“Because you trespassed against me amongst the Children of Israel...” (Devarim 32:51)
Hashem told Moshe that it was his time to pass away, and let him know that he would receive the same Divine kiss to take his soul as his brother Aharon did. This was to soothe and comfort Moshe. Then, Hashem reminded him of his sin in hitting the rock at Mai Meriva, which is why he could not enter the Land of Israel.
But what happened to Teshuva? Certainly Moshe repented for his mistake and regretted it. This Shabbos we focus on returning to Hashem, as we do the entire Ten Days of Teshuva, but the message here is that it’s not enough!
The answer can be found in the explanation of Rashi, who says the problem was that they caused others to rebel against Hashem, and caused Hashem not to be sanctified by His people. In other words, Teshuva works for sins between Man and G-d. However, for sins between people, it’s insufficient. One has to appease the others he has harmed (and causing someone to sin is a great harm,) which is why we should be so careful about hurting anyone else.
But what can we do if we don’t know who we harmed, or how to make amends? If, after trying to appease the other person several times he doesn’t forgive, or if you don’t even know who you’ve harmed, you can pray to Hashem to put it into the other person’s heart to forgive you, and resolve not to do it again.
A man who was not particularly careful about his speech, often gossiping and saying negative and harmful things about others, came to a Rabbi. He had decided to change, and needed advice on how to go about it. The Rabbi gave him a very peculiar answer.
"Take a feather pillow into the street, and release its feathers in every direction." The man was perplexed, but his resolve was firm to do as he was advised and change his life. After doing as he was told he returned to the Rabbi. "What should I do next?" he asked.
"Go back into the street and collect all of the feathers," was the astounding reply. Again, the man made his way into the street and began the daunting task. At his wits’ end, he returned to the Rabbi dejectedly, reporting that this was an impossible task.
"Indeed," said the Rabbi. "Remember that your words are like those feathers. Once they leave your mouth, you will never be able to take them back. Make sure the words you allow out are ones you won't have to go chasing after!"
