LIGHTS OF OUR RIGHTEOUS TZADDIKIM A Tzaddik, or righteous person , makes everyone else appear righteous before Hashem by advocating for them and finding their merits. --- Kedushas Levi, Parshas Noach (Bereishis 7:1) PARSHAS KI SISSA / PURIM _ CHASSIDUS ON THE PARSHA + BROKEN TABLETS & BROKEN JEWISH HEARTS The only reason klal yisrael sinned was to teach us how to repent and do teshuva (Avoda Zara 4b) . he Slonimer Rebbe in Nesivos Shalom, points out that based on this Gemara, the parsha of the egel the story of the sin of the golden calf , is in reality a parsha of teshuva . It contains T timeless lessons for us about repenting. He points out that when Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu that his nation had sinned , Moshe Rabbeinu had not yet broken the tablets. Moshe Rabbeinu did not break the luchos until he observed Am Yisr ael dancing and exulting before the golden calf. Why is it that Moshe Rabbeinu only broke the tablets when he witnessed the dancing? The Slonimer explains that within every sin, Hashem created the very an tidote to the act of transgression: Remorse. Even when a Jew sinks down to the lowest place , Hashem , in His Infinite Mercy, prepared a way back to return. This is teshuva. Teshuva is the remorseful , brokenhearted feeling of regret and the pangs of conscienc e that we feel after the sin. Once the transgression has been done, the very act of having sinned causes us to regret having done so . When we look back at what we did and are remorseful and brokenhearted , that in itself is the Teshuva built in to the act of sin that serves as an antidote and medicine. This is why Moshe Rabbeinu did what he did. Chazal credit Moshe Rabbeinu ’s smashing of the luchos as the most courageous act Moshe Rabbeinu ever did in his life. Chazal explain this as the meaning of the words in the pasuk (Devarim 34), the “strong hand,” described at the very end of Moshe Rabbeinu ’s life as one of his crowning achievements. Why was the breaking of the tablets so significant? 1 Ki Sissa - Purim / [email protected] The Nesivos Sholom points out that Moshe Rabbeinu waited to smash the luchos only once he saw Bnai Yisrael dancing with the calf. The reason why he did this was because he knew and understood the secret of Teshuva the key to proper Teshuva is a remorseful, broken heart. When Hashem said to Moshe Rabbeinu, “Your nation has sinned,” he went to observe them he thought he would surely find them rolling on the floor, beating their breasts in anguish and remorse over their grievous mistake? When he saw that not only weren’t they remorseful, but that they were dancing in joy and exulting that is when he felt that hope had been lost, for proper teshuva and repentance requires remorse and a broken heart. This was when Moshe Rabbeinu did the most courageous thing. He took the luchos, the tablets that Hashem Himself had fashioned had engraved, and right before their eyes, he smashed them. And in effect, he broke their hearts. For what Jewish soul is not stirred nor moved by such a sight? In fact, the Torah testifies that when they saw this, they were so stricken with grief and remorse that they began to act as mourners. Moshe had succeeded in breaking their hearts by breaking the luchos. A shattered Torah is a shattered Jewish heart. It is only the Torah which could make the Jews repent and return. A shattered, broken heart will not be despised by Hashem (Tehillim 51). True teshuva comes from brokenhearted remorse and recognition of the depth of sin and only the power of Torah can make us understand this. nnn ON A PERSONAL NOTE the young man. Any Jew who has any Jewish feeling reveres a Torah scroll. This young man The aforementioned teaching of the too held the sacred object and stood there with Nesivos Shalom reminded me of an incident us as the rabbi’s face changed and he began to that will forever remain with me. shout and yell at the young man, “Now I want I was once asked by a Rav I knew to you to take this Torah and throw it to the help him out. The shul secretary had a son ground! Throw it down on the floor and stamp who was engaged to marry a nonJew. on it!” Obviously, the young man was horrified Nothing his mother said could convince him to and he actually began to shed tears and shake change his mind. The Rav invited this young his head. He stood there aghast, as the Rav man to shul one ordinary day when no one continued to yell and our hearts hammered. was there but us and another person. He took “YES! YES! Throw it down to the ground and us as his “witnesses.” He spoke warmly and stomp on it, because that is what you are doing kindly to the young man. Then, he told him to Hashem by marrying out of the faith!” that we were going to do something… He The idea of throwing down the Torah is dressed the young man in a yarmulke and a so abhorrent that no Jew would ever do such a Tallis and explained to him the great joys of thing. Of course, he did not throw it down. Judaism and Torah. Tearfully, he placed it back into the aron Wrapped in a Tallis, he led us all to the kodesh. I wish I could end off with a happy ark, and he opened the aron kodesh, kissed ending, but I don’t really know what happened and removed a Torah scroll and handed it to to that young man, and I think he might have 2 Ki Sissa - Purim / [email protected] still married out of the faith. But even he could moment after…There is no denying that many not bear to throw the Torah to the floor as he sins feel good for a moment, at the time; but stood there wrapped in a Tallis with tears the moment after… once the deed is done… streaming down his face. that is when the pain, the anguish and the This is the message the holy Nesivos agony begins; pangs of regret, remorse and Shalom teaches us. When Moshe Rabbeinu pain! The pain of knowing you failed yourself threw down the luchos and smashed the and Hashem and the pain of wishing you tablets, he was casting the Torah down to the could take it back and never have done it. floor to break our hearts, for what Jewish heart Baruch Hashem, we have teshuva and does not shatter into thousands of fragments we can go back in time and repair, rectify and when the Torah is thrown on the ground, be whole again. That is the lie of the evil one smashed and stamped on?! sin is good, like a nice chocolate pudding, Recently, as I drove down the road creamy and sweet. That is a lie, for the truth is towards the highway, I paused at a red light at that sin leads to pain, sadness, misery and the intersection and I was horrified by a depression. billboard I saw. It wasn’t an immoral image, As once again, enemies sit in Persia and however, in some ways, it was worse. There we have our own Modern day Amalek, Haman was a photo of some new chocolate mousse or and Achashveirosh to deal with may Hashem pudding and next to it, it said in English, have mercy on us and help us do teshuva. And something like, “Tastes almost as good as a now, as Purim comes, we will once again sin!” I was really upset. accept His Torah with joy and happiness and When I thought about it, as the light return to Him and say, “Tatte I am back. I have changed and I sped on, it hit me that what come back to You. I am home.” And may we upset me most was that the message was such merit the coming of Moshiach through a lie!! It portrayed sin as something good and Teshuva Me’Ahava speedily in our days. tasty. The entire message of teshuva is the Amen! broken heartedness and remorse we feel, the nnn Purim It was the day of Taanis Esther and the whispered something into his ear. The Rebbe Jews of Berditchev began to gather in shul to stood up and walked out. All the congregants get ready to hear the reading of the Megillah. rose in his honor and watched in curiosity as The shul was rapidly filling up with men while he walked out the door towards his study. up above, in the women's gallery, the women Once inside, Rav Levi Yitzchak turned gathered as well, to hear the reading of to the woman who was waiting in his study, Megillas Esther. holding a recently slaughtered chicken. She As the congregation stood, waiting to was uncertain of the kashrus status of the bird begin the evening Ma’ariv services, the and she stood there, literally shaking with fear, shamash approached Rav Levi Yitzchak and hoping that the Rav would render his decision 3 Ki Sissa - Purim / [email protected] that the chicken was indeed kosher. How she foods. He ransacked the kitchen and the pantry had worked tirelessly scrimping and saving until he found the pot of cooked chicken and until she had enough money to buy this soup and the stuffed carp gefilte fish and chicken! She shuddered to think what would packed them as well.