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Harav Hagaon Elimelech Reznick Shlita

A Time to Come Alive!

Elul

Harav Hagaon Elimelech Reznick shlita

The Chayei Adam says that Chodesh Elul is a special time for a person’s teshuvah to be accepted, because these are yemei ratzon, when Hashem is favorably predisposed toward each and every person who has a hisorerus to teshuvah.

In his words:

באהבת הקדוש ברוך הוא את עמו ישראל, הרבה להיטיב אותנו וצונו לשוב לפניו בכל עת שנחטא. ואף שהתשובה טובה בכל עת, מכל מקום חודש אלול הוא מובחר ומוכן יותר שמקובל תשובתו משאר ימות השנה, לפי שימים אלו הם ימי רצון מעת שנבחרנו לעם, שכשחטאו ישראל בעגל ונשתברו הלוחות בי”ז בתמוז ואחרי זה עלה משה בהר והתפלל ואמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא פסל לך ונתרצה ליתן לו לוחות שניות, ואז עלה בראש חודש אלול ונשתהה שם עד יום כיפור שהיה גמר כפרה.

These days, he says, became yemei ratzon from the time when Moshe Rabbeinu went up and davened to Hakadosh Baruch Hu after the cheit ha’eigel. During those 40 days between when he went up on Rosh Chodesh Elul and when he came down on Yom Kippur, Hakadosh Baruch Hu forgave Klal Yisrael completely and wholeheartedly, and gave us the second luchos. From that time, says the Chayei Adam, these forty days were established as yemei ratzon, an auspicious time for teshuvah to be accepted. These special days are woven into the very fabric of Klal Yisrael.

The Mishnah Berurah notes that the roshei teivos of the words: אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי וְדוֹדִי לִי is Elul, because  Elul is a time for a person to draw close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu – אֲנִי לְדוֹדִי  — and for Hakadosh Baruch Hu to draw us closer to Him: וְדוֹדִי לִי. The last letter of each of these four words is yud, and four times yud equals 40, corresponding to the 40 days between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom Kippur.

The Bnei Yissaschar, in his maamarim on Chodesh Elul, explains that Elul is similar to a mikvah. The Mishnah states, at the end of Yoma: מה המקוה מטהר את הטמאים אף הקדוש ברוך הוא מטהר את ישראל, and the Bnei Yissaschar says that this alludes to Chodesh Elul, which has the power of a mikvah. A mikvah contains 40 se’ah, and each se’ah contains 24 lugin, which means that a mikvah holds a total of 960 lugin. The mikvah’s power to purify a person stems from the concept of bittul. Everything is batel b’shishim, except a beryah, a whole entity. But there’s an opinion in the Yerushalmi, brought in the Tur, that a beryah is nullified in 960 parts. The Bnei Yissaschar gives an explanation of where this number comes from, explaining that everything in the world is made up of the four fundamental elements of fire, water, earth, and wind, each of which contains the other three elements within it. Basically, then, everything in the world is actually composed of 16 elements, so every beryah has 16 elements. To nullify these 16 elements, you need 16 x 40, which is 960.

When a person enters a mikvah, he is nullifying himself, and the 960 lugin of the mikvah have the power to be mevatel him and turn him into a briah chadashah. The shape of a mikvah resembles the letter mem, which is like a womb, he says, because the person emerging from the mikvah is reborn, with renewed purity.

The yemei ratzon of Elul and the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah total 40 days, each of which spans 24 hours, for a total of 960 hours, corresponding to the 960 lugin of the mikvah, which have the power to purity us. We are nullified to the kedushah of Chodesh Elul, and emerge as new beings.

Days of Refuge

Another passuk that alludes to Chodesh Elul, which the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch cites from the Arizal, is found in Parashas Mishpatim regarding arei miklat, a topic that is discussed in this week’s parashah as well. A person who kills accidentally has to run to the arei miklat for protection, as the passuk states: וַאֲשֶׁר לֹא צָדָה וְהָאֱלֹהִים אִנָּה לְיָדוֹ וְשַׂמְתִּי לְךָ מָקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יָנוּס שָׁמָּה. The roshei teivos of the words: אִנָּה לְיָדוֹ וְשַׂמְתִּי לְךָ are Elul, which conveys that Elul has the status of an ir miklat.

What does this mean? On a simple level, we can explain this in accordance with Rabbeinu Yonah’s teaching (Shaarei Teshuvah, beginning of shaar 1) that teshuvah is a refuge that Hakadosh Baruch Hu prepared so that a person has a place to flee from his aveiros and be protected from the punishments that are chasing him. Elul, which is an auspicious time for teshuvah, therefore affords the safety of an ir miklat.

The Bnei Yissaschar adds a fascinating insight to the allusion contained in the words: אִנָּה לְיָדוֹ וְשַׂמְתִּי לְךָ. That Elul resembles an ir miklat, we understand, but how is Elul connected to the words אִנָּה לְיָדוֹ, meaning that the person killed unintentionally?

Generally, he explains, to be purified in a mikvah, a person has to perform the action of entering the mikvah. If a person merely harbors thoughts of purification, or even stands on the steps of the mikvah, he does not become tahor — he must actually immerse himself. Elul, however, is different: Hakadosh Baruch Hu brings the place of purification to us — אִנָּה לְיָדוֹ. Even without intending to enter the mikvah, we’re inside it automatically! Elul is a place of purity that Hashem brings upon us, and it purifies us automatically, as long as we have a hisorerus of teshuvah and closeness to Hashem.

But perhaps the resemblance between Elul and arei miklat runs even deeper.

From the passuk: וְנָס אֶל אַחַת מִן הֶעָרִים הָאֵל וָחָי, the Gemara (Makkos 10) derives that the inadvertent murderer must have chiyus in the ir miklat: עביד ליה מידי דתהוי ליה חיותא. For that reason, says the Gemara, the ir miklat must contain stores that supply food and drink, and beis din must see to it that these cities are set up to provide chiyus. But the Gemara goes further, adding that the murderer’s rebbi must move to the ir miklat as well, which means that the entire yeshiva might also have to move there. If the talmid sinned, why does the rebbi have to go into galus? Because the passuk says וָחָי, and even if the talmid has food and drink and all his material needs, if he doesn’t have his rebbi’s shiur, his rebbi’s pshat in the sugya, he’s lacking chiyus.

The Rambam records this halachah in Hilchos Rotzei’ach and explains that life without Torah is akin to death: הטעם דחיי בעלי החכמה ומבקשיה בלא תורה כמיתה חשובה. Therefore, it’s not enough to ensure that the murderer has access to batei midrashim and sefarim — he has to have his rebbi there because he needs his rebbi’s pshat in the sugya. Without that kneitch, that diyuk in Rashi, that he’s used to hearing from his rebbi, even if he has other Torah, he’s missing that geshmak, and that is akin to death. He needs to be provided with his full chiyus.

Are You Alive?

Rabbosai, what is the meaning of chiyus?

Chiyus, being alive, has many definitions. The most basic one is to breathe, as opposed to being dead. But there’s a higher madreigah of chiyus, which we’ll illustrate with a mashal. The Gemara (Succah 9) says that it’s clear that a person is not obligated to give up all his money for a mitzvas asei. If, for instance, a person would have to empty his bank account to buy a lulav and esrog, he’s patur; the Biur Halachah rules that he is obligated to spend only up to a fifth of his money. But how, wonders the Rashba, can you put a price tag on a mitzvah —וכי יש דמים למצות? A mitzvah is worth all the money in the world! Why is a person exempt from a mitzvah just because it will cost him all of his money?

The Rashba, citing the Raavad, explains that if the person will spend all his money, he’ll be a pauper, and עני חשוב כמת. Accordingly, the reason you don’t have to give up all your money for a mitzvas asei is that doing so would constitute a whiff of pikuach nefesh, since becoming a pauper is akin to death. The person might be alive and breathing, but he can’t enjoy all that the world has to offer, so he’s not fully alive. When it comes to a lo saaseh, which is far more severe, a person is obligated to give up all his money rather than transgress; a lo saaseh exempts a person only in a case of actual pikuach nefesh, unless it’s one of the three cardinal sins, for which he must forfeit his life rather than transgress.

There’s a higher level of chiyus as well. The Netziv brings the following idea in many places in Chumash, and elaborates most in Parashas Va’eschanan, on the passuk: וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמַע אֶל הַחֻקִּים וְאֶל הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ. The Torah is telling us to do Hashem’s mitzvos so that we will live. If someone doesn’t do mitzvos and learn Torah, asks the Netziv, is he not alive? What does לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ mean?

He explains — and it’s worth seeing this inside — that the word chai in the Torah doesn’t always refer to physical life: דמשמעות חי כמה פעמים הוא עליזת הנפש ועונג שמשיג בהגיעו לתכלית שלימותו, והכלל דכל הרגש רוחני מוסיף חיות. If a person experiences pleasure and feeling only from food, drink, and gashmiyus — well, an animal experiences the same thing. If he doesn’t have a geshmak from ruchniyus, from Shabbos, from learning a daf Gemara, then that’s similar to death. Such a person is not alive. The Netziv teaches that if we do the mitzvos we’ll be alive, and we’ll experience the real chiyus that Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants Klal Yisrael to have:וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל שְׁמַע אֶל הַחֻקִּים וְאֶל הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת לְמַעַן תִּחְיוּ.

By way of illustration, if we would see a person from a primitive tribe who lives in a jungle his whole life and knows nothing of Olam Hazeh and modern technology, we would look at him as though he’s not really alive. He might have everything he needs and be very happy, but he doesn’t know how to live in this world. Similarly, a person who’s living only with gashmiyus, who never tasted a Rashba or experienced a geshmakeh Shabbos, a geshmakeh Rosh Hashanah, a Yom Kippur, an Aseres Yemei Teshuvah and Elul — he’s not alive!

Elul is a time that resembles an ir miklat not only because it affords safety and protection, but because it gives us the opportunity to enjoy a new level of closeness to Hashem, which gives us chiyus — וָחָי — invigorating us for the entire year.

May we all be zocheh to experience taharah and renewed chiyus in these days of Elul.

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