשובה בכלל לחובת תשובה בעת הצרה מסתכם בפרט אחד.

What's the difference between the general mitzvah... teshuvah al cheit, keruchah biydi'as hacheit. Generally the mechayev in teshuvah is awareness of cheit. What mechayev a person to do teshuvah is the fact that he's aware of a cheit. Ordinarily all year long a person doesn't have a chiyuv, it may be a very smart thing to do, it may be a very good thing to do, but a person doesn't have a chiyuv mitzad mitzvas teshuvah to be looking for chata'im. He doesn't have a chiyuv to nachpesah dracheinu venachkorah to see if there's any chata'im that he's unaware of. If he's aware of cheit, so then yedi'as hacheit is mechayev in teshuvah.

אין אדם חייב לשוב על נסתרות כי אם על הנגלות. ברם בעת צרה מתחייב הסובל לבדוק את מעשיו ולחפש את חטאיו כדי לשוב עליהם. עצמו של הסובל מייצג חטא.

So the mashal's like this. Mashal's like this. Let's say one can, rachmana litzlan, uncover physical illness in either of two ways. It can be that a person goes for routine checkup and as part of the routine checkup, I don't know, maybe they they do, they run certain tests or they take certain scans, right? But he's feeling fine, but to be responsible at a certain age, so he's told he should go for he should go for a checkup and then the tests reveal something. The tests uncover that, rachmana litzlan, there's some there's some sickness. So that's one way that that sickness is uncovered. Another indication of sickness is if a person suffers pain, right? Pain is an indication. The normal, the default setting of a person is that a person shouldn't be in pain. If, rachmana litzlan, a person is experiencing pain, so that indicates that there's some some imbalance in the body, something is not the way it's supposed to be. So in the again in the physical world pain is a symptom of illness. So in the spiritual world as well, the yissurim Hakadosh Baruch Hu uses that as a symptom of cheit as well. So again the that's what the Rav's saying, the omek and the difference is that it's a difference but it's not a difference, right? That what's mechayev in teshuvah is yedi'as hacheit. So kol zman that a person is is free of yissurim, so then yedi'as hacheit is pshuto kemashma'o. It means that the person is aware of the fact that he's guilty of this by commission or omission, whatever the case may be. But if the person is visited with yissurim, so then that's the analog in the spiritual world to the physical world when a person just has some also some kind of symptom which which tells him that even though he wasn't aware that there's a problem, but but something is underlying this symptom, something is generating this symptom. So the yissurim are mechayev in cheshbon hanefesh because the yissurim indicate that there is cheit because yissurim come in response to cheit. Be'etzem this whole idea that we're talking about, again beginning in the Rambam, Rabbeinu Yonah, here in in the Rav's discussion here, it's all really a Gemara in Berachos.

אמר רבא ואיתימא רב חסדא אם רואה אדם שיסורין באין עליו יפשפש במעשיו שנאמר נחפשה דרכינו ונחקורה ונשובה עד ה'.

So so that's the that's that. So that's the yesod that we're discussing. Now let's continue here in the Ramban. Okay, so again just reading from the beginning just to pick up the thread.

והנה כי על כל התורה יאמר כל המצווה אשר אנכי מצווך היום אבל המצווה הזאת על התשובה הנזכרת כי והשבת אל לבבך ושבת עד השם אלוקיך מצווה שיצווה אותנו לעשות כן.

Venemar bilshon habeinoni, that we discussed this yesterday, לומר בהבטחה כי עתיד הדבר להיות כן. Now the Rambam also records this in Perek Zayin of Hilchos Teshuva.

וכבר הבטיחה תורה שסוף ישראל לעשות תשובה בסוף גלותן ומיד הן נגאלין שנאמר והיה כי יבואו עליך כל הדברים האלה הברכה והקללה אשר נתתי לפניך והשבת אל לבבך בכל הגויים אשר הדיחך השם אלוקיך שמה ושבת עד השם אלוקיך ושמעת בקולו ככל אשר אנכי מצווך היום וגומר.

So the Rambam agrees with the Ramban that our parsha represents a havtacha that סוף ישראל לעשות תשובה. But אף על פי כן again just sort of to broach the issue, not really to deal with it adequately, if you have the Ramban, take a look at the end of Shiras Ha'azinu in the Ramban. Take a look, the last Ramban, it's a long Ramban on Shiras Ha'azinu. If you see where it says והנה אין בשירה הזאת תנאי בתשובה. You have it, Avrasa?

והנה אין בשירה הזאת תנאי בתשובה. והנה אין בשירה הזאת תנאי בתשובה ועבודה.

What does Ramban mean? What that means is that when you learn Shiras Ha'azinu, so the Torah describes how we sin and the onesh the onchem that are forthcoming. אם לא כי צורם מכרם והשם הסגירם. But then all of a sudden very abruptly the Torah says

על עבדיו יתנחם כי אשא אל שמיים ידי ואמרתי חי אנכי לעולם.

Ashiv nakam litzarai, not talking about the Jewish people, talking about the umos ha'olam who have persecuted us, who are the enemies of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

אשכיר חיצי מדם וחרבי תאכל בשר מדם חלל ושביה מראש פרעות אויב הרנינו גויים עמו כי דם עבדיו יקום

Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to avenge all the blood of the Jewish people shed throughout the millennium ונקם ישיב לצריו וכיפר אדמתו עמו. So all of a sudden Shiras Ha'azinu abruptly changes from again describing the onchem that... Rachmana Litzlan we endure and the Ramban says but without mentioning anything about teshuva.

והנה אין בשירה הזאת תנאי בתשובה ועבודה אלא כי היא עדות שנעשו הרעות ונחול.

We're not going to be totally destroyed.

ושהוא יתברך יעשה בנו בתוכחות חימה אבל לא ישבית זכרנו.

Yes, Rachmana Litzlan we're punished, but lo yashbis zichreinu. He's not going to destroy us.

וישוב ויתנחם ויפרע מן האויבים בחרבו הקשה והגדולה והחזקה ויכפר על חטאותינו למען שמו. אם כן השירה הזאת הבטחה מבוארת בגאולה העתידה על כרחן של מינין.

So the Ramban here says explicitly that the geulah ha'atidah will come even without teshuva. That's what Ramban is saying at the end of Ha'azinu. So in the Gemara, the Gemara in Perek Chelek in Sanhedrin has a machlokes Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Eliezer about this question, about whether or not the geulah ha'atidah depends upon our first doing teshuva, or no, the geulah ha'atidah is unconditional. The Gemara says that even according to Rabbi Yehoshua who says that the geulah ha'atidah depends upon our doing teshuva, that doesn't mean that there's a question Rachmana Litzlan whether there will be a geulah ha'atidah because there's a havtacha that we will do teshuva. So either way, the fact that there will be a geulah ha'atidah is something which is absolute, whether that geulah ha'atidah happens only after we do teshuva is a machlokes tannaim and the Rambam and the Ramban align themselves with the opposite views in the tannaim. So when our Ramban, back to our Ramban, when our Ramban says there is a havtacha for teshuva, so I thank my son-in-law for helping me with this point. So our Ramban doesn't mean like the Rambam, he doesn't mean a teshuva that will precede and thereby precipitate the geulah, he means lichora that yes the geulah will happen but post-geulah we'll then do teshuva. Hakadosh Baruch Hu will be goel us even though we're totally undeserving, but then in response to the geulah there will be a teshuva. So what it is that this Parsha is, the Rambam and the Ramban alike say that ושבת עד ה׳ אלוקיך בלשון בינוני is a havtacha. For the Rambam it's only a havtacha, he doesn't quote this as a source for mitzvas teshuva. For the Ramban it's also a mitzvah, but that's not what we're talking about now. They both agree that the lashon beinoni reflects that it's a havtacha, but אף על פי כן they're saying very different things. For the Rambam this havtacha is a havtacha of teshuva that will prepare the way for the geulah, that will allow the geulah to happen. And for the Ramban lichora when you put our Ramban here in Nitzavim together with the Ramban in Ha'azinu, it means that no, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will do it unilaterally, like the pesukim say in Yechezkel, because of shmi hachilal bagoyim, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to will be'ita if we don't make it achishena, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu will bring the geulah, but then in response to that we're going to do teshuva. Isn't that the order of the pesukim that these pesukim that the Ramban says refers to doing teshuva come before ושב ה׳ אלוקיך את שבותך ורחמך? Yeah. Yeah. It does sound that way. I think for today maybe we'll leave that Tzofia and then come back to it. One other point here in this Ramban. The Ramban continues and describes the Teshuvah and says

וזה טעם בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו שיודו את עונם ואת עון אבותם בפיהם.

So all it says here in the Chumash is Beficha. So how is Mitzvas Teshuvah Beficha? Because there's a Chiyuv Viduy. But then the Ramban says שיודו את עונם ואת עון אבותם. So that phrase that the Ramban is quoting from Parshas Bechukosai, right? In the Tochacha in Bechukosai, the Torah speaks of והתודו את עונם ואת עון אבותם. And the Ramban is again he's borrowing that phrase. But how does the Ramban know that I don't know maybe over here it's not שיודו את עונם? What's the Inyan of being Misvadeh Avon Avosam? Again the Ramban is not being Mechadesh this notion. Again the phrase is explicitly in the Chumash, but he is transposing from Bechukosai to here. Maybe that was extra. But then look at what the Ramban says:

וישובו בלבם אל השם ויקבלו עליהם היום התורה לעשותה לדורות.

Okay, so we know that Teshuvah requires a Kabbala L'haba and that's Belevavcha. That's the inner resolve that the person has not to repeat the Cheit. How long is he not going to repeat the Cheit? The rest of his life. I don't think we would, even for a young person, I don't think we would have described it as Ledoros. So what does the Ramban mean? But the Ramban indicates to us that he's saying something Mechudash and he says: כאשר הזכר אתה ובניך בכל לבבך. What's that? Go back to Pasuk Beis.

ושבת עד השם אלוהיך ושמעת בקולו ככל אשר אנכי מצוך היום אתה ובניך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך.

So there too, let's say, just to highlight the Chidush here, if you open up the Rambam Perek Aleph Hilchos Teshuvah Halacha Aleph, the Rambam tells us Keitzad Misvadin:

אנה השם חטאתי עויתי פשעתי לפניך ועשיתי כך וכך והרי נחמתי ובושתי במעשי ולעולם איני חוזר לדבר זה.

But he's not talking about his children. Take out his wallet, show a picture. Once upon a time you think of your wallet to show a picture, now you just think about your phone to show a picture. What's again, what's the Atah Uvanecha here? What's the Atah Uvanecha? So Lichora the Pshat, again whether this He'ara and the previous He'ara in terms of integrating our Ramban and the Ramban in Ha'azinu are they consistent? You have to think about that also. That's part of why we're holding off on finishing that. Lichora, according to the Ramban, there are two sort of layers of Mitzvas Teshuvah as depicted here in our Parsha. There's a Mitzva of Teshuvah, Beficha Uvlevavcha La'asoso. A person is Misvadeh, a person takes a Kabbala L'haba, and the person makes a Kabbala for himself. But then there's also a teshuva of gedola teshuva shemekareves es hageula. Again, is it mekareves es hageula? Is it coming be'ikvos hageula? Okay, so that's ayin sham. That teshuva adheres to a higher standard. That teshuva is not just sort of a tikun on recent past and the kabala for the rest of one's lifespan. But the teshuva that again is associated with the geula. Let's take a neutral face. The teshuva that's associated with the geula. Let's say talk in terms of kabala l'haba, it's easier to understand there. Ata uvanencha. The teshuva that's associated for the geula. So that's going to which brings us to acharis hayamim. So that there's something final and absolute about that. The kabala there is not just you know איני חוזר לדבר זה לעולם, you know as long as I'm alive I'm not going to repeat this cheit. No, it's ata uvanencha. We're talking about acharis hayamim. So we're talking about that this is now a teshuva which is associated with ushering in a new stage in history. So that teshuva is a teshuva of the doros. That's going to be a teshuva of the doros. And lichora, how does the Ramban know to say to transpose והתוודו עוונם ואת עוון אבותם? Because that's symmetrical to the kabala l'haba being ata uvanencha. That just as the ata uvanencha because again the Torah here on the one hand part of what the Torah is saying depicts teshuva, teshuva in any generation, in every generation. But the broader picture of what the Torah is painting here is the teshuva which is associated with geula, which means the final as it were rectification of past history and ushering in a new again from which there's no turning back. New stage in terms of the world, in terms of life. That geula, that teshuva. So the teshuva is going to have to be והתוודו עוונם ואת עוון אבותם and the kabala is going to have to be ata uvanencha. If you take a look back in Parshas Va'eschanan. So there too it's a very very similar parsha, right? We read it on Tisha B'Av and it was also in Parshas Va'eschanan. So the Torah says בצר לך ומצאוך כל הדברים האלה. Torah even says beacharis hayamim. So again it's very much parallel to והיה כי יבואו עליך כל הדברים האלה הברכה והקללה and veshavta. But here the Torah says ושבת עד ה' אלהיך ושמעת בקולו. It doesn't say ata uvanencha. Just as veshavta. So if you take a look at the Ramban here, again the note points out that elsewhere in the Kisvei Ramban he says differently. But in terms of what the Ramban says al HaTorah, the Ramban says ושבת עד ה' אלהיך, Perek daled, posuk lamed,

ושבת עד ה' אלהיך ושמעת בקולו. גם זה רמז לגאולת בבל.

That beacharis hayamim doesn't mean the way we generally use acharis hayamim as the end of days. Beacharis hayamim of galus Bavel.

גם זה רמז לגאולת בבל ששבו אל ה' והתוודו לפניו ושמעו לקול כל הנביאים אשר הקים להם.

So this parsha is not talking about the geula asida. So what's teshuva? It's teshuva not l'doros. Teshuva is, Ribbono Shel Olam, I'm not going to do it again, I'm not going to do it again. What's going to be in a hundred years from now? I'm not going to do it. I'm not gonna do it again. I'm not gonna do it again. What about my children? Halevai, but that's not a chelek of the teshuvah, it's part of its zechus, it's the many other chiyuvim but it's not part of one's chiyuv teshuvah to talk about the ad atah uvanecha. So that's what the Ramban says here, גם זה רמז לגאולת בבל. Ma she'ein kein in our parshas, so the Ramban said, again we've been learning the Ramban on pasuk yud aleph, but if you go back to pasuk aleph, the first, the opening pasuk in the parsha, והיה כי יבאו אליך כל הדברים האלה, so the Ramban says kvar hizkarti כי הפרשה הזאת עתידה. That what the Torah is talking about here is in the future, this hasn't happened yet, כי כל עניניה לא היו ולא נבראו. Nothing in what the Torah is describing now, the Ramban living in the 13th century, long after geulas Bavel, the Ramban says nothing that you're learning in this parsha has yet to happen, אבל הם עתידים להיות. So here we're talking about, again, a teshuvah that's associated with the geulah asidah and of course that's the pshat in what the Ramban is saying that the scope of the vidui is avonam v'avon avosam and the scope of the kabbalah is l'doros is ad atah uvanecha.