Yom Kippur: The Song of Teshuva

Topics

• Yom Kippur and the Meaning of Vidui
• The Mishnah in Yoma
• Vidui on Yom Kippur
• The Song of Teshuva
• Shabbos and Teshuva
• Kayin and the Origin of the Song
• The Song of Teshuvah
• The Chasam Sofer on Singing Vidui
• Rabbi Akiva and the Gift of Teshuvah
• The Chasam Sofer: Doing a Mitzvah Besimcha
• A Baal Shem Tov Story About Viduy
• The Kapishnitzer Rebbe and the Meaning of the Work
• Vidui as Connection and Simcha
• Carbon, Shir, and Closeness
• Teshuvah Me’ahavah on Yom Kippur
• The Barditchever’s “Bayit” on Yom Kippur
• The Essence of Yom Kippur
• A Story About a Courtroom

Transcript

# Yom Kippur and the Meaning of Vidui

This Torah class is brought to you by TorahAnytime.com. Today, בעזרת השם יתברך, we will speak about Yom Kippur. We are in the middle of the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, as we approach Yom Kippur. What is Yom Kippur? And of course, year after year, ברוך השם, we go through Yom Kippur and experience Yom Kippur. I would like to share with you my feeling on Yom Kippur, to bring you into my world, into my heart, what I feel and what I experience on Yom Kippur.

## The Mishnah in Yoma

I begin with a Mishnah. The Mishnah in Yoma, perek hei, daf פ״ה ע״ב, says in the name of Rabbi Akiva: אשריכם ישראל. Praised are you, Yisrael; Klal Yisrael. לפני מי אתם מטהרין — before whom do you become pure and clean? ומי מטהר אתכם — and who purifies you? אביכם שבשמים, your Father in Heaven, as it is written: “וזרקתי עליכם מים טהורים וטהרתם.” And it says: “מקוה ישראל.” Just as a mikveh purifies the impure, so the Holy One, blessed be He, purifies Yisrael.

I believe that if we analyze and work on the words of Chazal, the words of Rabbi Akiva, we will tap into the essence of what Yom Kippur really is. אשריכם ישראל — praised are you, how fortunate are you, Yisrael. אשריכם is a lot of luck, a great fortune. אשריכם ישראל, לפני מי אתם מטהרין.

## Vidui on Yom Kippur

You know, vidui is the mitzvah of the day of Yom Kippur. Vidui is in every tefillah, in every Shemoneh Esrei. We repeat the vidui over and over again; that is the mitzvah of the day. How is vidui said? We know we say it in the silent Shemoneh Esrei, and then we repeat it in a group. When we repeat the Shemoneh Esrei, when the shaliach tzibbur repeats the Shemoneh Esrei, we say it together as a group.

The Matis Efraim, from whom most of the halachos of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are based, and which the Mishnah Berurah quotes for all the halachos of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, says that the vidui needs to be said in a way that the person is broken, serious. I quote the lashon, the language, and the tziyun at the bottom of the Matis Efraim: כן כתבו בכל הספרים הקדושים, והזהירו על זה לומר הוידוי בכוונת הלב נשבר. The vidui needs to be said with a broken heart.

Reasonably so. What are we saying in the vidui? רבונו של עולם, our Father in Heaven, we have sinned. We have done so many bad things. It is a list, a tremendous list of aveiros that we did. We need to be broken. Vidui needs to be said with a broken heart.

The Noda B'Yehudah railed against the custom that we...

# The Song of Teshuva

Sing the viduy—it is interesting. In the shuls, there is a song, almost a joyous song, that we sing. What is the joy? It should be broken. A person should feel a broken heart: Hashem, I did this, I did that. We stand before the Rabbeinu Shloylem. Why a joyous song?

I am sure you have an answer. Today I want to bring you into my world of thought. I want to discuss the song of teshuva, the song of repentance. Do you know where the song of teshuva comes from? Adam HaRishon.

# Shabbos and Teshuva

The Midrash says—we just had Shabbos Teshuva—the Seforim explain that it is not just a coincidence that this Shabbos is Shabbos Teshuva. Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the ten days, there has to be a Shabbos. It was designated for the Aseres Yemei Teshuva that there must be a Shabbos, because Shabbos and teshuva are connected. Shabbos is teshuva; teshuva is Shabbos. It is the same words: Shabbos, teshuva, returning to Hashem.

It is even brought down in halachah. The strictest and most severe of aveiros—Shabbos can be mechalel. Avodah zarah is the worst of aveiros, the worst of sins. Yet Shabbos, whoever keeps Shabbos, it forgives; it cleanses the aveirah. The Taz in Shulchan Aruch already asks: if he did teshuva, then you do not need the Shabbos; and if he did not do teshuva, then what does the Shabbos help? If the person does teshuva, it should work. And if he did not do teshuva, Shabbos is not going to do much for him.

Of course, the answer is that teshuva does not work for everything. We find in halachah that even with teshuva, sometimes you need Yom Kippur, or you need yissurim, or you need misa. The Rambam divides it into four levels of kapparah. Not everything can be wiped away with a simple teshuva. And yet we find that Shabbos wipes away the most chomer, the most severe of aveiros, because Shabbos bypasses the dalet chilukei kapparah and ultimately wipes away all the aveiros.

# Kayin and the Origin of the Song

You know what is interesting? The first person to do teshuva was Kayin. Kayin killed his brother. Adam HaRishon meets Kayin, and he asks Kayin—this is a Midrash, a Zohar—“Kayin, you did a tremendous aveirah. What happened? What was the end of your future? What happened?” And Kayin says, “Asisi teshuva. I did teshuva, and nispasarti—I came to terms with the Ribono Shel Olam. The Ribono Shel Olam gave me a second chance.”

When Adam hears this, he says, “Oh, I wish I would have known about this beautiful thing called teshuva.” Miyad pasach v’amar, he broke out in song and said, “Mizmor shir l’yom haShabbos.” When we say Mizmor shir l’yom haShabbos, it is in Tehillim, but who originated it? Adam HaRishon. Adam said, “Mizmor shir l’yom haShabbos” when he sought teshuva. That is the origin.

# The Song of Teshuvah

Shabbos is teshuvah, and teshuvah is Shabbos. But why *mizrashir*, *toiv l’chaidai* — the song, the praise? It seems that Adam burst out in song when he heard about teshuvah. What is the song of repentance? What is the *shir* of teshuvah? What is it?

The Neideh B’Yehudah seems to be a reasonable thing. Vidui? Vidui should be said in a broken, sorrowful tone. Why are we singing? Why are we singing the vidui? I am showing you that Chazal are telling us that Adam already sang about teshuvah, the song of teshuvah, *shir*, song, verse four from his neshama, the song of teshuvah.

# The Chasam Sofer on Singing Vidui

The Chasam Sofer speaks in his derashos and says: I never understood this custom that we have, the minhag. The Chasam Sofer says, I don’t understand. Why, on Yom Kippur, are we singing the vidui with a sweet, melodious tone and song? I always wondered this. It would be more understandable and more reasonable to say it in a crying, broken, tearful, wailing tone.

The Nechali says that the Chasam Sofer gives three peshatim, three reasons. Reason number one is that it is a mitzvah. Vidui is a mitzvah, and mitzvos are done with joy.

You are right: on Yom Kippur we are worried, like you said. Someone walked in here and said, Yom Kippur, Hashem yishmor, he was trembling, and I looked at him and said, tremble? You should be happy. When I was in yeshiva, they said the Mishnah is teaching us how to approach Yom Kippur: not sad, not broken. You should be happy. You look forward to it, excited. Yom Kippur is here.

But I am speaking of sins. I am speaking of things that are embarrassing, things that should really make me feel broken. And the answer is that you need to understand Yom Kippur properly. Then even though we have to admit our aveiros, and we have to deal with our aveiros and deal with our past, we still see in it *Ashreichem*, a happy song, something that gives us happiness: *Ashreichem*.

# Rabbi Akiva and the Gift of Teshuvah

Rabbi Akiva is teaching us. Don’t forget, Rabbi Akiva was the greatest baal teshuvah. Who was the greatest baal teshuvah? Rabbi Akiva himself, at age forty, turned his life around. Rabbi Akiva says, *Ashreichem Yisrael*, because he understood the gift of teshuvah — the gift of teshuvah.

It is Rabbi Akiva. In Hebrew there is an expression: how fitting it is for Rabbi Akiva to say *Ashreichem Yisrael*. He experienced it; he was the one who was thankful and understood the gift of teshuvah. *Ashreichem Yisrael* — you are lucky, how lucky we are.

# The Chasam Sofer: Doing a Mitzvah Besimcha

The Chasam Sofer says that it is a mitzvah, and therefore it must be done besimcha. That is the first answer the Chasam Sofer gives.

# A Baal Shem Tov Story About Viduy

For those with a chassidishe heart, I will add a little flavor and tell a beautiful story from the Baal Shem Tov. It is brought in chassidishe sefarim that the Baal Shem Tov once came to a town and wanted to see who the baal tefillah was, who would daven for the Yamim Noraim, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur. They told him that the town’s role would be the baal tefillah.

He asked what was unique about his tefillah, and they answered that when he davened, he had a beautiful, sweet, melodious voice, and he said all the viduyim with a beautiful nigun, with song.

The Baal Shem Tov went to the rav and said: melodious songs during viduy? That is really the Noda BiYehudah’s complaint. How can one sing the viduy? What are you singing about? Happy songs during viduy, simchas ha’inyan, nigunim?

The rav answered: imagine someone whose job in the king’s palace is to be the cleaner, to wash the floors of the palace and the king’s yard. At the end of the day he is a garbage collector, cleaning the floor and removing the garbage, but he knows that this is his tafkid, a job given to him by the king. So when he does it, he does it with song. As he sweeps and cleans, he sings to himself.

# The Kapishnitzer Rebbe and the Meaning of the Work

This brings to mind two beautiful stories. I grew up with a story my grandfather used to tell me about the sainted Kapishnitzer Rebbe. The Germans took the Rebbe, and in order to degrade and embarrass him, they gave him a menial job of washing the floor, mopping the street. They felt they were humiliating the Rebbe with this.

As the Rebbe was mopping and cleaning the street, he was singing. The chassidim loved to sing nigunim, and he was singing. The chassidim were bewildered. They looked at the Rebbe and asked: at this juncture, at this point, what you are doing, are you able to sing?

He answered something very unique. He said: the Nazi is trying to break me by making me mop a floor. A great Rebbe, royalty, is laying on the floor mopping. They think I am washing the streets of Austria, beautifying Hashem’s beautiful world. When you look at things as Hashem’s will, as the Rebbe’s world, as something I am connected to, then even things that we could look at as degrading are not degrading. It is in the Rebbe’s big world, it is His will, and I look at it differently.

# Vidui as Connection and Simcha

Yes, I’m washing the floor, I’m cleaning garbage, I’m talking about aveiros—but, Rabbeinu Shel Olam, I’m talking to You, and this is what You asked me to do. I’m connected to You as I do it. There is simcha in that; it is happy, I could sing about it.

There is another story that comes to mind about the great sainted tzaddik, Rabbi Levine. It is brought in the sefarim, in one of the books about Rabbi Levine. Tzaddik Yisraelam. The beauty of humanity was Rabbi Levine’s way of seeing things in life and in people, the beauty of every person.

He once walked out of his home in the morning and saw the person who would mop the chatzer, the yard. He was very down on himself. Rabbi Levine asked him, “My tired Yid, why are you broken? You look depressed. You don’t have a smile on your face.” He said, “Rebbe, look what I am. I’m just a garbage cleaner. I’m a cleaning man. I wash floors. I clean schmutz. I clean dirt.”

Rabbi Levine told him, “You don’t view yourself properly. When you clean, look at yourself as cleaning the Rebbeinu Shel Olam’s beautiful world. Connect yourself with the Eibishter. Even this can be something beautiful.”

The person told Rabbi Raz, who wrote the book, that ever since then, when he looked in the mirror every morning, he looked at himself with happiness and elevation. Yes, we stand before the Rebbeinu Shel Olam, but it is before You. We do not say, I did this and I am bad and I am evil. It is before You, Rebbeinu Shel Olam, and I am standing here before You. I am connected to You.

So even if I speak things that are degrading, the mitzvah is that You told me to stand here and admit, and that brings simcha. Hashaychem Yisrael lifnei. Lifnei. I think this is all in the words of the Chasam Sofer. When you realize where you are standing on Yom Kippur, you are right: it is an embarrassing thing to talk about the list of sins. Very embarrassing. And to sit and admit a laundry list of dirty laundry, so to speak, can be very, very humbling.

But that humbling, that hachna’ah, that it is lifanecha—“Achay shechatanu lifanecha”—I am standing in front of You, is very elevating. And it brings simcha. This is pshat number one, the first pshat. You hear that, boys?

So again, the question is why we customarily say vidui with finfer and simcha and song. And the answer is: it is a mitzvah. And what does that mean? It means this is what You asked me to do, Hashem. I stand before You, and I am connected to You. Vidui is to express myself. I am talking to You, Rabbeinu Shel Olam. I am opening up. I am connecting.

That is why we are matgish, that is why we emphasize, “Achay shechatanu lifanecha.” It is all in front of You. I connect to You, Hashem. And that is why there is simcha.

The second answer we will deal with in a minute, but first I will tell you the third answer, because I want to elaborate on the second answer. The third answer that the Chasam Sofer says: carbon.

# Carbon, Shir, and Closeness

Carbon brings kapara. Sins mean that we have to bring a carbon. Carbon, shir. On every carbon in the Beis HaMikdash, they said song. Therefore, when we say vidui, we say song, shir.

There may be depth here: why is it that every time a person brings a carbon, there is song? What is a carbon? Carbon is krevos; it is closeness. I come close to Hashem, and again there is song. The Kesef Mishneh, at the end of Hilchos Teshuvah, explains that when a person is connected to Hashem and feels ahavah, love, there is shir, there is song.

Remember I told you when I began the shiur that Adam HaRishon, when he saw teshuvah, when he heard the concept of teshuvah—which is what? Shav, lifnei Hashem, you return to Hashem—he broke out in shir, in song. Mizmor shir. Song, carbon, krevos. Every carbon is toneh shira.

# Teshuvah Me’ahavah on Yom Kippur

But I want to go one step further and give you an insight, and a warm understanding of the havanah and hergesh of Yom Kippur. Let me share with you the second answer that the Chasam Sofer says: why do we sing the vidui? It is already brought in the Tiferes Yisrael.

The Tiferes Yisrael gives this answer and says that there is something unique about teshuvah when it is teshuvah me’ahavah, with love of Hashem, which is the teshuvah we do on Yom Kippur. That is the ultimate teshuvah, teshuvah me’ahavah, and then the aveiros become zechuyos.

The Gemara says, in Yoma, that sometimes when you do teshuvah, it becomes keshgagos. The aveirah changes from an aveirah done intentionally to an aveirah done by mistake, a shogeg—less of a penalty, a lesser degree of aveirah. And then there are times when you do teshuvah and it becomes keshgagos and it becomes a zechus. The aveirah becomes a mitzvah, says the Gemara. What is the difference? It depends on what type of teshuvah you did.

Did you do teshuvah from fear? Were you afraid of the punishment? Then it is keshgagos: Hashem lessens the degree of the aveirah and lessens the penalty. But when it is done me’ahavah, from love of Hashem, it becomes mitzvos.

My dear brothers, how can it be a mitzvah? How can a person do a big aveirah and turn it into a mitzvah? It does not make sense. There is an expression in Hebrew: you can murder and still want to be pious, and make a merit from it. And it is interesting that the first person to do teshuvah was Kayin, who killed his brother. So the expression is interesting. He walks around, Kayin. Adam is jealous of him. Kayin went and killed his brother.

Now, in the yeshivos there is a lot of Torah about this, to explain: how does it turn into a zechus? How does it turn into a mitzvah?

# The Barditchever’s “Bayit” on Yom Kippur

Into a mitzvah. I want to tell you a story, Rabbi. It is not only a story, but part of the literature of Yom Kippur.

The heilige Kedusha Slevi, the Barditchever, said something unique on Yom Kippur. Customarily, he would say something unique on Yom Kippur, but to this day, Chassidim take the story of what he said on Yom Kippur and make a song out of it. There is an entire song dedicated to what the Barditchever used to say on Yom Kippur. It is called the Bayit.

Okay, Rabbi, you are going to learn some Yiddish. Are you ready to learn some Yiddish? What is bayit? Bayit is a trade. The Kedusha Slevi, the Barditchever, the heilige Barditchever, used to make a deal with Hashem on Yom Kippur, and it was called the Bayit, a trade.

You think you know business? You think you are good sochkim? You want to hear what a good businessman the Barditchever was? Listen to a business deal. He would say like this: I am an advocate on behalf of the Jewish people, and listen to what I have to offer. You know what we have to give? We have three things that we would love to give You, and there are three things that we ask You should give us. Three for three. Sounds right? Reasonable? Fair? Everybody says fair. We want that.

You know what we have to offer? What do we have to offer? We have. I’ll trade You. We’ll give You the chatayim, avonot, and p’shayim. We’ll give it to You, and in return You give us selichah. Come, let’s trade. We’ll trade.

Then he would say, wait a minute, but Ribbono Shel Olam, we are giving You a lot more than You are giving us, because our aveiros are so much. It is more than a bag full. We have a whole house, a whole warehouse of it. Ribbono Shel Olam, what is it to You? It is nothing. It is easy. So it is not fair. Not fair. So you know what? If You throw in a little bit, then it is fair. We will call it even.

This is the trade that we make with HaKadosh Baruch Hu on Yom Kippur. What, was he making jokes? What do you think? He got up on Yom Kippur and he was a comedian? This is part of understanding Yom Kippur. What do you mean, it comes like a zechus? Zechus? My aveiros turning into zechuyos? It is a litzanut. It is a joke. You are making litzanus, and the

# The Essence of Yom Kippur

The answer is that if we understand Yom Kippur, we will understand the ma’alas ha-yom, the yesod of teshuvah on Yom Kippur. We will understand that this is באמת the essence of Yom Kippur.

Chazal tell us: “kiz zechuyos.” How can the great aveiros turn into zechuyos? As I said in the oylam ha-yeshivos, there are many interpretations and explanations for this. But on a simple level, what is the explanation? How does an aveirah, through teshuvah, turn into a zechus? How do we understand this exchange with Hashem: You give us selichah, mechilah, and kapparah, and we give You chatayim, avonos, and pesha’im?

The Kiddush HaLevi was delving into the depth of what Yom Kippur is really about. “Ashreichem Yisrael, lifnei mi atem metaharin, u-mi metaher eschem? Avichem she-baShamayim.” The key is to remember that if we understand the words of Chazal, we will understand properly. “Ashreichem” — what is so special? Why are we singing our aveiros? What are we singing? They are chatayim, sins. And the answer is that they become like zechuyos. That is what the Tiferes Yisrael explains, and that is what the Chasam Sofer says. Why are we singing the vidui? Because I am singing that this chet became a zechus. It became a merit. It became zechuyos; all the aveiros are becoming zechuyos.

But how does that work? The answer is: “Lifnei mi atem metaharin, u-mi metaher eschem? Avichem she-baShamayim.” Avichem. The connection, the relationship between the Jew and HaKadosh Baruch Hu, on Rosh Hashanah is about malchus: Hashem is the King. There is eimah, there is yirah, there is fear. On Yom Kippur, it is love. It is rachamim. It is the rachamim of al bonim. It is Avichem.

# A Story About a Courtroom

I will tell you a story. I know, I do not like to tell nice stories. Years ago, I had to fight a parking ticket. Everybody is laughing; you all had to fight a parking ticket once. I was waiting downtown, in the courthouse, and there was another Jew sitting there. I saw that he was very agitated. He told me this was not his first ticket; it was his fifth or sixth, and the judge would definitely revoke his license. For me, it was my first ticket — a parking ticket, a big deal. Actually, I am making it sound lighter than it was; it was a lot worse than a parking ticket. It was a red light. The cop pulled me because I did not see the red light, and I passed through.

We came and waited. The judge was not strict, you know. Almost every guy, he believed the cop, and he told the fellow that he had to pay the ticket. Then it was lunch break, and they switched judges. A different judge sat down. The Jew, my friend who had become my friend in the last few minutes that we were sitting there, got all excited. He said, “I know that judge.” Obviously, he had experience in the courthouse. He said, “I know that judge.”