Matos: 5786 - "And Yours, Hashem, is kindness, for You repay a man according to his deeds" - if Hashem repays a person according to his deeds, where is the kindness here? The special parable about the servant and the king's chandelier, and the explanation…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please.

00:02 Speaker 2 If you’re starting with “Rachum.”

00:05 Speaker 1 This Shabbos we’ll read Parshas Nitzavim. As it says in the Shulchan Aruch, we always read Parshas Nitzavim before Rosh Hashanah. There’s a hint to this in the words “You are standing today.” “Today” refers to Rosh Hashanah, when all created beings stand in judgment. And “you are standing” means that you prevail in judgment. This year we also read Vayeilech—Nitzavim-Vayeilech. There are many explanations of this, too. It says that the Torah has 53 sidros, 53 parshiyos, but if we count them, we find 54. So Nitzavim and Vayeilech are considered one parsha, making the number 53. In any case, the Frierdiker Rebbe says that this period—the month of Elul, followed by the Ten Days of Teshuvah—is a time for saying Tehillim, when we say more Tehillim. We also add three chapters a day. This is a time to say a lot of Tehillim, and it has its effect. In Tehillim there’s a verse that says, “To You, Hashem, belongs kindness, for You repay each person according to his deed.” The question is: kindness isn’t a matter of judgment. Repaying a person according to his deed is a matter of justice, of judgment. So the verse seems to contradict itself: “To You, Hashem, belongs kindness, for You repay each person according to his deed.” How do the two fit together? There are various explanations. One of them is a beautiful parable. One of the servants in the king’s palace needed a piece of string to tie something. He looked for a piece of string but couldn’t find one. Then he saw an extremely expensive chandelier in the king’s palace, hanging by a cord. He thought, “Here’s a cord I can use,” and cut off a piece. The whole chandelier fell and shattered. What was this? Doing such a

02:39 Speaker 1 thing in the king’s palace is an act of rebellion against the crown. So he was brought to judgment. Someone who rebels against the crown and causes such damage in the king’s palace—to such an expensive chandelier! But the king said, “We will judge him according to his deed.” What did he actually do? All he wanted was a piece of string. He certainly didn’t want to smash the chandelier, G-d forbid, and he had no other intentions. He just wanted a piece of string. So we’ll judge him only according to what he did. The same is true of a person. When someone transgresses what is written in the Torah, he actually causes harm throughout the entire seder hishtalshelus, throughout all the worlds. He causes damage not just to some small thing down here; what he does has consequences throughout all the worlds, throughout the entire seder hishtalshelus. So it would seem that a person who causes harm throughout the entire seder hishtalshelus deserves a very severe punishment. But Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “To You, Hashem, belongs kindness, for You repay each person according to his deed.” We judge him only according to his deed. What did he intend to do? G-d forbid, he didn’t intend to cause harm in the higher worlds. The yetzer hara simply overcame him at that moment; he couldn’t restrain himself, and he did it. So he is judged only according to his deed. That is the meaning of the verse: “To You, Hashem, belongs kindness, for You repay each person according to his deed”—according to what he intended. He didn’t intend to rebel, he didn’t intend to cause harm, he didn’t intend to—he just wanted a piece of string. But “you are standing”: you stand firm and prevail in judgment. With Hashem’s help, may every Jew have a good year, be written and sealed for good, and have a life [unclear].

04:17 Speaker 3 Amen. Yasher koach!