As yidden, we know there is no such thing as an isolated mitzvah or aveirah. A mitzvah will lead to many more, and unfortunately the opposite is true, too – one sin will bring on many.
The pasuk says 16:3 – "B’zos yavo Aharon..." Says the midrash 21:5: "If you have committed bundles of aveiros and you want to do teshuva, perform the opposite using the same limbs or activities to perform bundles of mitzvos. For example, if you have used your hands to spill innocent blood then perform the mitzva of tefillin with your hands, as the pasuk says “Ukishartem l’os al yadecha”. The midrash mentions many other examples and then continues that the word “b’zos” refers to the kohen gadol, when he would enter the Kodesh Kodashim on Yom Kippur he would have many bundles of mitzvos. “B’zos yavo Aharon” refers to the zchus hatorah – as the pasuk says “v’zos hatorah”.
The lesson we learn is that if one wishes to do teshuva, whichever limb he used to commit the sin, he must now use it to do a mitzvah. This act will have a deep effect on a person and influence his nature to become attached to mitzvos. The question is, what does the midrash mean by using the expression of “bundles” of aveiros and “bundles” of mitzvos?
Rav Bentzion Aba Shaul (Sefer Ohr L’tziyon) explains that there at times when a person does a mitzvah and as a result he merits a whole bundle of mitzvos. The opposite is also true – you can do an aveira that seems so small and chas v’shalom end up having a bundle of sins. For example, a person tells over a small piece of lashon hara about someone, and as a result he was fired from his job. He then ended up finding a new job in a bad environment and ended up going off the derech and sending his children to public school. Now there’s a whole generation of irreligious Jews all as a result of this small piece of lashon hara. This is what chazal meant that if a person acquired a bundle of aveiros, he must do a bundle of mitzvos to atone for it. If your one aveira led to a whole bundle of sins, rectify it with doing a mitzvah that will lead to a whole bundle of mitzvos.
The gemara says in Shabbos 130: that there was once a gezeira that anyone who puts on the tefillin shel rosh will get his brains crushed. Elisha did not pay attention to this decree; he wore his tefillin outside and an officer saw him and began to chase him. Elisha hid his tefillin in his hands and ran. Eventually, the officer caught up with him and asked him what he had in his hands. He answered, “wings of a dove”, and he opened his hands – miraculously, the wings of a dove appeared. From then on he was called “Elisha ba’al kenafayim”. Tosfos says that Elisha did not give himself over by saying he was holding tefillin. Had he been moser nefesh further by proudly stating that he was holding tefillin, he would have had the z’chus to engrave in k’lal Yisroel a special simcha for the mitzvah of tefillin. However, by saying that he was holding the wings of a dove, Elisha lost out on this special opportunity.
Almost every home has the sefer “Shmiras Shabbos K’hilchoso” from Rav Yehoshua Neuwirth. Why did he publish the sefer? During the world war, most of his family was able to escape to Holland. They hid in a bunker for about a half a year and the only sefer he had with him was a Mishna Berura Chelek 3 which discusses hilchos Shabbos. That’s all he had – and that’s what he learned while he was in that bunker. This sefer Mishna Berura he received as a present from his brother who was killed in the holocaust. And while he was in the bunker he made a promise - that if he comes out alive he will publish a sefer on hilchos Shabbos. B’chasdei Hashem, he survived and published this beautiful sefer. His brother gave him a simple present – but look at the bundles of z’chusim that came as a result!
Rav Yaakov Kaminetzky says a story that happened to him during the first world war. Rav Yaakov and his wife escaped and ended up in a small village. It was a stormy, freezing cold night and they needed to find shelter in order to survive the night. They found one yid in the village, and Rav Yaakov pleaded with him to allow them to warm up, but he refused. All his pleading fell on deaf ears. Finally, Rav Yaakov asked just for his wife to be allowed inside, and somehow the man agreed.
When the storm subsided, they continued their travels to Yeshivas Solobodka and the Rosh Yeshiva there told the gabbai to give an aliya to that yid who didn’t allow Rav Yaakov in his house. Rav Yaakov asked the Rosh yeshiva, “Why would you give him an aliya?” The Rosh Yeshiva explained to R’ Yaakov that this person was not a rasha. In the past, this yid always had invited guests into his home. However, not too long ago he was robbed by a guest and since that incident he resolved to only allow people that he knew and trusted into his home. Once, said the Rosh Yeshivah, this yid had actually hosted the entire yeshiva! When R’ Yaakov asked for shelter, it had been right after the robbery and therefore the yid wasn’t acting welcoming. That thief didn’t just steal; he accumulated a ”bundle” of sins, as he caused the homeowner to turn away guests.
Mitzvos and aveiros come in bundles; choose wisely.
