“האזינו השמים ואדברה, ותשמע הארץ אמרי פי” “Let the heavens listen and I shall speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.” What is the purpose of the heavens and earth listening?
Moshe Rabbeinu tells Klal Yisroel that there are two parts to a person: the Shomayim which represents the Nefesh, and the Oretz which represents the Guf. If we do the Rotzon Hashem, then nothing on this earth will be able to wield power over us. If we do not follow Rotzon Hashem, nations of this world will make us subservient to them. (מדרש הגדול)
There were seven things that were created before the creation of the world. One of the things listed is Teshuva. The general understanding of Teshuva is that if one does an Aveirah, he needs to rectify his actions by doing Teshuva. If Teshuva is only relevant after Aveiros have been done – why did it need to be created before the world was created? There was no concept of Aveiros before the world was created. When man was created, there was a natural separation between Hakodosh Boruch Hu and man. A person’s goal in this world is to bring himself close to the Ribbono Shel Olam. The correct definition of Teshuva is to bring oneself closer to the Ribbono Shel Olam. This is true even if one never does an Aveirah. When one does an Aveirah, he creates an even greater distance between himself and the Ribbono Shel Olam. A person who does Aveiros must increase his Teshuva because he caused himself to be even further from the Ribbono Shel Olam. (דעת תורה)
Shabbos is the root and the main part of Teshuva of the Aseres Yemei Teshuva. Bereishis Rabbah 22 – After the incident with Kayin (after he killed Hevel), he met Adam Harishon. Adam asked him what happened with his judgment. Kayin responded that he did Teshuva and has returned to the Ribbono Shel Olam. Adam cried out and said, “Such is the Koach of Teshuva, but I did not know”. He immediately stood up and said “מזמור שיר ליום השבת טוב להודות לד'”. The Zohar explains that Shabbos is the day of the Neshama and not a day of the Guf. All week, one can do Teshuva to fix a P’gam that he caused in the Guf. Shabbos is the only day that we have the opportunity to be Mesaken the deficiencies that we caused in our Neshama. (נתיבות שלום)
Moshe was referring to the Neshama of a person. Not only do we have to work on being Mesaken our bodies, we also must be Mesaken our souls, the heaven. Shabbos Shuva is a day that is designated for Teshuva for the Neshama. Teshuva is a way to bring ourselves closer to the Borei Olam. This is our goal in this world that we must strive for. We should be Zoche to have a proper Teshuva on this Shabbos, and we should all be Zoche to come into the Yo m Hadin with a pure Guf and a pure Neshama. We should all be Zoche to a גמר חתימה טובה, and all our Tefilos should be answered לטובה – for good!
- RABBI YAKOV YOSEF SCHECHTER
