על האדם להכיר בשגיאותיו
וַיִּנָּחֶם ה' עַל הָּרָּעָּה אֲשֶר דִּבֶר לַעֲשׂוֹת לְעַמּוֹ: (לב :יד)
Hashem reconsidered regarding the evil that He declared that He would do to His people. (32:14)
When we think about this posuk we must know that the true intent of the Torah is beyond our understanding. How can attribute the concept of ‘charatah’ [regret] to Heaven, is He a person who would be comforted?! Without a doubt, the intent is not like the simple meaning. Even though from a literal translation we see charatah [regret], for at first HaKadosh Baruch Hu told Moshe (32:10) 'ויחר אפי בהם ואכלם' – ‘Let My anger burn against them and I shall annihilate them’, but once Moshe apologized to his Maker, the decree did not come into being. Still, this is not a proof to set up the matter as that of regret. We can explain that even the decree of HaKadosh Baruch Hu was on condition, that if they do not repent then His mercy will not overcome His anger and only then will the decree take effect in full force, but if He is calmed and His mercy grows, then the decree will not take effect at all.
As we see, this is the trait as it were of the King of the world, for at first, He merges the trait of mercy to the trait of justice, and He established the running of the world based on the two traits together. Since this is true, the person was given the power to tear up his decree for bad chas v’shalom if he can strengthen the trait of mercy with his prayers. This is not classified as negating the view of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, since from the outset, HaKadosh Baruch Hu stipulated that there is no validity to His decree unless there is no opening for the trait of mercy to nullify it. According to this, we find the words ‘vayenachem Hashem’ are not understand according to the literal meaning, and we have no concept of the meaning of the words.
Still, even if we have no concept of the essence of the words, we are given permission to ask why the Torah used a language that usually means ‘charatah’ [regret], since the word ‘Torah’ is derived from ‘horaah’ – ‘teaching’, and all its words come to teach, and if the Torah saw fit to wight an expression like this, then there must be something for us to learn from it.
True, we must know that even if the decree is held back, this is not classified as ‘charatah’, yet, it might be considered as ‘charatah’, in order to reveal to us that if there can be ‘charatah’ by Yisbarach, then certainly it can apply to every creature, including those who are classified as ‘tzaddikim’, ‘chachamim’, or ‘nivonim’, even these can sometimes make a mistake and there is no flaw in their essence if they admit that they were mistaken in something. If so, then there is nothing to be ashamed about by admitting the truth when they find out that they made a mistake in something.
True, the reality is that it is very hard to ‘admit the truth’, as we actually see how a person will sometimes take an approach for a specific purpose, and in time it becomes clear that his approach was wrong. But because of his shame it is hard for him to admit that he was wrong. Therefore, as long as he has some hope that he did not err, he strengthens his way and tries to achieve his purpose.
Sometimes, even after it is clear to him that he will not attain his goal because of his mistake, his shameful situation is hard for him and he is not ready to admit his mistake. He agrees to change his folly and stand as if he has not made a mistake, and he is prepared to forego the purpose of his goal, as long as he does not lose his respect and standing. However, the person must know that he is several bad things by doing this, for aside from his not reaching his goal, he does not purify this bad trait of arrogance.
If the person would consider the reality after making a mistake, he would conclude that his obligation and avodah at that time would be to admit his mistake, as the person himself does not want mistakes, inevitably, from the outset he thought his steps were good and the mission he was on was a good one. But once he realized that had made a mistake, if he would only think clearly, he would understand that HaKadosh Baruch Hu caused him to err, and this is only to bring him to the avodah that is encumbered on him at that time, which is? Submission and humility! That is, to admit to the truth that he can make a mistake and he is not such a Chacham... and with this, the person will merit to weaken his arrogance and come to submission and humility. This is the reason from Hashem once HaKadosh Baruch Hu knew that the wisdom that stood for the person at that time would bring him to arrogance, and because of that the merit of the hovering of the Shechina is held back from him, as Chazal teach us (Sotah 5a) ‘All who have a haughtiness of spirit, it is as if he pushes away the legs of the Shechina’, and in order for him to merit that the Shechina will again rest on his handiwork, HaKadosh Baruch Hu brought him to a situation where he was forced to admit that his wisdom did not stand for him. Then he will nullify his arrogance and again merit having the Shechina rest on his handiwork and bring him success.
Who do we have greater than Dovid, king of Israel, who after writing 119 chapters of Tehillim, finished the chapter with the words 'תעיתי כשה אובד' – ‘I have strayed like a lost sheep’ (Tehillim 119:176). Even he understood that he had erred in his ways, and he had to admit to it. Even though he was king of Israel, he was not ashamed to admit to this, and inscribe the words in his Tehillim for eternity. If Dovid saw nothing wrong with this admission, then certainly every other person, it is incumbent on them to admit their mistakes and correct the things from now on. If one does not take this to heart and change his mindset, then not only will he be cursed because of his crooked path, he also misses the opportunity to soften his haughtiness. Aside from the loss bound to this, he has to wallow in this bad trait for a longer time.
We see this previously (Bereishis 49:8), that the advantage of a Jewish person is that he is able to admit to his mistake, and the name ‘Yehudi’ teaches this, and this is what Yaakov said to Yehuda, 'אתה יודוך אחיך ' – ‘you, your brothers will acknowledge’ and as Targum Yonasan brings down there, ‘Yehuda, you admitted the incident of Tamar, in the same vein your brothers will admit to you, and they will be known by your name.’ Yehuda opened the door to admit to mistakes, and the result of this the trait is called by his name, ‘Yehuda’, and not only this trait, but all of Israel is called by his name ‘Yehudi’, to teach that this is nice for the Jewish nation, and this is their essence.
