When Moshe Rabbeinu ascended, he found Hakadosh Baruch Hu sitting and tying crowns on the letters of the Torah. Moshe said, “Ribbono Shel Olam, who is preventing You from giving the Torah without these additions?” Hakadosh Baruch Hu replied, “There is a man who is destined to be born after several generations, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name; he is destined to derive from each and every crown mounds upon mounds of Halachot. It is for his sake that the crowns must be added to the letters of the Torah.” We lost these learnings when Rabbi Akiva’s students all died, and thus we mourn their loss each year. Moshe asked for this individual to be shown to him, and he was allowed to enter Rabbi Akiva’s Beit Midrash and sit in the back row. The Gemara says, Moshe listened but had no idea what they were talking about. He became distraught until one of the students asked for a source for one of the learnings, and Rabbi Akiva replied, “הֲלָכָה לְמֹשֶׁה מִסִּינַי”. With that, he was put at ease, but he then asked Hakadosh Baruch Hu why the Torah would be given to him if such a great person would later exist in the world. Hakadosh Baruch Hu responded, “עָלָה בְּמַחְשָׁבָה לְפָנַי שְׁתֹק כָּך – Be silent; this intention arose before Me”. A very interesting response. Moshe then asked to see Rabbi Akiva’s reward, and he was shown the scene of Rabbi Akiva being tortured to death by the Romans. “This is Torah, and this is its reward?!” Moshe asked. Once again, he was told: עָלָה בְּמַחְשָׁבָה לְפָנַי שְׁתֹק כָּך.
The Rama MiPano, Shelah, and Vilna Gaon all ask – what does the response of “Be silent, this was My intent” mean? They answer in unison, Hakadosh Baruch Hu was telling Moshe Rabbeinu that Rabbi Akiva belonged to the world of מַחְשָׁבָה – the original world that Rashi describes at the start of Bereshit. Rabbi Akiva belonged to the world that Hakadosh Baruch Hu had intended to create, one based solely on strict Din and with no trace of Rachamim.
With that, I would like to introduce a Midrash. The Ramchal, when speaking about Midat HaDin, speaks of just how strict Judgement is and how much is demanded of an individual. The Midrash says (Shemot Rabbah 30:14), Iyov complained about his punishment. מִי יִתֵּן יָדַעְתִּי וְאֶמְצָאֵהוּ, אֶעֶרְכָה לְפָנָיו מִשְׁפָּט – If only I could know and find Him, I would organize my case before Him. Iyov thought his punishment was handed out without proper trial or defense and wished to challenge Hakadosh Baruch Hu on his Din. The Midrash adds a mashal: This is analogous to a hooligan who was intoxicated. He kicked the prison door and freed the prisoners. He stoned the statue of the governor of the city, cursed a policeman, and said: ‘Show me the place where the governor of the city is located, and I will teach him justice.’ He entered; they showed him the mayor of the city sitting on the podium. The governor incarcerated a noblewoman and expelled a city official, blinded a duke, sentenced a judge, and placed a magistrate in stocks. When the hooligan saw the governor of the city doing so, he was afraid. He said: ‘I implore you. I was intoxicated and was unaware of the power of the governor of the city.’
So too, the Midrash says, Iyov was standing and screaming: “If only I could know and find Him”. He stoned the image, he kicked the prison and freed prisoners, he cursed the officer, and he saw the King sitting on the podium and he suddenly was in fear. Iyov saw what Hakadosh Baruch Hu did to Miriam on account of one word she spoke; he saw how Moshe was evicted from Eretz Yisrael based on one act; he saw how Yitzchak Avinu was blinded at the Akeida, how Avraham Avinu was sentenced to have his children be in slavery for 400 years, and how Yaacov Avinu limped his whole life after wrestling with an angel. Iyov then said, “What? This is Midat HaDin? Forget everything I said! I was intoxicated! I was not in control of my actions or words!” Iyov challenged Hakadosh Baruch Hu to Din, but upon seeing it, wanted no part of Din.
The Gemara (Yevamot 121b) teaches us that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is exacting in judgement with tzaddikim up to the width of a hair’s breadth: מְדַקְדֵּק עִם סְבִיבָיו כְּחוּט הַשַּׂעֲרָה (Bava Kamma 50a). Even slight deviations can elicit severe punishment. That is the nature of Midat HaDin with no trace of Midat HaRachamim. That is the way it is in שָׁמַיִם. Therefore, after 120 years, when a person’s Neshama reaches Olam Haba, there is no longer Mercy. The Rambam says one might think they can make deals, or negotiate plea bargains at that time, but there is no opportunity whatsoever. If one has 25 million Mitzvot in the and 13 million sins in the bank, there is no deal to be made whereby credit for 12 million Mitzvot is received and the rest cancelled out. כִּי אֶת־כָּל־מַעֲשֶׂה הָאֱ-לֹהִים יָבִא בְמִשְׁפָּט עַל כָּל־נֶעְלָם אִם־טוֹב וְאִם־רָע ׃ For every deed G-d will bring into judgment, for good or bad. Shlomo HaMelech tells us in the last Pasuk of Kohelet, it does not work this way; everything is counted and accounted for. Every good deed, including every good intention, will receive its due reward. However, for every sin, and every intention or thought of sin, just punishment will also be delivered.
The Ramchal asks a fundamental question on this idea (Mesillat Yesharim 4, Kinyan HeZehirut), challenging why we have the attribute of Rachamim to begin with. If there is no concept of Rachamim in Heaven, then why create the attribute of Rachamim to begin with? If we eventually need to face pure Din, then why delay it with Rachamim in this world? His answer is powerful. Firstly, according to strict Din, the punishment would be immediate. Unlike an earthly king, Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not chase after those who wronged Him and look to incarcerate them as fast as possible. Instead, those who wronged Him seek out His prison and ask for incarceration! Secondly, the punishment would be most forceful and destructive, whereas with Rachamim added, the punishment will not utterly destroy a person. Lastly, says the Ramchal, without Rachamim, there’d be no opportunity for Teshuva, and no chance to fix one’s wrong deeds. Mercy affords us all of these benefits. Not only that, but when one performs Teshuva out of love, their sins are not downgraded to unintentional sins or erased, but rather transformed into merits! Chesed and Rachamim were created in this world for these three reasons.
Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin (Pri Tzaddik), in his essays on Rosh Hashanah, refers back to the debate as to when the world was created. Rabbi Eliezer maintains it was in Tishrei and Rabbi Yehoshua maintains it took place in Nisan. The Gemara says, the day which we call Rosh Hashanah, on which we say זִכָּרוֹן לְיוֹם רִאשׁוֹן זֶה הַיּוֹם תְּחִלַּת מַעֲשֶׂיךָ, is according to Rabbi Eliezer. Tosfot points to a piyyut written by the Tana’im for Succot which states the world was created in Tishrei, and another piyyut written for Pesach which states the world was created in Nisan. They ask how this can be reconciled, and answer that both statements are correct because both opinions are combined into one. In Tishrei, it entered into Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s thoughts – מַחְשָׁבָה – to create the world, whereas in Nisan the world’s creation physically began. The Arizal takes this explanation from Tosfot and uses it to explain the paragraph we recite after sounding the Shofar: הַיּוֹם הֲרַת עוֹלָם. הַיּוֹם יַעֲמִיד בַּמִּשְׁפָּט כָּל יְצוּרֵי עוֹלָמִים. הַיּוֹם הֲרַת עוֹלָם refers to the day the world went into pregnancy – הֵרָיוֹן. The concept of Creation entered the thoughts of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so to speak, in Tishrei on Rosh Hashanah. The birth of the world, so to speak, was when it came into form seven months later in Nisan. And it is important to note that unlike our thoughts which come and go and are meaningless without action, the thoughts of Hakadosh Baruch Hu are equivalent to action. Life is born through His thoughts: חַיכִּי רֶגַע בְּאַפּוֹ בִּרְצוֹנוֹ.
Let’s now introduce an incredible yesod that will help put all these pieces together. Going back to our start, the Ramban says Rosh Hashanah is יוֹם דִּין בְּרַחֲמִים, a day of Judgment in Mercy, and Yom Kippur is יוֹם רַחֲמִים בְּדִין, a day of Mercy in Judgment. Rabbotai, if the month of Tishrei is the month of Creation according to Din – as it is the month in which the world came into Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s thoughts, to be established entirely on Din – how does Yom Kippur, a day of Rachamim, fall in that month? How did Mercy find its way into the month of Judgement? The answer is simple and beautiful. The month of Nisan is the month of Rachamim, proven by none other than Bnei Yisrael being taken out of Egypt despite being unworthy of redemption. Not only that, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu took the people out of Egypt 210 years early! Why? They were at the lowest level of impurity with no Mitzvot in their merit, but they were not taken out on account of what they accumulated; they were redeemed in merit of the promise they made for the future. They pledged to receive the Torah fifty days later. In the depth of the 49th level of impurity, they were given credit based on what was to come, and this credit was based not on any collateral but on the Rachamim of Hakadosh Baruch Hu who had mercy based on what would be in the future. Just as the world was created without their presence but on account of them being present in the future, here too futures (and mercy) is what sparked redemption.
When Shavuot arrived, they fulfilled what they had promised: נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע. How much time then passed between that moment at Har Sinai and the cancellation of their credit? Whole forty days. On the 17th of Tamuz they danced around the golden calf and with the shattering of the Luchot, their credit was revoked. Moshe Rabbeinu then ascended for forty additional days, from the 18th of Tamuz until the 29th of Av, during which time he pleaded for the nation to be forgiven and for their credit to be re-established. But Hakadosh Baruch Hu was not willing. These were days of wrath and anger. Finally, on the 40th day, the 29th of Av, He instructed Moshe to form a new set of Luchot and to return the next day. Moshe ascended for another forty days, returning on Yom Kippur with the message that the people were forgiven: סָלַחְתִּי כִּדְבָרֶךָ. At that point, their credit was reinstated – on the day of Yom Kippur. סָלַחְתִּי כִּדְבָרֶךָ signaled the return of the same credit card they carried on Pesach, because on Pesach they were mercifully redeemed based on their pledge to serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the future. They were taken out of Egypt on credit, credit which was revoked at the sin of the golden calf but reinstated on Yom Kippur. If so, even though Tishrei is a month that belongs to the world of Din, when Yom Kippur arrives, Rachamim appears. Thus: רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יוֹם דִּין בְּרַחֲמִים וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים יוֹם רַחֲמִים בְּדִין. Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgment in mercy, and Yom Kippur is a day of mercy in judgment.
On Yom Kippur, when a person’s מַחֲשָׁבוֹת טוֹבוֹת – good intentions – are added to the scales of justice to tilt the scales in their favor because Hakadosh Baruch Hu sits alone and only He sees them, that is the manifestation of Rachamim. Just as they left Mitzraim filled with sin and impurity but also filled with good intentions, Hakadosh Baruch Hu reciprocated with Mercy: וְאַתָּה מָלֵא רַחֲמִים אָנוּ מְלֵאֵי עָוֹן. Only on Yom Kippur can those intentions find their way into our Judgement, transforming it into a day of Mercy in Judgment. On Yom Kippur we all arrive with the same good intentions, and the same pledge to improve and be better, and to serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu more properly in the future.
The Bnei Yissaschar says, that entire model – namely, earning credit for intentions and pledges that allow for Rachamim to be layered on top of Din – was established all the way back during the time of Creation. When the world was created, Bnei Yisrael were not present, but the world was created nonetheless, on the credit of them arriving 2448 years later.
Besiyata Dishmaya, we’ll now tie this idea back to our Parsha. Rosh Hashanah is a day of Din. Complete Din. Prosecutors and attorneys are on both sides, making their claim based on our every action during the year. On Yom Kippur, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu sits alone, our thoughts and intentions are brought into the equation.
שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֶּן־לְך ...צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף.
Judges and officers you shall appoint for yourself in all of your cities... Justice, justice shall you pursue
Our Parsha opens with the commandment to place judges and officers at our gates. What are these gates? Why are they personal gates and not collective gates? And why is there a double pursuit of justice?
The Ramban brings the Midrashic words of R’ Nechunya ben HaKanah from the Sefer HaBahir. צֶדֶק – This is Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s attribute of Justice in the world. After that it is written לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה וְיָרַשְׁתָּ אֶת־הָאָרֶץ, and R’ Nechunya gives us the playbook on how to survive the Yom HaDin that approaches (Rosh Hashanah). If you will judge yourself – knowing from where you came and where you are going, and before Whom you are about to give account and reckoning – you will live. If not, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will judge you and affirm His judgment over you, against your will.
Rabbotai, listen closely. When a person judges themselves and pursues their own personal צֶדֶק – Justice, they will be saved from Hakadosh Baruch Hu applying His Justice upon them. To better understand this idea, let’s turn to a powerful Midrash in our Parsha (Devarim Rabbah 5:5):
רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר בְּמָקוֹם שֶׁיֵשׁ דִּין אֵין דַּיָּן, וּבְמָקוֹם שֶׁאֵין דִּין יֵשׁ דַּיָּן, וּמַהוּ כֵן, אֶלָּא אָמַר רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר, אִם נַעֲשָׂה הַדִּין לְמַטָּה, אֵין הַדִּין נַעֲשֶׂה לְמַעְלָה, וְאִם לֹא נַעֲשָׂה הַדִּין לְמַטָּה הַדִּין נַעֲשֶׂה לְמַעְלָה.
Rabbi Eliezer says: In a place where there is justice, there is no judge, and in a place where there is no justice, there is a judge. What is meant by this? The explanation is that Rabbi Eliezer said: If justice is performed below on earth, justice will not have to be performed above by Divine punishment, but if justice is not performed below, justice will be performed above.
On this Midrash, Rabbeinu Bachya writes (Devarim 16:18): The power of justice is great seeing that as long as men sit in judgment judging crime, ה' – the attribute of Justice – does not bother to sit alongside them, but judges them by means of the attribute of Mercy. Should the system of justice on earth become corrupt, however, the attribute of Justice will judge mankind instead.
We are being taught an awesome and dreadful lesson here, at the start of our Parsha which coincides with the start of the month of Elul. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is telling us, “Know that My צֶדֶק, my judgement, is one of Din. If you wish to be saved through Midat HaRachamim, there is but one way. Judge yourself!” We are to appoint שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים at all of our gates and seek out our own personal judgement, detecting what is wrong, what is impure, what is immoral, and what needs to be fixed. If we do so, if we apply Din down below, there will be no Din from above. But there is a serious risk and danger here, because a person is too close to themselves. Each person looks in the mirror and gives the thumbs-up, “I’m doing fine. I’m ok here and I’m ok there. Maybe a slight touch-up is needed on that one tiny item; maybe I didn’t bow down far enough when reciting Modim. But overall, all good!” When you ask someone what their sins are, the list is small, perhaps countable on one hand. More if they include all the sins of others they carry on their back, but they themselves are model yiddin. But that is not the truth. It is far from the truth. While tzaddikim are judged כְּחוּט הַשַּׂעֲרָה – to the width of a hair's breadth, halavai (if only) we could pass after being judged to the width of a large tree trunk! But, says the Ramban, there is a path and method for us to receive Midat HaRachamim, and that is by pre-empting Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s Din and applying Judgement on ourselves. R' Bachya spells it out: בִּזְמַן שֶׁהַמִּשְׁפָּט נַעֲשֶׂה בָּאָרֶץ אֵין הקב"ה יוֹשֵׁב עִמָּהֶם בַּדֵּין. When there is Din and Justice below, Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not sit with us in Din.
He then brings allusion to this idea in a Midrash (Tehillim 62): בִּזְמַן שֶׁאֵין הַדִּין בָּאָרֶץ הַדִּין בַּשָּׁמַיִם – When justice is not practiced on earth it will be practiced in Heaven. When it is not practiced on earth, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will have to exercise His vocation of being a Judge. But when man enacts Justice, Hakadosh Baruch Hu is relieved of this duty, and in appreciation of being relieved of this task, He judges mankind with the attribute of Mercy. This is the deeper meaning of the condition: נָתַתִּי גִשְׁמֵיכֶם בְּעִתָּם ...אִם־בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ – If you follow My laws... I will grant your rains in their season.
Hakadosh Baruch Hu, in His wonderful Mercy, gave us thirty days to judge ourselves. Thirty days is the period of judgement, according to the Gemara (Bava Kama). Thirty days to examine ourselves and determine where correction is needed. Rav Yisrael Yaacov Fisher, in his sefer Even Yisrael, provides a chilling parable. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu placed Adam HaRishon in Gan Eden, He said to him, “Look at how beautiful this world is. Pay attention not to ruin it!” Similarly, every year Hakadosh Baruch Hu turns to us and says, “Look at my beautiful world. Pay attention not to destroy it!” What does this mean? It is akin to someone renting a nice apartment in Bnei Brak; not a cramped dark unit, but a spacious one, with great light and a serene garden. But, in the contract, the landlord added a clause whereby every year, two weeks before renewal, he will come and check in on the apartment’s condition. If it is destroyed, there isn’t even a three-day notice; the tenants are out within the hour and their security deposit is used to fix the place up. As the date approaches, what can the tenant do – he has ten children, two of which are amateur artists. There isn’t a wall in the place without some strange looking characters or some scene from a Mishna drawn out. That’s aside from all the holes and chips everywhere. It’s four days away from the landlord’s visit and the tenant is in a complete state of panic. If he has his wherewithal, he takes all his kids, picks up buckets of white spackle and paint, and they all get to work. The landlord will arrive, and everything will look pristine. But if he’s not on top of his game, what does he do? He leaves the apartment as is, and when the landlord arrives, a serious, way more expensive renovation job will begin, using the tenant’s own money. If the tenant is smart, he doesn’t wait for his landlord’s top-of-the-line contractor to arrive; he pre-empts that harsh dose of justice and gets to work with his own hands and takes care of the needed business.
Rabbotai, this is the perfect analogy to our position here during the month of Elul. We are given the opportunity to use our own tools of Justice, and if we do so, we will pre-empt the Din of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף – pursue your own justice. If you do so, without taking bribery from your body to skew the judgement and verdict, you will merit the Rachamim of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Check your Tefillah. Check your focus during the Amidah and how many tiyulim you take in the middle only to suddenly find yourself backtracking three steps. If you’re in a shiur, be in the shiur and not in your phone! Turn your phone off! Live with Hakadosh Baruch Hu for that hour or two each day – during Tefillah, shiurim, and Birkat HaMazon – without the distraction of your phone. And for the remaining hours, ask yourself if they are being lived according to the Shulchan Aruch. Are your business dealings performed according to the Shulchan Aruch? Is what you speak and what you gaze at according to the Shulchan Aruch? צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדֹּף – pursue your own justice!
May we merit to examine ourselves honestly and completely, and may we merit the Rachamim of Hakadosh Baruch Hu in its greatness and fullness, during days of רַחֲמִים בְּדִין. ◊
