Pearls of Wisdom from the Parshah
The Prophet Yeshayahu declares: For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways.
People assume that the way they see the world reflects the truth. The outlook they are used to, they think is the truth. But in actuality, the way we look at the world does not reflect reality at all.
The following example illustrates this point. A person is standing by a window, holding a baby in his arms. They both look out the window at the surroundings, but the adult sees houses and cars, while the baby sees different things. Even though the baby is also looking out the window and sees the same scene, he looks at the houses as shapes and at the cars as colors.
In the same way, a person can look straight at something and totally fail to grasp what he sees.
We should know that what we see does not reflect reality at all. There is only one thing that allows us to see reality as it is: “A mitzvah is a candle, and Torah is light.” Only someone who looks at the world by the light of the Torah can see reality for what it is.
The superficial perception of reality that many of us suffer from stands out especially when we look at Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. We tend to look at Aseres Yemei Teshuvah as a sort of a dream. We don’t see the reality at all. We don’t realize what is actually going on; instead we are concerned that the fasting of Yom Kippur should go easy, and if it’s hot, that the shul should be air-conditioned.
This may be compared to someone from a thousand years ago who is placed in a modern airplane. He sits in the cockpit and sees lots of buttons and all sorts of apparatus, he thinks he sees everything, but in truth he doesn’t see anything at all. He doesn’t grasp the reality in front of him.
I once heard an eminent Torah personality speak at a his’orerus gathering that was held in Bnei Brak due to thirty-five avreichim having passed away in one year, may Hashem protect us. He stood up and said that if people would have cried out a little more during Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, then we would have been spared these tragedies, or at least some of them. This is the true way to look at things. This is the Torah outlook on Yamim Nora’im: it is the time that affects the entire year.
A Day that is Like a Year
When a person does a good deed on an ordinary day of the year, this is a “daily” deed. The deed exerts its influence over one day or one hour. By contrast, good deeds done during Aseres Yemei Teshuvah are “yearly.” They extend their influence over the whole year. When a person davens the shemoneh esreh during Aseres Yemei Teshuvah and says “zochreinu l’chaim,” he is not just standing right now and momentarily praying. His prayer rather relates to the whole year. During these days, our maasim tovim and tefilos have a power that extends to the entire year.
Aseres Yemei Teshuvah are days on which a person can, so to speak, grab something for himself, because there is no fixed account applying to these days. They belong neither to the past year’s account nor the coming one’s. That which a person grabs on these days will not come at the expense of the income that was decreed for him. The pious of old would accept gifts only during Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, because they won’t lose out somewhere else due to this.
Judgment on the Days of Mercy
On Rosh Hashanah, Hashem sits on the throne of judgment, and by means of the shofar we change everything. Instead of a solemn system of judgment, Hashem passes judgment with he’aras panim, with a smile, so to speak. This is because these days are full of chesed and rachamim, and we arouse all this Divine kindness by means of the shofar. Instead of looking at us “judgmentally,” Hashem looks at us with the kindness and mercy inherent in these days.
Breaking Through to the “Smile”
The main avodah of Aseres Yemei Teshuvah in general and Yom Kippur in particular is to attain Hashem’s he’aras panim. We need to daven at this time of year with inner awareness, in a way of he’aras panim. If we just go through our tefilos and maasim tovim mechanically, we are missing the main thing.
Following a mechanical approach during these days of judgment may be compared to a lawyer speaking in court on behalf of his client, asking the judge for special leniency despite a record of previous offences. The lawyer goes on and on, drily reciting a long list of facts and precedents. When the lawyer finishes speaking, the judge orders that the offender be brought back to jail.
What went wrong? Is there anything the lawyer left out? Yes. It didn’t come from his heart. He just gave a long, dry speech. If he would have pleaded compassionately and aroused the mercy of the judge, he might well have achieved his objective.
If we will pray in Aseres Yemei Teshuvah from the depths of our heart, if we will feel when reciting Avinu Malkeinu how we are beseeching our compassionate Father and merciful King, then in the midst of all the judgment, Hashem’s he’aras panim will suddenly appear.
The idea of teshuvah is to come to a sense of belonging to Torah and avodah, to promise Hashem that this great love for Him will last all year, that the beis midrash, Torah and mitzvos will be our pleasure in life. In this way we will merit Hashem’s he’aras panim, His “smile,” and everything good will be ours!
