Elul, Forty Days, and Becoming a New Person

Topics

• The Avodah of Elul
• Beriah and Bitul
• Forty Days, Tzuras HaVlad, and Tikkun
• Teshuvah and Tashlich
• Yerushalmi and Rabbeinu Yonah on Teshuvah
• The Story Behind the Talis Katan
• A Lesson in Dan L’Kaf Zechus
• Forty Days, Teshuvah, and Yetziras HaVlad
• Teshuvah on Rosh Hashanah
• Al Cheit, Middot, and Teshuvah
• Teshuvah as a Fresh Start
• The Difficulty of Turning Around
• The Meaning of “Yazov”
• A Source from Bayas
• Bayez, Ozav, and the Strength of Teshuvah
• Teshuvah and the Help of the Rabbeinu Sholeilam
• Levavcha and Levav Zaracha
• Rebbe Elazar ben Dordaya and Teshuvah
• The Mashal and the Maharsha
• The Meaning of Chazal and the Avodah of Elul

Transcript

# The Avodah of Elul

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com.

What is the avodah? Mr. Brewer tells us in the Magen Avraham, from the Mattei Ephraim: “Ani leDodi veDodi li,” “Kumu laHashem Elokeichem,” “Umal Hashem Elokecha es levavcha ve’es levav zar’acha,” teshuvah. We spoke last week about “Ish l’rei’eihu matanos la’evyonim,” tzedakah, different ma’asim, which are obviously avodos that the Acharonim and the Poskim held are the avodah we have to do during Elul.

I’d like to touch on something that is clear in the Mishnah Berurah, clear in the Poskim, a detail, and from here to understand a little more what the avodah of Elul is. Then we’ll go back to the Shaarei Teshuvah and the Rishonim. There seems to be a nekudah in Elul: arba’im yom, forty days. The Mishnah Berurah tells us, “sof teivis ve’elul arba’im.” In the back of the Mishnah Berurah, every word has in it mamash halachah: “sof teivis ve’elul arba’im.” So everybody learns “Ani leDodi, veDodi li,” they learn the milah shemoneh, the roshei teivos. But what about the arba’im yom?

It seems from the Mishnah Berurah and the Poskim that it has to do with Elul, forty days, “sof teivis ve’elul arba’im,” and that is keneged arba’im yom. It is based on Moshe Rabbeinu, when he went up to Shamayim after the eigel to be mispallel, also for forty days. So you see there is a period of forty days of teshuvah.

We find the same thing by Ninveh. Yonah comes to tell Ninveh, “Od arba’im yom, Ninveh nehepeches.” They were given forty days, forty days’ time to do teshuvah. What is the inyan of teshuvah for forty days? People read over the Mishnah Berurah and seem to learn that it just happens to be between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and Yom Kippur is forty days. You see there is an inyan of forty days. You see it by Moshe Rabbeinu, we see it by Ninveh, and we’ll soon see many other places: the inyan of forty days.

Now, Rabbeinu, the Mabul was also forty days. “Vayehi haMabul al ha’aretz arba’im yom.” The Zohar HaKadosh says clearly that the forty days of the Mabul are connected from Elul to Yom Kippur. The Zohar HaKadosh says that Noach said, “Ribono shel Olam, should take him out of this masker”; it was a tikkun. So the forty days ended by Yiftach; he opened up the teivah on Yom Kippur.

What is the forty days? What is the forty days? Why is it forty days? It was already brought, based on the Zohar, that we find the Mabul forty days because a mikveh is arba’im se’ah. A mikveh is arba’im se’ah, and forty se’ah of Mabul water comes and cleans a person. It was already brought in the Zohar.

Okay, it’s an interesting Bnei Yissaschar. The Yissaschar says we know that there is a halachah of bittul. Bittul is either berai or...

# Beriah and Bitul

Yeshishim, but then there is something called a beriah. Beriah means something created, a thing unto itself. A beriah lo batel is not batel. It cannot become batel, because it is chashuv. It is very hard to be mevatel something that is chashuv; it exists as something significant.

There is a Yerushalmi that says that, in fact, there is a way to be mevatel even a beriah. The first Yerushalmi is against the terumah, against certain things, and even a beriah is batel b’tav kof samach, which means that in 960 against the beriah, you are able to be mevatel the beriah. Forty se’ah is how many? 960. So the forty se’ah, and the beriah, as the sefer says, ki yadua, it is known that this is the site of the mikvah.

What is the site of the mikvah? Mikvah is that it takes a beriah, was given a beriah temeiah, and gives it a din bitul, as he sakta. So b’nei Yisrael, interestingly, chaydeh shelo, very nice, he said, that the inyan is to take the beriah and to mevatel it.

# Forty Days, Tzuras HaVlad, and Tikkun

The truth is, if you look at Rashi, Rashi already says that there was an inyan in the arba’im. What was the inyan of the arba’im? Tzuras ha-vlad. You see, it was tzuras ha-vlad. Hei mishchisu, they were mashchis. They destroyed the vlad. Mashchis, they were mashchis; Adam became mushchis. Adam is created in forty days, tzuras ha-vlad. So there was an inyan of tikkun on the beriah, so to speak, that they destroyed. They had to redo the beriah; they had to undo it.

So forty is forty days. Forty days of mevatel is forty days of mikvah of taharah. Good. Yemeitzei chasidus she’Torah rabbaisu, which of course means there is nothing wrong with chasidus she’Torah. But I will show you that the truth is, this is the yesod of teshuvah when it comes to Rosh Hashanah and Elul, which leads into Rosh Hashanah.

# Teshuvah and Tashlich

There is an interesting yesod. Rabbeinu Yonah says: how does a person do teshuvah? Rabbeinu Yonah, the yesod of teshuvah. This is in the yesod of teshuvah. Rabbeinu Yonah says, how do you do teshuvah? You throw them away. You throw them away. Where am I throwing them? Who is taking them? What do you mean, I am throwing them away?

It is interesting. There is a minhag called Tashlich. Where does that minhag come from? This Rabbeinu Yonah, that we come and we throw away our aveiros. What does that mean? Is this a special bin for aveiros? We can throw them—disposable. You have to have maybe a special place. In the yam, you throw them in. Okay, now everybody knows the jokes: you throw them to the yam, the water overthrows. Based on this Rabbeinu Yonah.

So how does it work? I throw away my aveiros. What does it mean? So this Rabbeinu Yonah continues and says: fresh, like a katan shenolad, brand new. A child is born today, katan shenolad, fresh, yotza naysa. A person comes and today he was born. And soon we will see how a person has the koach to do it. But this is the yesod called yashlich. A person can throw away all his aveiros. Malachai rabbaisa.

# Yerushalmi and Rabbeinu Yonah on Teshuvah

This is a Yerushalmi. Rabbeinu Yonah is based on an interesting Yerushalmi. The Yerushalmi says that in all the korbanos of all the Yom Tovim, it says, “V’ikravtem” — all the korbanos — but the only korban where it does not use the word “V’ikravtem” is, “V’asisem olah l’Reiach nichoach laShem.” On Rosh Hashanah, “u’vachodesh hashvi’i be’echad lachodesh mikra kodesh yihyeh lachem, kol melachah avodah lo sa’asu, v’asisem.” Why doesn’t it say “V’ikravtem”? The Yerushalmi says: “V’asisem” — you make yourself.

If a person does the avodah of Rosh Hashanah, it brings the korban. He davens Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofros; he makes himself, he recreates himself. You know, the world has something called “born again.” It was stolen right out of Rabbeinu Yonah.

And the Rambam says the same thing, an interesting Rambam. The Rambam says: how does teshuvah work? The Rambam says, in Hilchos Teshuvah, perek beis, halachah daled, “lihyos hashav tzayta min ha’nefesh lifnei Hashem b’vchi u’vesachnunim, v’oseh tzedakah k’vicholko.” Remember, we said you have to do tzedakah, “ish l’rei’eihu matanos la’evyonim.” They say it’s a Matthew, Ephraim — it’s not. It’s the Rambam.

Teshuvah means that I have to do tzedakah: “v’oseh tzedakah k’vicholko.” Tzedakah plays a very big role in teshuvah. Maybe next week we’ll talk about what the kesher is, what the tzedakah is, how it is directly part of the teshuvah. Good, there is teshuvah, and that person has to have ma’asim tovim. That’s true. But it seems that “v’oseh tzedakah k’vicholko” means that there is a mitzvah, an inyan of tzedakah, in teshuvah. We’ll talk about tzedakah next week.

Anyway, you have to move yourself away from the thing that you sinned with. You have to change your name. Why do you change your name? You need a new name. He comes to the rav, and the rav gives him a new name. I never saw that a person should change his name. He was so taken with teshuvah. He once had a talmid. He called himself — not to change his first name, because you don’t have to know who it is, but let’s say David. That wasn’t his first name; his first name was something else. Teshuvah. That was his name: David Teshuvah. He looked into the beis medrash: David Teshuvah. He takes out a Rambam and shows him. So what is he going to call himself? He’ll call himself Teshuvah.

I want to tell you a nice inyan of what’s called teshuvah. I gave a shmuess. That tkufah in yeshiva bothered me, something that I saw. Not big kano’us, so to speak, but it bothered me. So I walked in — a leather tallis katan, the size of a chazeh. You could have fit in ten tallisos, with a teres, with a shoyfer, with a... You have no idea how big it was. Leather. Brown leather.

So I spoke in yeshiva. I said, you know, Rabbi Yisrael, that’s not normal. A man just has to be normal and do what everybody does. All the devils had it, and normally this is the way it looked. What’s that? Why do you have to come? I don’t want to say anything, because I know that today it became a little in style for the rabbanim. I don’t know. I don’t mean anything, of course. He can’t be cheshud, okay? The kids are here.

So someone comes over to me afterwards, and he tells me...

# The Story Behind the Talis Katan

I don’t mean to correct you, but there is a big story behind this talis katan. I said, what story could there be behind the talis katan? He tells me it belongs to this fellow, David Chuva. Again, as I said, his first name is something else, but his real name today is Chuva. That is what he goes by.

I said, he was a biker, and every biker has to have his leather jacket. When he did teshuvah, he said, you have to change yourself completely, a full 360-degree turn. How is he going to turn around and keep the leather jacket? They copied Tom Veve’s voice on the bike. So he took his jacket and made a talis katan out of it. And in big letters, which I obviously did not see because it was covered, his name: Chuva.

# A Lesson in Dan L’Kaf Zechus

So first I learned a big yesod from this: a person should never be dan yehidim; you never know. He came with this, and b’ezras Hashem this might be the schmooze next week, because one of the yesodos is that to be zocheh badin is to be dan everyone l’kaf zechus. That is one of the things the Rishonim bring, and it goes back to Rabbeinu Yonah, from mefurash Gemaros, based on mefurash Gemaros. And if you are dan people l’kaf zechus, the Ribbono Shel Olam is dan you l’kaf zechus.

But I’ll go further: the person has to be, mishanishtah shemo, eineni oseh ish. I am not that person here anymore, completely. You talk to me, that person is not here anymore. Ez b’chalal nitah. You want to talk to this new fellow? All right. So ikar shemo b’Yisrael, he has a new name. And this is based on this Rambam, Rabbeinu Yonah, and that is the v’asisem, that you make yourself a kehillah chadashah.

# Forty Days, Teshuvah, and Yetziras HaVlad

So now let us go back to the inyan of habayim, which has to do with yetziras ha-vlad, which has to do with beriah bittul. What we do is come and say: beriah, that beriah is back. The beriah that once was, and that is the yesod of the Mabul. The yesod of the Mabul was that it took forty days. Forty days of teshuvah, a hesber in the koach that can be meshaneh ha-adam, to change the person in forty days. For Ninveh, one can learn from here, a city can become rehabilitated in forty days. The inyan of forty days is called forty days of yetziras ha-vlad.

And that becomes the avodah, including Rosh Hashanah: to come to Rosh Hashanah as a different person, or at least with the same person transformed. And these yitzurim are made to take a kashuvah.

# Teshuvah on Rosh Hashanah

When does Aseres Yemei Teshuvah start? It starts on Rosh Hashanah, the first day of Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. You cannot even do teshuvah on Rosh Hashanah. What kind of teshuvah can a person do on Rosh Hashanah? The halachah is that we do not mention chet at all. You are not even allowed to eat a goyzen, because a goyzen is not your chet. You know what I mean. You know what the Kotzker says: chet is not your chet. That is clear, for sure. A goyzen is not your chet.

So people back here, you cannot even eat a goyzen. The Kotzker says: a chet is not your chet. Do you know how hard it is to do teshuvah? We say this even on Yom Kippur: rabbim heim, ye’ev she’lefarteh ul’achateihem. It is almost impossible to be mefaret all the chata’im. Why does the Ashamnu and Bagadnu go according to the order of the alef-beis? The Sefardim have a lot of al chet; they say a lot of al chet. We do not say most of them. It is interesting. The Sefardim have an al chet on bittul Torah. We do not have an al chet on bittul Torah. Ashkenaz does not have it.

# Al Cheit, Middot, and Teshuvah

Why don’t we have an al cheit on middot? It is the most humbling thing of all our days to say al cheit. You can’t live without a middot. What happened to that al cheit?

The Zedeh liked to say that the upshot is: don’t do teshuvah, go sit and learn. You want to be a middot musician? Go down and go sit and learn. The Zedeh said a different pshat, and I told this over to Epstein, and he told me it was a chiddush. I couldn’t get over how beautiful this pshat is.

The Zedeh said: everything that you say in al cheit, what are you really saying? That you left the middot. When a man sits and learns, if a person is sitting and learning, he would not do all these aveiros. It is when he is out of learning that the yetzer hara comes. The Rambam says clearly that it only comes then; he does not have these issues. He does not have it.

There is a very famous maaseh from the Tzanzer. He called him in and told him, no, the person has the yetzer hara. It does not bother me that people go out there. How did you come to do it? If you had been doing what you should have been doing, you would not have all this trouble.

So what are we saying? A list of aveiros, a list of aveiros you did wrong. So God did not learn. That al cheit is not only me; al cheit is Klal Yisrael. Right? It is not me, it is everyone. It shows you the mered ha-chayis when you come to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, what it means: me is one of the bunch of the olam, together with the rest.

I always tell you, that is good for the al cheitim, from the Fried to G’dar. But when we came to Shein Zog, many of them probably went through most of the list and came out. It is very shayach that a person could talk and do the whole list. So why does the list go on? That is why we do Ashamnu, b’ganavnu, l’fisei der alef-beis. Because if not, we would have to go on and on and not stop. Like this, we put a cap on it. He says, we put a cap on it. Ashamnu, okay, and whatever is nichlal on the alef, you know, beis, bagadnu, whatever is nichlal on the beis, okay.

Why am I telling you all this? It is a lifetime’s work to do teshuvah. You look at the Rambam. The Rambam says so; how does Rabbi Yonah talk? Something does not clap there. It is a telltale thing. A person could go through Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur year after year and do teshuvah. And we know what teshuvah is, what teshuvah is. In order to be a baal teshuvah, that is the most difficult thing.

He says, on Yom Kippur I had to go to the rabbi, one of the rabbanim, and he said, you know, I am a baal teshuvah. So the rabbi said, hallelujah for me, I am a baal teshuvah. Do you mean it is not teshuvah? It is such an easy thing? It is an unbelievable difficult thing.

Yes, Rabbi Yonah comes and says no, it is not possible. Rabbi Yonah, no, lad, yeah. I am not the same guy. If you have any complaints about the guy who did it, talk to him. He is not here anymore. He is out of town. He is close. But kabbalah to Rosh Hashanah, the Rosh Hashanah machine.

# Teshuvah as a Fresh Start

Mishnah Berurah says: what does it mean, “l’kabel teshuvah”? May I have? What is the Mishnah Berurah? Whenever I say, “from the Chafetz Chaim,” I always feel humbled. I feel like a little child speaking about someone greater than any of us could ever imagine, what the Chafetz Chaim was. Every word was niskabel, like a ton of biyom. Supposedly, the dybbuk said, “Oh, it was katana biyom.” I learn Mishnah Berurah that way, like a simple child who learns with the tatteh and asks: what does he mean?

“Va’az dayday karev eilav l’kabel teshuvah say?” May I have. The Chafetz Chaim says that when a father is mekabel teshuvah, he doesn’t need much. You ever see when a father wants to be mekabel? Just say you’re sorry, just a little. He’s not asking for much. In court, try that. Come to the judge and say, “You know, I don’t know, I feel bad.” Okay, did I hear that you said, “I’m sorry”? Okay, it’s good enough. I feel that you’re sorry. It’s a shame, good, acquitted. And you think it’s good, that it will be good for you.

And the Bnei Shloylem says something. You cutten shen noylad. It’s like a small child, you hear? And the little child breaks something. The tatteh says, okay, just don’t do it again. Just say you won’t do it again. It’s not good. “Ilu b’yoy noylad”—kedushas ha’teshuvah for Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is a service; you make teshuvah. Where’s the teshuvah? Mitan mitmaske, zayin chato’im bechlal. How could you do teshuvah without vidui, any yeshiva guy? You ever learned the famous Rambam, the first famous Rambam on vidui? There’s no teshuvah, so where’s teshuvah on Rosh Hashanah? Where is teshuvah on Rosh Hashanah? B’az t’zachab.

And the teretz is: peri yochadoshe, katan shenolad, ki’ilu b’yoym noylad. I’m sorry, yashlich kol peshav; it’s a fresh start. And the ta’am is the inyan of yetziras ha’vlad, from before yom, there’s something that a person is able to do. A human being is a human being; ki katan shenolad domim.

## The Difficulty of Turning Around

It’s interesting. On one hand, it’s very hard to turn around. A person is set in his ways, and to be able to mamash go the opposite direction and become a whole different person. On one hand, I made it sound like an easy zach, a katan shenolad, yashlich kol peshav. But in the end, we’ve all tried this in the past, and we realize it’s not that easy, yeah? Yashlich kol peshav works; it doesn’t work so much.

## The Meaning of “Yazov”

I want to tell you something interesting, and you’ll have hano’ah, because I had enough from this. Meredik, yeah? I’ll tell you meredik. The yesod of teshuvah: “Elo, yazov rasha darko, v’ish aven machshevosev, v’yashov el Hashem, v’yirachemhu, v’el Elokeinu, ki yarbeh lisloach.”

Yazov—what does the word yazov mean? Leave alone, let go, yeah? I never in my life paid attention to the word yazov. Yazov: you let go, no? Rabbeinu Yonah calls this yashlich kol peshav. He throws it away, yeah? What is the word yazov? I’ll show you something peleh, mamash tov is so peleh to me. I saw it during the year, and I said, mitz Hashem, I’m going to share it with the eylem, because when a person has something good, he has to share it. If he’s a kind person, he should share it, right?

## A Source from Bayas

Al pasuk peyvel ha’atzmecha. There was somebody called Bayas. You look at me: what does Bayas have to do with Matan Kippur, Sheshanah, Matan Kippur, you know, famish yaitzris, right? No, I’m not, and I’ll show you why. Bayas—why was he called Bayas? Chazal say, bo’oz. He had a lot of strength. Bo’oz, that’s his name, his name, okay? And remember,

# Bayez, Ozav, and the Strength of Teshuvah

So what did I tell you? Mishan is Shmoy—something about a name. Interesting. Mishan is Shmoy. I’m not that person. So what is Bayez? Bayez. Okay, Bayez. Him is strength.

As a matter of fact, in the Drashos of Mamloyes, there is another drashah about Bayez. Bayez is also Ois Yud-Zayin, Ois Vav-Zayin. He brings a Midrash: Ozav es yitzro. Bayez left behind his yetzer; Ozav. So his name is a combination of two things: Bayez, strength, and Ozav es yitzro. Al kein yazov. It is the same thing. Yazov—the ish who takes oiz. It takes a gevurah, yes? It takes a gevaldige gevurah for a person to be ozav, to let it go, to be able to put it in the past.

Bayez was a gibor chayil, and he was Bayez, which is also oiz. I am first Mamloyes. Also, Oiz v’ozav, ozav es yitzro. Yazov means Bayez. It takes strength to put the past behind.

So you ask me a question. I’m just being nice to myself. On one hand, I tell you: see, I claim ozav, yazov, tashlich, and yetzer. All you have to do is buy yourself a claim, a tashlichl, with a parn, a pshtiklachal, and say tashlich, and that’s already it. And then I tell you, shreklech, by oiz it takes a life of strength. I’ve been hearing himself gives the teretz to his tashlich. And Elul is the teretz, the roshei teivos of Elul.

# Teshuvah and the Help of the Rabbeinu Sholeilam

But Binyamin, in the beginning, says: you know how chet works? Very poshut. And then he says, so what happens? You know who is part of the teshuvah process? Because without the Rabbeinu Sholeilam, you can’t do it. A person is set in his ways, and he needs the Rabbeinu Sholeilam to help him. V’echad esh b’kirbam ruach, v’echad esh—new. That new comes from who? From the Rabbeinu Sholeilam.

L’hasig mal l’savoso, shenemar, v’shafta Hashem Elokecha, v’shamata b’kolo. And which pasuk does he bring? U’mal Hashem Elokecha es levavcha v’es levav zaracha, which is Elul, Rabbi Yisrael.

# Levavcha and Levav Zaracha

I want to show you something interesting. Why is it levav zaracha? What does that mean? U’mal Hashem Elokecha. How about this: levavcha refers to everybody, no? Yad er yid, haz u’mal Hashem Elokecha. What does it mean, levavcha v’es levav zaracha?

And the Talmud says it is pashut. You know, a person could come and say, the genes will remain the same. I can do teshuvah, yes. If I did these things, how does it affect my children? Maybe I could be strong enough, but will it go into the children, that they also, their chinuch, they’ll also change? And the Torah says, v’chadesh b’kirbam. U’mal Hashem Elokecha es levavcha. It is a change of the person completely.

There is a very famous Rashis Chachma that when a person changes his middos, there is a change in the middos of the children as well. If a person uproots a bad middah, it goes on the children. Because if you do it menasheirish, and the children are the same as the father, so mainly you have u’mal Hashem Elokecha es levavcha v’es levav zaracha.

And I’ll end with the follow-up, I say.

# Rebbe Elazar ben Dordaya and Teshuvah

Who was the Rebbe of teshuvah? Rebbe Elazar ben Dordaya. The Gemara is clear: he was considered the symbol of teshuvah. There was no zayin in the world that he did not go to, and in the end he did teshuvah.

The Gemara says that he went between two mountains and began to cry: mountains, heavens, earth, help me do teshuvah. No one was able to help him do teshuvah. He cried so much that he said, perhaps the heavens will help me; perhaps the earth will help me; perhaps a tree out there will help me do teshuvah. What is the tree that helped him do teshuvah? What is the Gemara talking about?

# The Mashal and the Maharsha

You like the mashal. I also like the mashal with the judge. A judge says, I’m sorry, I have to go to AA classes. I have a very good AA class. You see the table over there? It will already instruct me how to cure my problems. Before I tell you, I see the clock. I don’t think I don’t see the clock. And I said I’ll do teshuvah too. I’ll be on time this year. I’ll try my best.

Sometimes labor takes a longer time, since the katan shenolad comes out longer, so you have to take that into account. Let me tell you. You ready? Listen to his name, says the Maharsha. He was done; he had no possibility of doing teshuvah. But his name was Elazar, because the Ribbono Shel Olam helped him do teshuvah. His name stood for teshuvah: even if you are done with your aveirah, Eliezer, the Ribbono Shel Olam can still help you.

# The Meaning of Chazal and the Avodah of Elul

You know what the peshat in Chazal is? He was saying that maybe al pi tevach, the earth, he was looking for tevach. It is not al pi derech hateva. The way it is, is yechvil: it is up to me that I want, and then Elokei ezri, the Ribbono Shel Olam helps.

And that is what Rabbeinu Yonah is saying: the Ribbono Shel Olam helps the person. All I have to do is take that step, I want, yechvil, and the Ribbono Shel Olam says, okay, I’ll help you. I’ll help you make the change. This is the avodah of Elul.