Vayeilech: 5783 - Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with a wonderful insight for the Yomim Noraim: "And unto You, Hashem, is kindness, for You repay a man according to his deeds." What kind of kindness is it, if Hashem collects from a person according to his deeds?…

00:00 Speaker 1 Yes, Reb Sonnenfeld, please.

00:03 Speaker 2 We’re still in the Days of Awe, days of judgment, and there’s a verse in Tehillim: “With You, Hashem, is kindness, for You repay each person according to his deeds.” The question is: What kindness is that? Kindness would seem to mean going beyond strict judgment. Repaying a person according to his deeds is a matter of judgment. So how does “With You, Hashem, is kindness” fit with “You repay each person according to his deeds”? What is this like? There’s a parable about a servant in the king’s palace. He worked there, arranging various things, and he needed a piece of string. Well, he starts looking, but he can’t find any. Where can he get some string to tie something up in the garden? Suddenly he sees that in the palace’s great hall there’s a chandelier hanging from the ceiling by a very long cord. He thinks he’ll take part of that cord. So he comes over and cuts it, and the chandelier falls, shatters and breaks. It was a very expensive chandelier, made of crystal, very old—a work of art. Now it’s gone. They put him on trial. The damage he caused deserves a severe punishment, especially in the king’s palace. But the king says, “We’ll judge him only according to what he did. He didn’t intend to break the chandelier. All he wanted was a piece of string. We’ll judge him for that, not for all the damage he caused.” And the lesson is that when a Jew, G-d forbid, commits a transgression, he causes a blemish in all the worlds. The damage is not just down here; it reaches all the worlds. Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “With You, Hashem, is kindness, for You repay each person according to his deeds.” After all, what did he want? Why did he do it? He just wanted a piece of string. He didn’t intend to cause a blemish in the worlds or—he only meant to take that piece of string. That is the kindness Hakadosh Boruch Hu shows: “For You repay each person according to his deeds.”

02:17 Speaker 1 Yes, have a strong Shabbos.