Weekly Shmuess - 040 | Ha'azinu | Ten Days of Repentence

“His Ways Are Justice”:  Understanding The Time of the Year When We Are Judged

In Parshas Haazinu the Torah states, הצור תמים פעלו וכל דרכיו משפט, “The Rock, Whose handiwork is perfect, and all His ways are justice.”

In the days we are in, the Ten Days of Repentance, we prepare for the sealing of the judgment that takes place on Yom Kippur. On Rosh HaShanah, the righteous were written for a good year, and the wicked were signed for death, and the beinonim hang in the balance, until Yom Kippur, where one is either deemed in the category of the righteous or the wicked.[1] As Chazal teach, we are all in this category of beinonim, and therefore, Hashem’s judgment for us is not only on Rosh HaShanah, but for all of the ten days of teshuvah in between Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur.

The Rishonim ask: Why doesn’t Rosh HaShanah come after Yom Kippur? On Yom Kippur we are forgiven and atoned from all sins, and then we could come into the new year cleansed from sin, which would guarantee us to be judged for a good year. Why is it that we must first go through the days of judgment on Rosh HaShanah, and then forgiveness on Yom Kippur?

One of the answers to this is because Chazal state that Hashem created the world with the middas hadin, and He saw that the world wouldn’t last with it, so He included in it the middas harachamim.[2] That is why we must first we go through the day of Rosh HaShanah, which is the middas hadin, a time when Hashem is judging, and only after this judgment can we have the day of Yom Kippur, when Hashem uses the middas harachamim.

The Ten Days of Repentance: Gaining Hashem’s Compassion

Hashem saw that the world wouldn’t last with middas hadin alone, and therefore He included the middas harachamim into the design of Creation. Since this is so, the ten days of repentance in between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are a period where there is an inclusion of middas harachamim within the middas hadin. As we go through each of the ten days of teshuvah, we gain more and more middas harachamim from Hashem.

There are two days of Rosh HaShanah, which represent two levels of judgment. Many explanations are given for why we have two days of judgments on Rosh HaShanah, and what the two different judgments are for. According to one approach, the first day of Rosh HaShanah is for the more severe judgments – this is the use of Hashem’s middas hadin. The second day of Rosh HaShanah are for those who receive a lighter judgment – and this is the use of the Hashem’s middas harachamim. All of that concerns Rosh HaShanah, but Yom Kippur is day that is entirely middas harachamim.  For all of the ten days preceding Yom Kippur, we gain more and more middas harachamim from Hashem.

On Rosh HaShanah, when there is the middas hadin, Hashem is judging - but this is the result of something else which preceded it. There is already a middas hadin built into the very design of Creation, as mentioned before from the Midrash, and the judgment on Rosh HaShanah is just an outcome of this middas hadin.

The Depth Behind Teshuvah, Tefillah and Tzedakah

In the prayer of U’Nesaneh Tokef, it says that teshuvah (repentance), tefillah (prayer) and tzedakah (charity) is what saves us from harsh decrees. Besides for the simple meaning of these concepts, that doing teshuvah and increasing prayer and charity can remove us from harsh decrees, what is the inner meaning of this?

Chazal state that Hashem created teshuvah even before He created the world.[3] That means that teshuvah came even before the creation of the world of middas hadin combined with middas harachamim. Therefore, the concept of teshuvah is on a higher plane than the middas hadin. Teshuvah preceded the middas hadin, and therefore teshuvah can overpower the middas hadin. The power of “teshuvah that precedes Creation” means for one to return to the state of before Creation. That is the higher aspect of our avodah during these ten days of repentance between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.

Tefillah is called rachamim (beseeching Hashem’s mercy),[4] which alludes to the middas harachamim. Through tefillah, we awaken the middas harachamim. When we turn to Hashem in prayer, we must be aware that we are not just asking Him for various requests that we want – rather, we are turning to Him in prayer because we want to awaken His middas harachamim, the very essence that is behind the entire concept of tefillah.

Giving tzedakah arouses our own rachamim on others. When we are acting with rachamim toward others, this in turn awakens the middas harachamim of Hashem.

Awakening The Middas HaRachamim During The Ten Days of Repentance

It is explained that there are two different, deep paths to approach these days of teshuvah preceding Yom Kippur.

One approach, as we have been explaining until how, is that these are days to keep awakening the middas harachamim. This means that our avodah during these days is to awaken the middas harachamim - through tefillah and tzedakah, which both reveal more rachamim.

During these days, it is customary to give more tzedakah, so that we will be more deserving of a favorable judgment, for when one has compassion towards others, Hashem will have compassion on him in return, and sign him for a good year. However, simply giving tzedakah won’t be enough. When we give tzedakah during these days, we need to do so with the intention that utilizing our own compassion awakens the middas harachamim of Hashem. Without being aware of this, the act of tzedakah will resemble “a body without a soul.”

Additionally, it is brought in the sefarim that one should be extra careful not to become angry with others, during the ten days of teshuvah. When one works on his anger during these days, he should do so with the intention that he wants to awaken the middas harachamim of Hashem.

This is not just a “segulah” to merit a good judgment, but the very essence behind these days. Throughout the ten days of teshuvah, we keep reciting the thirteen middos of rachamim during Selichos, but we need to remember throughout this that we are trying to awaken the middas harachamim.

Accessing the Depth of Teshuvah During the Ten Days of Repentance

The second way to approach the Ten Days of Repentance is way of the power of teshuvah (repentance). As mentioned earlier, the power of teshuvah is stronger than the middas hadin, and this is because the middas hadin is within the realm of Creation, while teshuvah existed even before Creation, so it is above Creation, and hence more powerful, than the middas hadin.

The Pirkei D’Rebbi Eliezer states that “Before Creation, there was only Hashem and His Name.” Our Sages state that on Yom Kippur, the Satan has no permission to accuse. This means that Yom Kippur is a day where there is no bechirah (the power of free choice). Of course, there is certainly bechirah even on Yom Kippur, because we can see that people can certainly commit sins on Yom Kippur. What we mean here is a person is able to merit a spiritual light on Yom Kippur which is a “semblance of the World To Come” - a state of Ain Od Milvado, “There is nothing else besides for Hashem” – and when one is in a state of Ain Do Milvado, it is not possible to sin [because he feels so clearly Hashem’s presence and that there is truly nothing besides Him]. In that sense, there is no bechirah on Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is called the “day of HaKadosh Baruch Hu”,[5] and it is also a day where we resemble angels. The depth behind this is that we become totally nullified to Him, on this day. This is the power of teshuvah that preceded Creation – it is a state when there is only Hashem and nothing else besides Him, just as it was before Creation.

There is a deep place in the soul we can reach, where a person becomes “one” with Hashem, and there is nothing else besides for Hashem. In that place, there is no concept of judgment. It is a place above all possibility of sin, and hence no place for judgment. The avodah of the tzaddikim during these days of teshuvah is to reach this place.  As for all others, the avodah during these days is to do teshuvah for our sins.

Tzaddikim already merited a good judgment on Rosh HaShanah, so what is left for them to do during the ten days of repentance that precedes Yom Kippur? On a simple level, their avodah is to daven for others. On a deeper level, the avodah of the tzaddikim during this time is to transcend all of Creation, and when reaching Yom Kippur, they reach the full state of Ain Od Milvado.

Although most people are in the category of beinonim and not in the category of the tzaddikim, all people need to reach this place of Ain Od Milvado, on his own level, even though he cannot get to the complete level of it. As cited in the Rema, every person must go above his normal level during these ten days of teshuvah – besides for the simple meaning of this, that one should take on more stringencies during these days which he doesn’t keep to during the rest of the year, it also implies something deeper: that one should strive to reach the level of Ain Od Milvado, during these days. It is not just about refraining from eating pas palter (bread baked by a gentile), as cited in the Shulchan Aruch[6] – it is much more than that.

It is therefore recommended that during the ten days of teshuvah, one should learn the third gate of sefer Nefesh HaChaim, which is all about the concept of “Ain Od Milvado, k’peshuto” (“There is nothing besides for Hashem” – taken simply), and one should also attempt to reach it on his own level, even though he cannot reach it completely. One should awaken the depths of the neshamah, which recognizes the state of Ain Od Milvado – a state that is “above” all din\ judgment.

In Conclusion

May we all merit to be sealed for a good year, and may we merit the complete redemption, this year.