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Dedicated by the Altman Family (Minneapolis, MN) in honor of Noah Altman’s Bar Mitzvah

Parshas Nitzavim-Vayelech 5786

The Torah does not elaborate unnecessarily. Every word has meaning and purpose.

Regarding the mitzvah of teshuvah, the pasuk relates (Devarim 30:12-14):

לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲלֶה־לָּנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה׃

It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”

וְלֹא־מֵעֵבֶר לַיָּם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲבָר־לָנוּ אֶל־עֵבֶר הַיָּם וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה׃

Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”

כִּי־קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ׃

No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.

It is not in the heavens. It is not across the sea.

It is right here. In our mouths, in our hearts, and within our reach.

WITHIN OUR REACH

We all want to do teshuvah. We all want to enter Rosh Hashanah and merit a favorable judgment and a happy, healthy, successful new year.

There is so much to say about how we get there. But I want to share something I learned this week from Rav Eliezer Papo, the Pele Yoetz. There could hardly be a better time to learn it and share it than right now.

Imagine a flyer was circulating before Rosh Hashanah with a bracha from Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l telling you what you could do to merit a favorable judgment and a good year.

Wouldn’t you grab it? Wouldn’t you want to know exactly what it said?

Here, the Pele Yoetz gives us something incredibly powerful: a direct path, almost a havtacha, for how a person can merit being judged favorably by Hashem. One that doesn’t require going to the heavens or crossing the sea. In fact, it is likely attainable within the next five minutes, if not sooner.

פלא יועץ — אות ח׳, חובה

וְהִנֵּה אֲנִי עָנִי יְכוֹלַנִי לִפְטֹר אֶת כָּל הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ מִן הַדִּין, עַל פִּי מַאי דְּקַיְימָא לָן: אוֹמֵר מֻתָּר אָנוּס הוּא (מכות ז, ב). וּמֵאַחַר שֶׁדֶּרֶךְ אִישׁ יָשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו — נִמְצָא שֶׁהוּא אוֹמֵר מֻתָּר וְאָנוּס הוּא, כִּי מְעַט נִמְצָא שֶׁיְּהֵא יוֹדֵעַ רִבּוֹנוֹ וּמְכַוֵּן לִמְרד בּוֹ.

אֲבָל טַעֲנָה זוֹ מוֹעֶלֶת לְמִי שֶׁהוּא דָּן אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם לְכַף זְכוּת בְּטַעֲנָה זוֹ, וְאֵינוֹ מַקְפִּיד עַל שׁוּם דָּבָר וּמַעֲבִיר עַל מִדּוֹתָיו — אָז מַעֲבִירִין לוֹ עַל כָּל פְּשָׁעָיו, כְּמַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז”ל (מגילה שם ב): וּבַמִּדָּה שֶׁאָדָם מוֹדד בָּהּ מוֹדְדִין לוֹ. אִם דָּן לְכַף חוֹבָה, דָּנִין אוֹתוֹ לְכַף חוֹבָה; וְכָל הַדָּן לְכַף זְכוּת, הַמָּקוֹם דָּן אוֹתוֹ לְכַף זְכוּת.

I, poor as I am, could exempt the entire world from judgment, based on the established principle that one who mistakenly believes something is permitted is considered an anus, acting under compulsion (Makkos 7b).

Since a person naturally sees his own path as right, he generally believes that what he is doing is permissible. It is rare to find someone who truly knows his Master and consciously intends to rebel against Him.

But this defense only works for someone who extends that same understanding to others. If he judges others favorably, does not insist on his own rights, and is ma’avir al middosav, willing to overlook what others have done to him, then Heaven overlooks his sins as well.

As Chazal teach: With the measure a person uses toward others, Heaven measures him.

If he judges others unfavorably, he is judged unfavorably. But one who judges others favorably, HaMakom judges him favorably.

THE DEFENSE WE GIVE OTHERS

What is the Pele Yoetz telling us?

Hashem created us. He knows everything. He knows our actions, our intentions, and what is really going on inside of us. We cannot fool Him, and we certainly cannot hide from His judgment.

And yet, there is a halachic principle: אומר מותר אנוס הוא. When a person genuinely believes that what he is doing is permitted, he can be considered an ones, acting without full culpability.

The Pele Yoetz says that most people are exactly this way. דרך איש ישר בעיניו, a person naturally sees his own way as right. It is rare for someone to truly know that he is rebelling against Hashem and deliberately choose to rebel anyway.

So the Pele Yoetz makes an extraordinary statement:

“I could exempt the entire world from judgment.”

How?

If we are willing to use that same defense for others.

When someone hurts us, can we say: Maybe he didn’t realize. Maybe she didn’t understand. Maybe there is more to the story.

Can we judge others favorably? Can we let things go? Can we forgo something we may even be entitled to? Can we overcome the pettiness, resentment, and hurt that we so often hold on to?

Because if we can look at another person and find a reason not to judge him so harshly, Hashem uses that same measure with us.

THE WAY WE HOPE TO BE JUDGED

Yes, this concept appears throughout the Mishnah and Gemara. But the Pele Yoetz puts it in incredibly powerful terms:

“I could exempt the entire world from judgment.”

How?

Judge others the way you are hoping Hashem will judge you. •