Nitzavim & Elul: The Chilling Prophecies of the Holocaust and the Teshuva Movement

This Torah class is brought to you by tora anytime.com. >> Okay. Um, this is our last or second to last Friday of the year, but I believe this will be the last Friday that we're uh getting together in Topshi. We'll see about next Friday. But I want to speak about um an Indian in the para and an Indian about chuva in general. We actually spoke about this Rambam on Monday and today we're going to offer a brand new approach. The Rambam as is known to many when he discusses the mitzvah of chuva, he uses a very unusual phraseiology. Instead of saying that one is obligated to do chuva, the Rambam phrases it is it the Ram phrases it a little bit uh differently. The ra says when you do do chuva you're obligated to say vidam says all mitzvah in the whether you did it whether you violate an or if somebody violated intentionally or unintentionally when you do and you repent you're obligated to confess before God. The Rambam as we pointed out implies one is not obligated to do just if you do you have to say in the says very clearly but when you do it you have to say this is how the learns the he says from the there is no mitzvah There's a mitzvah to say that there's that if a person wants to repent he needs to say vid just like you need to say and other things that are required statements and therefore when you want to do chuba you have to say voy but the raam does not hold that chuva is a mitzvah and brings this from the as well that the opinion of the Rambam is that tshoua is not a mitzvah. This is in contra distinction to Ramban. The Ramban says in the beginning of the para it says when everything in comes you're going to place to your heart wherever you may be wherever the Lord cast you. You're going to return and repent to Hashem. You're going to listen in his voice. in accordance with everything that I command you today, you and your children with all your heart and with all your soul. And then when that happens and you do chuva, God will return your captives and he'll have mercy on you and he'll gather you from out of America and whatever whatever other places you find yourself. You could be spread to the far corners of the world like, I don't know, like Brooklyn or something. Don't worry. God says even if you're in Brooklyn or Williamsburg or five towns or Muny or Q Garden Hills, God says I could come and get you. Even if you're outcast to the edge of the heavens, from there I will gather you. From there I will take you. So the beginning of the para is saying that after the you will return and then later in the para it says I made a stop over there. This mitzvah is not hidden from you. What's this mitzvah? The Ramban says the mitzvah is the says the Ramban key on the whole toyra it says but this mitzvah is the mitzvah of chuva because earlier on in the beginning of the para in we're talking about the mitzvah of chuva It's a that we need to do chuva. So why doesn't God say you have to do chuva? Why does he say it in a language that implies you should and also you will because it's also a not only should you you also ultimately will. But the Ramban learns that chuva is a mitzvah. Not only is it a mitzvah, it's mitzvah. And the Rambam learns there is no mitzvah in the Tory to do chuva. How could that be? How could the Rambam hold? There's no mitzvah to do chuva. So on Monday, we learned well because you have to do chuva anyway. Even if you don't get forgiven for your sins, you got to stop sinning and regret regardless. But today we offer an amazing theat of Rabbi for for a long time I had a very uh basic fundamental question and that is if you go through the rashana doning how much of the davining is centered I'm talking about the esray how much of the davining is centered about doing chuva and the answer is not even 50% % not even 25% not even 10% not even 5% not even 1% not even 01% we don't do any chuva underashing what is it about it's all about reveal your glory make your malus manifest bring the redemption I mean uh could somebody tell me why on the first day of assars you made chuva when Our lives are on the line and the only way to get a good judgment is doing chuva. We don't do any chuva. And then the following occurred to me. The rabb says all the prophets commanded on chuva. The Jewish people will not be redeemed until we do chuva. The Tory promises that the Jewish people will do chuva at the end of gulas and then they'll be redeemed immediately. The learns it's a promise you will do chuva. We have a tradition from the vil and if you want to read about this you could check this out in the introduction of the the book in English on the mystery and the majesty in the intro the brings from Margolus that he heard from that the gr said that there are 10 parit invar the truth is Clearly there are 11 but we'll count as one and these 10 paras correspond to the 10 centuries of the final millennia of Jewish history meaning dvarim corresponds to the year 500 to 5100 namely 1240 to 1340 and vosan is 5100 to 5200 1340 to 1440 and if you want to know about the Spanish inquisition look in av 5200 to 5300, 1440 to 1540 and re 1540 to 1640 and 16 to 1740 and say 1740 to 1840 5500 to 5600. Therefore said the gr who lived between 1740 and 1840 is for sure in paras and sure enough on the puk shalma is rashu benma. So the is found in the para and then rais the holocaust 1939 is in 1840 to 1940. Is that is there any stretch whatsoever than to say the is an exact depiction of those tragic years. But our century 1940 to 2040, a century that began with five years of Gehennam and then great braha for the Jewish people in the return to Israel and in the renaissance of Tory in America, in Israel, all over the world and the renaissance of theim and of Jewish life in general. And is there any wonder then 1940 to 2040 parasitim begins talking about a real holocaust where the puk says God will destroy them from their land with anger with fury with great wrath. death. Is there anything understated here in reference to the Holocaust? is the final solution of moreover this I did not write about there's another tradition of the vagin that there are 5,845im in the some say 5846 kg the years of the world and the 5,000th and second Puk 1942 is when the Nazis met to convene and and legislate what they called the final solution. The 5,72nd in the Torah is what more do you need to know? The year the corresponds to 1942 is of By the way, the P before which is the 5,71st 1941 is 1941. What's 1941? God was angered to bring upon it the whole curse. that's written in this Tyra. Why did God do it? You ready for 1943? The answer is only God knows. Do we have anything more to say? 1941. 1943. By the way, the 4,800, excuse me, the 4,000 895th PUK, which is the year of the birth of the Rambam, is the following. P. my manities began to explain this theory says you know why the learns that there's no mitzvah in the to do because the ra says says the Rambam learns that's a promise because after the Holocaust we know that there was a window of time in our history where we had the chuva movement where there were literally thousands and thousands of bal chuva Jews who did not grow up with mitzvah did not grow up knowing did not there was a major uh revolution of people returning to the fold. And this is also predicted in the Tyra because in parim the years 1940 to 2040 the Tory is telling us that there will be a massive nationwide chuva movement. But according to the Rambam chuva is not a mitzvah. It's a promise. God is saying in the end of days you will do chuva. So if God is saying you will do chuva says we know that one of the ingredients that makes something a mitzvah is that a person has to have the free choice to be able to do the mitzvah without anything compelling them. Now lul of an esroer is a mitzvah because nothing compels us to take a l of an. God does not promise the day will come that all Jews will take a l of anrog or all Jews will do any mitzvah. And therefore from the day God gave the mitzvah of an until msiah comes it will always be a mitzvah because it always comes under the um the rubric of something which is uh given to our free choice. But moreover, the reason why the Rambam cannot learn that chuva is a mitzvah because the Rambam holds that the day will come when there will be Jews who no longer have free choice to do chuva. They will have to do chuva. They will be compelled to do chuva because God promises that visha is not a mitzvah. It's a a and that means God is going to inspire to do chuva. That means it's not a mitzvah because God is tampering with their free will and anything that you don't have free will to do cannot be a mitzvah. So the reason why the Rambam holds that chuva is not a mitzvah not because I don't have to do chuva. I still have to do chuva. You still have to do chuva. But but technically speaking, it cannot be called a mitzvah because any good deed that is not eternally given to us and is under our jurisdiction purely cannot be deemed a mitzvah. The Rambam writes invad number 13. Uh this is not so clear. So I'm reading it. Hopefully you can make out some of the words. Permission is given to every person. Russia. If a person wants to be at, go get him. If a person wants to be a Russia, go get him. Anybody could do either. It's a free country. You're free agent. You know, you're the best uh you know, like a baseball player when he's in his free agent year. So, he uh he could do whatever he wants. He could play he could try to get signed by the Yankees. He could uh try to go to the Dodgers. He could retire. So in Judaism, every day you're a free agent. You could uh make yourself a sadic. You could make yourself an a Russia. Says the rabb don't make the mistake that the foolish Gentiles think. and most unlearned Jews who are goams. The Ram says the Ram says don't make the mistake that Gome is make that Hashem decrees whether you're going to be a sadic or a Russia. No, nobody forces you. Don't blame it on your Rebi. I would really be a sadic but in third grade one time my Rebi gave me a bad look. So everything I do for the rest of my life is his fault. really I was going to be a sadic but it's my parents' fault. All the excuses that people have they blame their whole life on their rebi on their parents on their neighbors on their friends. It's nobody's fault. It's saysam in his commentary to the Rambam the Rambamic Zion of Chuba says that since a person has free choice you should try to do chuva. What do you mean try to do chuva? You have to do chuva. Why should you only try to do chuva? And the Ram says you should try to do chuva so that when a person dies they should die doing chuva. You have to do chuva. But according to what we're learning that chuva is not a mitzvah. Instead chuva is a promise. So we can't say you're to do it because technically it's not one of the 613 mitzvah. But you should really do it because you don't want to leave this world with anything on the record. And therefore the Rambam uses an expression. So now this was extremely troubling to me and should you know um the expression may you know a person could arrange their thoughts but needs to give assistance to articulate it uh properly. I don't know. I feel that this approach to the Rambam may not be consistent with a different Rambam. Let's think about this approach one more time. Jalti is saying why is chuva not a mitzvah? Because you can't give a mitzvah for on something that ultimately you don't really have free choice whether to do it or not because God promises that in fact the day will come that we will do chuva. So there's another famous Rambam. The Rambam wants to know what did God do to the Egyptians who enslaved the Jewish people? He drowned them. Why did God drown them? But the Tory says God says they will afflict you and enslave you. lastly surround says God decreed that the Egyptians should do bad. Furthermore, God decrees that the Jewish people will rise up one day and stray after gods, other gods. Why would God punish the Jewish people for serving other gods? God promises that we will serve other gods. And you know what the answer is? God didn't say yank uncle has to survive desal. God promises Jews will serve a des but every Jew still retains their free choice and say God look I know you decree that there will be Jews who serve abar but I don't have to be one of them and if I choose to be one of them then I'm going to be punished and yes God decreed the Egyptians will enslave us but Muhammad could Muhammad you don't have to be the Egyptian to enslave us you could let um Abdul do it. So if Muhammad chooses to do it, God's going to punish him. So to me, this philosophy of the Rambam does not work with Rabbot's chuva because Joti says, "Oh, why did the Rambam say that chuva is not a mitzvah?" You know why? Because we don't have free choice because we will do chuva. When God promises we will do chuva, does he mean every single Jew is going to do chuva? Or does he mean there will be many Jews who do chuva? I mean, I can't imagine that every single Jew will do chuva. So if you say that just like when God promises the Jewish people will um will go after stray after other gods, it doesn't mean everyone. and therefore those who do and choose to will be punished. Then why can't you say God promises we'll do chuva but not everyone and therefore those who choose to do chuva should be rewarded. In that case chuva should be a mitzvah because no individual person's free choice is being tampered with unless the ram holds that this is that every single Jew will do chuva. To me the approach of Rabzalti only works with the rivid. Let me read the rivet. You know what Shakespeare said? Whenever there's a Rambam, the rivet is not far behind. You know that one. Okay. So the rivet says like this. The rivet wants to know why did God punish the Egyptians? Omar says arrive at these these are a long- winded answer which is not tasty. He says I swear that it's childish says the riv says the rivid. When God turns to those who stray after other gods, why' you do it? I didn't tell you to do it. I said, uh, Ply should do it. Why did you do it? So why can't the Jews say ribbon? I mean, if we don't do it, who's going to fulfill your command? I was worried. Why can't a Jew say, "I was worried maybe nobody would stray after other gods. I wanted to fulfill your word." I mean, I didn't know who was going to do it. So I stepped up to the plate. So therefore says the rivid, the reason why If anything by the way some learn if God makes a decree even though he doesn't say who should do it if you decide to do it and the reason why the the were punished the riv says in a second answer because they went overboard but to me the idea of jalti that there's a promise that the Jews have to do chuva and therefore we don't have free will maybe this only works in the rivet that when God makes a decree then you you have to go fulfill it and you don't really have free choice anymore. But according to the Rambam who learns that when God makes a decree that doesn't mean you have to do it maybe someone else will do it. Why would chouba not be a mitzvah? Okay. So going back to one of the questions that we started with that why is it on rashashana which which should be a day of chuva the dvening is focused only on redemption and only on gula and really we do not uh kamat don't say anything about doing chuva but based on what we learned in the Rambam earlier and this one's hit me like the middle of the night the Rambam says all the prophets prophecy on chuva and the Jews will not be redeemed only with chuva. Which means the function and purpose of chuva is to bring the gula. As a Mishna says in number 16 is great that it it brings the near. And in fact says Chuba is great that it advances the gula like it says and the redeemer will come to those who repent of sin. Why does? So could it be that on rash instead of focusing on chuva we focus on the objective of chuva which is so we ask we know the purpose and the function of chuva so that you could redeem us. So let's cut to the chase. We ask you straight up please redeem us. and in his quotes avates who we know it's interesting that uh the nauseier the Nazir is commanded to cut his hair but during his nazeros he's not allowed to cut his hair and the says he has a crown on his And the question is what does it mean the Nazer has a crown on his head? So the Ibenezar writes because the Nazer is an um because most people in this world are slaves. Who are they slaves to? They're slaves to their desires. They can't do what they want to do because they have to eat this, drink that, do this. They're enslaved to their desires. They're enslaved to their habits. They're enslaved to their uh routines. But someone who's able to break break away, so to speak, and break through and overcome his yates is a true king. So the nause for wine and his passion, he has a crown of royalty. So in a sense when a person does chuva we know it's not enough chu to do chuva. Oh let me think what do I need to do chuva for this year. Oh one time I spoke lash and one time I ate something improper and one time I looked at something improper. One doesn't only have to do chuva for actions but the Rambam writes that in paragl the same way a person has to do chuva for a like and geneva one needs to search their hashkaf and their deos and repent from anger and from hatred and from jealousy that a person is entrapped in. So it's not enough to do chuba from masim. Someone has to do chuva from de ice. So it comes out that by doing chuva you're freeing yourself. You're liberating yourself from the shackles of your desire. So you're making yourself a mel. So you know who's being redeemed? Not just the Jewish people, but the person themsself is being redeemed from the shackles to which a person is in servitude to. So there is a personal gu that is connected to chuva as well. That's why we say we say and then we say redeem us because chuva also brings personal redemption. So this is quite a remarkable in the Rambam that the Ram does not learn as a mitzvah because he learns it's a it's a promise that it will happen. This is a promise that we've seen with our own eyes come to fruition in the years 18 1940 to 2040. The years Be it the tragic beginning of this century, be it the Chuva movement and hopefully we should be that uh the end of it talks about the good times because it there's a mitzvah in >> maybe while you're looking I just want to point out >> one second there's a mitzvah about and of course the mitzvah of so the mitzvah of is all of gathers and in the makdash to hear the Torah. Okay, we should ta be to um see the fruition of all the and I wish everybody a wonderful shabasa. >> Yeah, sorry. >> The shame is 1942. Yeah, >> if you follow it the correspond to 1948 later [Music] that's mindblowing. >> Wow, that's pretty amazing. >> Yeah, check it out. They counted the years and suk if shame is 42 that's 48 >> 42 43 >> amazing >> is that right? >> Yeah added to the tour. I think it's what what puzz did you did you look >> I'm leaving that to you. Okay, check it out. You've just experienced another Torah class brought to you by to anytime.com.