For on this day, Hashem will forgive you and purify you from all your sins; before Hashem you shall be purified (16:30).
The Zera Shimshon comments that this passuk is seemingly repetitious. The passuk says that on Yom Kippur, Hashem will forgive us for our sins. Why then does the passuk have to add that we will also be purified from our sins? What is the difference between being forgiven for our sins and being purified from them?
As well, the passuk at the end seems to repeat this again by saying, ‘before Hashem you shall be purified.’
Lastly, why does the passuk have to stress the word, from ‘all’ your sins? The passuk could have simply said, “Hashem will forgive you from your sins.”
The Zera Shimshon answers these questions as follows.
The Torah requires us to ‘afflict’ our bodies by fasting on Yom Kippur as well as abstaining from any work. The Zera Shimshon explains that this is to attain the highest level of forgiveness.
The Gemara (Yoma 86b) teaches that if a person repents out of fear of Hashem, his sins become classified as accidental sins. However, if one repents out of love of Hashem, his sins become merits!
By fasting and afflicting one’s body, the feelings of remorse and repentance that are felt are ones of fear. However, by abstaining from all work and dedicating a day fully to Hashem, we show that our remorse is teshuva out of love.
The Alshich (Tehillim 32:1) says that a sin that someone does willingly and knowingly can never become a merit, even if they repent for it with love.
The Zera Shimshon says that the words of the Alshich are only true if one does teshuva by himself. However, if the tzibbur does teshuva together, even a sin that was done willingly and intentionally can become a merit through teshuva. (See Yoma 86b that differentiates between the potency of teshuva done by a single person versus the tzibbur; that of a tzibbur is greater.)
With this, the Zera Shimshon explains the above passuk.
First, the passuk says that on Yom Kippur, Hashem will forgive our sins. This refers to teshuva that is done out of fear. This kind of teshuva grants us forgiveness for our sins. However, the passuk continues that Hashem will purify us because on Yom Kippur, the teshuva is done out of love. This teshuva brings not only forgiveness, but it brings purity to the person as well since his sins now become merits.
This is why the passuk stresses the word ‘all’ your sins. This is because on Yom Kippur, everyone is gathered together in repentance, and the teshuva is with the power of the tzibbur. Therefore, ‘all’ sins can turn into merits, even those originally done with intentional malice.
