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Teshuva – for Tzaddikim and Resha'im
November 10th, 2024 / 9th of Tishrei 5785
Teshuva – chessed for tzaddikim, liability for the resha'im
In the previous chapter, we learned that the mitzvah [commandment] of teshuva is not only a procedure of regret and acceptance for the future, but rather something that must effect a man’s entire being. His feelings, his prayers should change; a man must feel that he is willing to give all of his possessions to tzedaka [charity], all of his animals as offerings, and even his family he is ready to bring on the altar if this would mean that Hashem forgives him for his sin. So too, a man must feel the awesome chessed of Hashem, that He gives us a simple procedure as compared with what would be required of him. He also must pray about teshuva, that he be able to do it and succeed in it, and that Hashem accepts his teshuva.
We cited the Ran, that for the same reasons that the mitzvah of teshuva is such a great chessed, and an awesome leniency for the tzaddik who wants to do teshuva — for that same very reason teshuva is a liability for the resha’im. After all, had teshuva been very hard, were a man required to sacrifice thousands of rams, etc., the resha’im could have a bit of an excuse for why they didn’t do teshuva. Since teshuva is so easy, however, what can the resha’im answer? Why didn’t they do it?
The Gemara states this (Sukkah 52a), that “in the future Hashem will slaughter the yetzer hara [evil inclination] before the tzaddikim and before the resha’im. To the resha’im it will appear like a thread of hair, and they will say: How is it that we couldn’t overcome this thread of hair?” meaning, when the resha’im reach the Next World, Hashem will show them that they could have easily done teshuva for their sins, and what will they reply: “We were crazy! How could we have failed to do something so simple? Why didn’t we do teshuva right away? Why did we think that it was something so big that it was beyond us?”
Teshuva – easy for those who follow the straight path
Based on this, the Ran examined the verse in Hoshea [Hosea] (14:10): “Who is wise and will understand these things, who is understanding and will know them? For the ways of Hashem are straight, the righteous will walk in them, but the sinners will stumble in them.” Why did the Navi [Prophet] state this after explaining at length matters concerning teshuva (“Return, Yisrael… Take words with you and return to Hashem…”). What is the connection? Explains the Ran: “It follows what we’ve said, that Hashem’s giving us the ways of teshuva this is an act of goodness for the tzaddikim and a stumbling block for the resha’im. When the Prophet states that the ways of Hashem are straight, it means that they don’t have any steep hills or sharp turns, there is no drudgery at all. It’s easy to go in these ways, and that’s what the tzaddikim do, but the resha’im clash against these straight paths, because for them it would be better if they weren’t so straight. Then they could try to maneuver and say how hard teshuva was. Since the ways of teshuva are straight, broad and easy to travel, now they have no excuse for not arousing themselves to do teshuva.”
There would be room to say that the tzaddikim and resha’im are going on the same ways exactly, and still, one succeeds and the other fails, but the Ran learns differently, that the ways of Hashem is a way that is open to everyone who wants to go on the straight path, but only the tzaddikim make use of this way and go on it, whereas the rasha does not go on this way, and why not? Because he would need to make an internal change in order to want such a way. He is accustomed to evil ways, and even if he wants to do teshuva, since this involves taking the straight path — will he be willing to forego all the evil things he’s used to? Will he be willing to forego his friends, his environment, his money, to change these things in full and go on the straight path? For a crooked person, this is very hard.
Tzaddik and rasha – the difference is in their outlook
Looking into this, we can say that the difference between tzaddik [a righteous man] and rasha [an evil man] is hidden in their way of thinking. Meaning, it’s not just that they do different sorts of things, one does mitzvos [commandments] and the other aveiros [transgressions], because if that was all the difference, the rasha could one day wake up and say, hey, I don’t want to steal anymore, I want to learn Torah and be honest.” But the truth is as we said, that the difference between a tzaddik and a rasha is in his way of thinking; the tzaddik thinks straight, he is focused on the goals of his life, the value of each moment, etc. This mode of thinking not only brings one to higher goals and better results, it actually changes a man’s essence. He is a ben Torah [a person who is dedicated to the Torah], he dresses in a certain way, thinks in a certain way, he has a different essence.
But the rasha thinks in his way and prefers it. Deep down he knows that were he to go on the straight path, there he’d have no excuses. He wouldn’t be able to say that it’s too hard for him. On the straight path, one does only what is true and what is right to do, as the Ran says, that there, “there are no steep inclines or sharp curves.
Instead of the straight path, the rasha prefers his crooked one, full of excuses. Why?
In the chapter, “Preferring evil to good,” we cite Dovid Hamelech’s words against Doeg Ha’edomi (Tehilim [Psalms] 52:5), that Doeg revealed to Sha’ul Hamelech that Achimelech ben Achituv gave Dovid a sword and provisions, and inquired of the Urim v’Tumim [Lights and Fulfillments] for him. This angered Sha’ul very much, and he commanded Doeg to kill out the entire city of Nov. When Doeg killed them, Sha’ul was punished. Dovid told Doeg: you loved evil over good. You preferred Shaul’s evil over your own good, because had he not received your lashon hara [evil speech], Sha’ul would not have been punished.
The Midrash states that Doeg gained nothing from revealing this secret to Sha’ul. Why did he do it? Only because he loved evil, as the Sages state: There is a man who lies and tries to curry favor with one who gives him food and drink, but you? Did you need anything? After all, you were a wise man in Torah, a warrior and the head of the Sanhedrin. Why did you do this?
Doeg was not like other people, who may fall into the trap of sinning in order to get wealth or honor. For this they speak lashon hara or act fawningly before the king, but Doeg was not in such a situation. He already had great wealth and honor, and was not dependent on Shaul for anything. His only motivation was that he preferred “evil to good.”
We find as well in the episode of Korach [Korah], that On ben Pelet’s wife used similar logic to sway her husband from joining Korach’s rebellion against Moshe [Moses]. “Either Moshe will win or Korach will win. In either case, you will not benefit, so why mix into this?” she claimed. In fact, her logic is so compelling that we can only ask: What was the reason that others did go after Korach, though they stood nothing to gain personally? The answer is that they too “preferred evil.”
A child's deeds reveal his inner self
Let’s try to get to the bottom of what’s behind “preferring evil.” What is the difference between a tzaddik and a rasha? Really, every man has an inner will that propels him, his natural inclination, and even in his infancy this is detectable. Just follow and see — does he want to be a good boy or a bad boy? Is he up inclined to obey his parents and teachers, or rebel against them? Is he by nature merciful, or cruel?
For example, how can we measure a child’s ability to control himself? We give him the “candy test.” If we give him a piece of candy, we can observe that different children behave in different ways. Some eat the candy right away, others keep it in their hand, another puts it on the table, etc. While there are people who work on themselves and change their nature in adulthood, in many cases the natural instinct of the child remains in place throughout a person’s life.
Just as we can measure the tendencies of a children, we can also measure his inner direction, is he on the straight path or not. In the chapter “Preferring evil to good,’ we bring two ways 1) How do we feel when we say something about someone else? Do you feel good about it? Do you feel good afterwards, too? And 2) Do you feel that the way you behave is something that should be decreed for everyone? As Rav Yerucham Levovitz asked, do you feel your behavior should be adopted as a general rule for life? These are two ways to ascertain if what we do stems from a good source.
The difference in ways creates distance
For this reason, that the tendency of the evil person is to prefer evil, preferring the inclines and crooked paths; therefore, most people who are far from Torah observance feel that it’s just not possible for them to have anything to do with the “ultra-orthodox.” They feel, inside, that we view them with contempt. Why? Because they know the truth, as we said, that they prefer evil, they are stuck to their crooked ways, and this awareness causes them to feel disappointment in themselves, and to feel the crookedness of their hearts. Since they feel this within, they assume that this is how we see them, too. Therefore, they feel that they can have nothing to do with us. We are holy and they are not.
In fact, this is how we should look upon them — not that this means we cannot accept them, because any Jew is a worthy soul, and each of us has the ability to change and choose good. There are in fact many who welcome them, because they don’t care about all of the sins these people commit, Hashem yeracheim [may HaShem have mercy]! These people do not take seriously the difference between us and them. Difference? What difference? They say, and welcome them as equals…
However, people who understood what Shabbos is, what sin is, and know how the world changes for the worse and becomes ruined because of sin how can they accept such people? This is a rasha, who’s killing Klal Yisrael with his wicked deeds. He’s a terrorist! Rather, as we said, only if a person wants to change and choose good is he accepted, because every Jew is at root good, and can change.
Tzaddik or Rasha - it's all in the decision
When we began this subject, we noted the Ran, who states that what Hashem wants from us, to regret the past and accept upon ourselves better behavior in the future, is an “easy” mitzvah, one that even resha’im can succeed at.
We also explained that the difference between a rasha and a tzaddik is in the path they choose, and that a person who is entrenched in his crooked path will find it hard to choose good. He is accustomed to the pleasures of this world. However, since everything depends on the path one chooses, this rasha can decide to go on the straight path. He can decide to change his ways, and then he will see that implementing this change and fulfilling mitzvos can come easy to him, too. Studying Torah is a delight, but until a person enters onto the straight path it’s hard for him. Once he takes that first step, though, and begins to get a taste and realizes the goodness of this way, he quickly begins to experience the sweetness of Torah study and really enjoy it.
And so we find in Brachos [in the Talmud] (33b) on the verse: And now, Yisrael, what does Hashem, your G-d, ask of you? Nothing but to fear G-d.” The Sages ask: Is fearing G-d such a small thing? There is nothing in Hashem’s treasure trove but yiras Shamayim [fear of Heaven]! Answers the Gemara: Indeed, for Moshe this was a small thing, as Rav Chanina would explain with an analogy: “If you ask a person for a large vessel and he has such a vessel, it seems to him like a small request, but if you ask for a small vessel and he does not have it, it seems to him like a big request.”
This Gemara fits well with our theme, that if a person is already on the straight path, he finds it an easy path to take. The whole problem arises when a person is not on that path, but one who is on it knows how to change and move forward. This can be compared to a musical person who takes a new instrument in hand. He has never practiced on it, so it’s hard for him at first, but the more practice he puts into it, the easier it becomes. Moshe Rabbeinu is the prime example of this. He knew yiras Shamayim, how to do it and live it.
People think that it’s enough for them to change their ways by going to classes. This is not enough. In short, we must bear in mind always that 1) teshuva has no foothold in reality; it’s purely a chessed from Hashem, and 2) we have to ask Hashem to help us do it. Without these two elements, we won’t succeed.
The straight path requires discipline, but it's still easy
There is room to ask, though, how is it that teshuva is hard for the rasha but easy for the tzaddik? If a person is doing teshuva, it means he did a sin, so that makes him a rasha. If so, shouldn’t teshuva be hard for him?
The answer is that being a “tzaddik” or “rasha” is not determined by how many sins one commits; it depends on the path a person is on, as we explained. If a person is on the path of a tzaddik, which is the correct path, then even if he commits a sin, it is still easy for him to do teshuva. The person who goes along the crooked path — for him it’s hard to do teshuva, as this would mean straightening his way to make it fit with the truth.
Of course, a tzaddik also has to work hard in doing teshuva. Teshuva demands personal discipline. It means setting a goal and sticking to it, but this doesn’t make it difficult. It’s a straight path, and if a person follows the proper rules and trains his nature to go in the good way, this way is open before him.
For example, let’s say a person finds it hard to keep the mitzvah of Shnayim Mikra v’echad Targum [reading the Torah portion twice in Hebrew and the translation once]. If he resolves to make this a goal and stick to it, to finish each parasha on time and understand it with the Targum, as time goes on he now has a firm grasp on the Targum. So too if he makes sure to learn the Rashi with the sedrah; after time he will know well and be able to recall Rashi’s comments, and this will become easy for him — he’s now moving along smoothly on the straight path. Yes, this means putting in efforts and requires discipline, but it is still considered “easy,” because when one is on the path of the tzaddik, it truly is easy.
Teshuva depends on Tefilla
After having learned from the Ran that the ways of teshuva are easily acquired, if we’ll just be going on the right path, we can now turn to other things needed for teshuva, as we related in the previous chapter: 1-we learned that teshuva is a chessed [kindness] that defies logic, because logically, we could never devise such a concept, that one can actually undo the past. 2-teshuva must depend on prayer. It is not enough to just realize that Hashem gave us this gift of teshuva, we have to beg Hashem to help us reach this level, of changing ourselves so that our teshuva is accepted.
We cited the Gemara (Bava Basra 25b) which the Shulchan Aruch brings as halacha (Orach Chaim 94:2), that one who wants to gain wisdom should turn [in prayer] to the south, and one who seeks wealth should turn [in prayer] to the north, meaning whatever gift Hashem gives, He gives it after the one who seeks it prays for it. And just as we pray for material blessing from Hashem, we also pray hashiveinu and s’lach lanu [return us and forgive us] because without praying for teshuva, Hashem’s chessed will not go from the realm of the potential into the actual.
So teshuva has its “hands-on” part, of regret and resolving to behave differently, and there is an additional part — praying to be able to do teshuva, and that Hashem will accept our teshuva. Really, whatever level a man ascends to in ruchniyus [spirituality] requires prayer, because these two parts always go together. There is the actual work, the learning, mitzvah fulfillment, teshuva, etc., and there is the element of asking Hashem that there be blessing on our efforts.
Praying for teshuva makes it easier
We can add a reason behind the two chiddushim we heard from the Ran, that a man needs to recognize Hashem’s chessed in the very concept of teshuva, and that we must pray for teshuva to succeed: These are not simply “segulos,” rather they have a natural way of contributing to teshuva.
We see this in other areas in life. For example, when treating a serious illness, the medical field is unanimous that a patient’s will to survive has a profound effect on his body and its ability to heal itself. If the patient is optimistic, and can hold on to the idea that he will emerge from his illness and return to his former health, research has proven that this attitude has a significant role in helping the patient recover.
Because of this, many methods of recovery from addiction, or weight loss programs are based on the belief in a higher power which we believe will help us. The emuna [faith] is necessary to give a person the strength and confidence to succeed, because much of the treatment depends on the spiritual resolve of the patient. So if the doctor, weight-loss trainer or rehabilitation counselor can strengthen the patient’s emuna and bitachon [trust] in a higher power, one that gives him life and helps him in his recovery, this will give the patient tranquility and the physical strength to overcome his disease or addiction.
In teshuva as well, if one thinks over and mentally reviews the great chessed of Hashem has done in devising the teshuva process and making it so easy, which shows how much He cares about him, and one continues to pray to Hashem to help in do teshuva this in turn strengthens his emuna and gives him even more energy to change himself. Only with all these components in place is the path of teshuva laid out before him.
The Ran as a lesson in chinuch
After showing from the Ran that teshuva is easy for those who go along the straight path, we can proceed to the Ran’s explanation (in Drush 6, ד”ה והיתה התשובה) of the verse: “What does Hashem require of you? To 1) do justice, 2) love kindness and 3) walk humbly with Your G-d” (Micha 6:8).
These three things the Navi [Prophet] mentions fit into the part of teshuva of making a resolution for the future, which the Ran also said is easy to do. We can derive as well a useful lesson in raising children. A short time ago, someone came up to me and asked what the proper response should be when children get into a fight. What should the parent or teacher do? Get involved? Push for a compromise? Or perhaps better to ignore it?
I told him to give me some time to think about it, and Hashem led me to this Ran, and I saw that I had found the answer. The Ran says that three things are very easy, and through them a person can change his way for the future. This surely applies to chinuch of children as well.
A father stands by as two of his sons get into a quarrel, let’s say their fighting over which place to sit at the table. There is enough room for both of them, but they each want the same place. That’s kids for you. There’s plenty of room at the table, but they both want davka [precisely] the same place. Or, the house is full of toys, but they both want to play with the same specific toy. Each brother starts whining that the other always gets more, unpleasant words are exchanged, and perhaps fists, too.
When this happens, keep three things in mind:
1) Justice – First and foremost, you want there to be justice. When the two children quarrel, each one wants justice. They want to know, who is right and who not? It’s the parent’s job to judge and decide who is right, and the children have to feel this justice.
2) Love of kindness – The Navi speaks of chessed, but not just doing chessed, rather to love it, to love kindness. The parent must see to it that his children love to do chessed with each other, or with their friends. This love of chessed must be fostered.
3) Walk humbly with Your G-d – This is a peirush on the first two points. Do justice and love chessed, but in a pleasant way, without noise and attention. To be able to handle quarrels and meet these three points, a parent has to work on himself, but these efforts are well worth it. When a parent fails to bring about justice among his children, they will grow up confused, chalila, feeling that things are unfair and that no one understands them.
Let’s say a child wants a certain present, but his parents don’t want to buy it for him, if they did not raise him on the idea of justice, and failed to convey that a gift comes in response for some extra good deed, done outside of the normal range of activities, such a child will interpret his parents’ refusal to buy him the gift as lack of love on their part. They don’t love him; they couldn’t care less about him. His parents can explain to him how much they do for him and care about him, but it won’t help. As long as the child was not educated on the concept of justice and order, he’ll always interpret things differently from the truth.
The easy way – if one begins on it
One of the talmidim [students] asked: If the Ran says that these three things are easy to do, even concerning children, how is it that Yaakov Avinu [Our Father] did not succeed in inculcating this concept in his sons? How could Yaakov have done such a flagrant injustice as to give a kesones pasim [the special garment] to Yosef alone, and thus invite sibling rivalry?
We can say that when the Ran says that it’s very easy for a person to do these things, this is when he sets out on that way from the outset. Had Yaakov started off with a line of justice from the beginning, it would have been easy, but Yaakov had a different idea. His goal was kinas sofrim tarbeh chachma — rivalry among scholars increases knowledge for all of them. Yaakov wanted to inspire his other sons to get deeper into Torah and avoda, and therefore he gave Yosef a special garment. He wanted his sons to interpret this as a sign that if they would push themselves more in learning, they too would receive such a garment.
Only, Yaakov did not speak out this idea to them. He hoped that they would catch on to his intention naturally, but what happened was that they interpreted it in another way altogether. They felt that Yosef was getting more from Yaakov because he was the son of Yaakov’s old age, and he was the son of Rachel, and he was brighter than them, and he was selected to be the continuer of Yaakov’s special derech [way]. They concluded that Yosef was “good” and they were “bad.” Yosef had won Yaakov’s love and they had lost it.
Had Yaakov explained to his sons what his cheshbon [accounting, i.e., reasoning] was, and convinced them of its righteousness, it seems that all that happened to Yosef could have been avoided. After the fact, meaning after the brothers were already mired in a whirlpool of jealousy and sibling rivalry, even if they still did chessed with Yosef, they surely did not feel “love of chessed” when dealing with him. If so, by this point Yaakov could not have changed things, because these principles are easy when a person starts out with them at the beginning, raising his children according to them. Once things are out of control, however, it’s very hard to just start again.
Excerpted with permission from Imrei Mordechai, Vol. 2, A Collection of Inspirational Insights from the “Mussar Shmoozes” of HaGaon Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein Ztzvk”l, The Imrei Mordechai Institute, Diaspora Yeshiva Toras Yisrael, Mount Zion, Jerusalem, Kislev 5779.
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