Tanya Igeres Hateshuvah - Chapter 2 - Part 1

00:01 Moving on. Chapter 2 of Igeres Hateshuvah—chapters 2 and 3 of Igeres Hateshuvah. The Alter Rebbe addresses what comes after teshuvah. The essence of teshuvah is abandoning the sin, and the complete teshuvah required by the Torah also includes confession and asking for forgiveness. But there is a further matter: being pleasing and beloved. This is another level in the work of teshuvah. A person wants to be pleasing and beloved as he was before the sin, and for that, fasting and self-denial do have a place. The Alter Rebbe will explain this now in chapter 2. Then, in chapter 3, the Alter Rebbe will explain what happens in our generations, when we need to protect the body and must not undertake fasts and self-denial. What can we do instead? There the Alter Rebbe will discuss the work of tzedakah. So that is the content of chapters 2 and 3: the Alter Rebbe also explains how to reach a higher, more elevated form of teshuvah. The Alter Rebbe says—meaning, up to now we have discussed the essence of teshuvah: abandoning the sin, and also atonement, but atonement as it relates to the basic work of teshuvah—removing the blemishes. He will explain this shortly in the text; we’ll read it inside and explain it. But there is a higher matter, a more complete teshuvah, through which a person becomes pleasing and beloved as he was before the sin. That is what we are going to learn now. The Alter Rebbe says: “All this concerns atonement and forgiveness for sin.” Everything we have discussed until now—not only the mitzvah of teshuvah, which is abandoning the sin, but also confession and asking for forgiveness—is in order to bring about atonement for the sin. Because

02:10 we said there are two matters, right? There is teshuvah and there is atonement. Teshuvah means abandoning the sin, which undoes the rebellion. It is the kabbolas ol of the sovereignty of Heaven that a person must have. That is teshuvah; it concerns what happens from now on. Then there is atonement, to remove the blemish, and that is accomplished through confession and asking for forgiveness. So everything we discussed in chapter 1 concerns “atonement and forgiveness for sin, so that he is completely forgiven for having transgressed the King’s command.” Through this work, a person is completely forgiven for having transgressed the King’s command when he does complete teshuvah. What does “complete teshuvah” mean? What is the significance of that wording? It means both matters: teshuvah and atonement. Abandoning the sin is teshuvah itself, while confession and asking for forgiveness complete the teshuvah. By Divine Providence, those who study three chapters of Rambam a day are learning this right now. So that is called complete teshuvah. Why? Because it does not deal only with the future; he has also repaired the past. By abandoning the sin, he sets right what he will do from now on: he restores his kabbolas ol and undoes his rebellion. And through confession and asking for forgiveness, he also cleans away the stain of the past blemish, and so on. “Nothing whatsoever is mentioned to him on the day of judgment to punish him for it, G-d forbid, in the World to Come.” The Alter Rebbe says that with this work, no fasts, no self-denial, and nothing else are needed. Through the work we learned about in chapter 1, no blemish remains at all. “Nothing whatsoever is mentioned to him on the day of judgment to punish him for it, G-d forbid, in the World to Come, and he is completely exempt from judgment in the World to Come.” And the Alter

04:13 Rebbe says not only that nothing is mentioned to him. You might think that nothing is mentioned, but the blemish remains and he is merely forgiven. The Alter Rebbe says no: not only is nothing mentioned to him, but he is also “completely exempt from judgment in the World to Come.” There is no judgment at all. As the Rebbe explains in Likkutei Sichos, the Alter Rebbe’s point here is that this is not just a matter of turning a blind eye. There truly is no blemish anymore. That is what the Alter Rebbe means. Because the person has adopted an attitude of kabbolas ol, which is teshuvah itself, and has also confessed and asked for forgiveness, he has fulfilled teshuvah completely. Together with this come the other aspects of teshuvah, including Yom Kippur—all the matters we learned about in the previous chapter. As a result, from Above, no trace of the stain truly remains. Yes, the whole matter has been repaired. That is why nothing whatsoever is mentioned to him, he receives no punishment for it, and he is completely exempt from judgment in the World to Come. As the Rebbe also explains, it is not only that he is exempt from the punishments of... What exactly does “exempt from judgment in the World to Come” mean? What does the Alter Rebbe want to tell us? He says twice, “to punish him for it, G-d forbid, in the World to Come,” and “he is completely exempt from judgment in the World to Come.” The Rebbe explains that the Alter Rebbe is teaching us two points here. First, the Alter Rebbe is saying that he is completely exempt from punishments in the World to Come. The emphasis is on punishments in the World to Come specifically. Teshuvah can help with punishments in the World to Come, because there Hakadosh Boruch Hu sees the heart and sees that the Jew has done teshuvah. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu forgives him. Punishments that come from Above can be forgiven, but punishments connected with this world, or punishments imposed by a beis din—when a beis din must impose stoning, the four forms of capital punishment, lashes, and so on—are punishments in this world. Regarding those, we say that a judge can rule only on what his eyes see. Even if a person does teshuvah, a beis din here below must rule according to what is before it. A beis din here below cannot take his teshuvah into account. That is why the Alter

06:01 Rebbe emphasizes that it is in the World to Come that he is exempt from punishment. That is one point. The second point the Rebbe adds here concerns the precise wording, “he is completely exempt from judgment in the World to Come.” The Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize that this applies not only to judgments connected with the World to Come—to punishments there, such as Gehinnom and the like. There are also punishments in this world that come from Above. After all, even in this world there are forms of punishment. As the Gemara says, although the four forms of capital punishment ceased to be administered, judgment corresponding to those four forms did not cease. In other words, when a person is liable for a particular punishment, Hakadosh Boruch Hu may bring certain punishments upon him from Above, all sorts of things that come from Above. The Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize that these punishments, too, are forgiven. That is, everything connected with the Heavenly Court—both spiritual punishments Above, such as Gehinnom, kaf hakela, and other spiritual punishments, and physical punishments here below that come from Above—Hakadosh Boruch Hu erases completely. Because Hakadosh Boruch Hu looks at the heart, once there has been teshuvah and a request for forgiveness, the person is completely exempt. But as for matters in this world, there are rulings under halachah that a beis din must carry out. All this comes through the work of teshuvah and the completion of teshuvah that

07:53 we learned about in chapter 1. Consequently, for this work, fasts and self-denial are not needed. That is why, as we said, Rambam does not mention fasts and self-denial: as far as this matter is concerned, the teshuvah is already complete. “However, to be pleasing before Hashem”—there is another matter, a higher matter. A person is not only seeking to clean away the stain, and not only seeking to repair the break in the connection. He wants something else as well: to be pleasing and beloved. That is another matter. “To be pleasing before Hashem”—I want Hakadosh Boruch Hu to be pleased with me. That means not only removing the blemish, the stain, but awakening a new love. That is the meaning of “pleasing before Hashem”: to be pleasing. That Hakadosh Boruch Hu should be pleased with me—or, “pleasing and beloved before his Creator as he was before the sin.” A person should be pleasing and beloved, and his service should bring satisfaction to his Creator. In teshuvah, a person is not only seeking, as we said, to turn away from evil and clean away a stain. He wants to return to how he was before—to return to a state as though there had never been any sin. In other words, a state in which deliberate sins have become merits for him. Although the Alter Rebbe does not mention deliberate sins becoming merits here. Why the Alter Rebbe does not mention that in Igeres Hateshuvah is another matter. But that is the substance of what the Alter Rebbe means here. He means that a person wants to reach a state in which not only does no trace of the stain remain, but he becomes pleasing and beloved before his Creator. Hakadosh Boruch Hu loves him as though none of this had ever happened. In other words, the past is repaired completely. That is satisfaction

09:52 pleasure to his Maker from his service—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu, too, should receive pleasure from him. So something more is needed here. Beyond the complete teshuvah of chapter 1, there has to be something deeper, a higher level of teshuvah. One had to bring an olah offering; in the time of the Beis Hamikdash, there was the concept of an olah offering. That is what defines an olah. We see in the Chumash, in a number of places, that the Torah says to bring a chatas and an olah. So what is the difference between a chatas and an olah? Generally, we know that each has its own purpose. But there is another point, as the Alter Rebbe comes to explain. A person would bring an olah even for a minor positive mitzvah that carries no penalty of kareis or death by a court. The law regarding an olah is that even if someone transgressed a minor positive mitzvah, with no Torah obligation to bring an offering—no penalty of kareis or death by a court, and no obligation to bring a chatas—nevertheless, there is a reason to bring an olah. As our Sages expounded in Toras Kohanim on the verse “And it shall be accepted for him”: the plain meaning of “accepted for him” is that he becomes pleasing. Even if a person’s transgression concerns a positive mitzvah, by bringing an olah he becomes pleasing and beloved as before. As stated in the first chapter of Zevachim, an olah atones for the transgression of a positive mitzvah. The special quality of an olah is that it atones even for a positive mitzvah. A chatas is primarily for a prohibition, but an olah is brought even when someone transgressed a positive mitzvah. And it is a gift after he has done teshuvah and the punishment has been forgiven. What defines an olah offering? After a person has done teshuvah and his punishment has been forgiven, he gives a gift. He is like a person who offended a king

11:52 and appeased him through advocates, and the king forgave him. Say a person committed a sin—he offended the king; he made a mess. A person who offended a king appeased him through advocates. He sent advocates, meaning messengers to ask the king to forgive him. He has already gone through the process of asking the king’s forgiveness, and the king forgives him. He has already repaired things; he has cleaned up the mess. The king has forgiven him. So there is forgiveness here, but he wants to restore the affection. That is another matter. One thing is, “I forgive you.” Another is wanting to restore the original love, as it was before. So even after the king forgives him, he sends him a gift and an offering, so that the king will be pleased to see him and receive him. That is the point here. This is why, even when a chatas was brought, the Torah says to bring an olah afterward. It is the same idea. The chatas primarily comes to clean away the mess, and once you have cleaned it away, you have received forgiveness. Now you bring an olah—a gift. It is no longer for forgiveness. The gift brings a special pleasure and restores the love. That is the olah’s advantage over the chatas, and the reason the olah is wholly for Hashem. That is the whole point of an olah offering. The difference between a chatas and an olah is that a chatas is eaten—the kohanim eat from it. An olah goes entirely to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, because here the person is not seeking anything for himself. Quite the opposite. It is about

13:52 being pleasing and beloved, about being accepted by Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “I want Hakadosh Boruch Hu to accept me.” That is the idea here. For a person who just wants to feel clean, a chatas is enough. A person who just does not want punishment is thinking about himself. He does not want to be punished, he does not want to be soiled, he does not want to be disconnected. For that, there is the teshuvah we discussed in chapter 1. But a Jew who wants to be connected to G-dliness, who seeks not only to avoid being soiled or punished but to give pleasure—that is what motivates him. For this there is the concept of the gift, the olah offering. That is why, even for a positive mitzvah, there is no legal obligation to bring an olah. There is an obligation to bring a chatas; there is no obligation to bring an olah. The same applies to thoughts of the heart: the Gemara says that an olah is also connected with thoughts of the heart. In other words, you are not legally obligated; you can live without bringing it. But because a person wants to be pleasing and beloved, he brings it even for a positive mitzvah. So in addition to doing teshuvah, he brings a gift in order to be pleasing and beloved as he was before the sin. This is what we are learning now in chapter 2: after teshuvah, there is a higher teshuvah, connected with becoming pleasing and beloved as before the sin. Now, one might think this is not part of teshuvah but something else. But no, it too is part of teshuvah. It is a higher level of teshuvah, but it is still considered part of the work of teshuvah. It is not obligatory teshuvah; it is not required. And as we said earlier, it is not even part of what makes teshuvah complete. But it is an addition

15:38 within teshuvah itself, something loftier. It is certainly also part of the work of teshuvah, this matter of becoming pleasing and beloved as before the sin. And this is what the Alter Rebbe comes to explain here in parentheses. It is very interesting: the Alter Rebbe says that becoming pleasing and beloved might seem to be merely an addition. Nevertheless, it too is included in the concept of atonement. We say that teshuvah must bring about atonement. The Alter Rebbe cites a teaching from the Gemara: ultimately, teshuvah is not only about repairing the act of rebellion itself; it is about bringing about atonement. And there are two aspects to atonement. There is atonement that cleans away the mess, and there is also atonement through which one becomes pleasing and beloved. This is the meaning he adds in parentheses: “And the expression ‘atones.’” What does the word “atones” mean? In this context, the Torah says, “And it shall be accepted for him, to atone for him,” speaking about an olah offering. So even regarding an olah, the Torah uses the words “accepted for him, to atone for him.” We said that “accepted” means pleasing and beloved. But “to atone for him”? Surely atonement comes through a chatas, not an olah. Yet according to the point the Alter Rebbe is about to explain, no: this too is included in atonement. What does atonement mean? According to the explanation the Alter Rebbe gave earlier, at the beginning of chapter 1, on the first page, atonement means wiping clean. If so, wiping clean only means cleaning away the mess. What is he saying here? An olah is not about cleaning away the mess; the person has already done teshuvah. So the Alter Rebbe answers: “This is not atonement for his soul, but atonement before Hashem, to give pleasure to his Maker,” as stated there in the Gemara, and as it is written, “It must be unblemished to be accepted.” There is a wonderful point here that the Alter Rebbe explains. Atonement means cleanliness. Yes, that is what the word “atonement” means: to be clean. But being clean can mean two things. Being clean can mean not being dirty. That is one point. But being clean can also mean being clean before Hashem. That is something else. In other words, the word “clean” can describe only the absence of something: clean of dirt, so he is not dirty. Or “clean” can mean that, as he stands there, he is pure—he is clean before Hashem. That is what “to atone before” means. It is not just atonement for my soul, but atonement before Hashem. Atonement for my soul means cleaning the soul. The soul was dirty; now the soul is not dirty. That is atonement. “To atone before Hashem” means that I am not merely trying to clean the soul; I want to be clean before Hashem. In other words, I want to stand before Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the cleanest possible way—which means, in other words, that I seek to give Him pleasure. That is the precise distinction: whether it is atonement for my soul or atonement before Hashem. It comes down to this: am I seeking only that my soul not be dirty, or am I seeking to stand before Hashem, where I must be completely clean—clean in the positive sense of the word? In other words, to be entirely pleasing and beloved. And this is why the Alter Rebbe adds, as it is written, “It must be unblemished to be accepted.” Why does the Alter Rebbe specifically say “unblemished to be accepted”? Because the word “unblemished,” too, has two aspects. There is the simple meaning of “unblemished”: it has no defect. “Unblemished” means without a defect. You can have an animal—we see this in the laws concerning offerings—that has no defect, so it is acceptable. But in halachah, we know that the Rambam—the Rebbe notes the precision of his wording

17:42 Clean—to be clean. But “to be clean” can have two meanings. It can mean not being dirty. That’s one idea. But “to be clean” can also mean to be clean before Hashem. That’s another idea. In other words, “clean” can describe only the absence of something: clean of dirt, so he isn’t dirty. Or it can mean that he stands there pure, clean before Hashem. That is what “to atone before Hashem” means. It isn’t only atonement for my soul; it is atonement before Hashem. Atonement for my soul means cleansing the soul. The soul was dirty, and now it isn’t dirty. That is atonement. But “to atone before Hashem” means that I’m not just trying to cleanse my soul. I want to be clean before Hashem. I want to stand before Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the cleanest possible state. In other words, I’m seeking to bring Him satisfaction. That is the distinction: atonement for my soul versus atonement before Hashem. It comes down to this: Am I only seeking for my soul not to be dirty, or am I seeking to stand before Hashem, where I need to be completely clean—clean in the positive sense of the word? That means being entirely pleasing and beloved. And this is what the Alter Rebbe adds, as it says, “It must be unblemished to be accepted.” Why does the Alter Rebbe say, “It must be unblemished to be accepted”? Because “unblemished” also has two aspects. There is the simple meaning of “unblemished”: it has no blemish. An animal can be like that. We see this in halachah concerning a korban: someone has an animal with no blemish, so it’s suitable. But in halachah, we know the Rambam—the Rebbe is precise about the wording

19:49 When the Rambam writes about the laws of offerings—what is required of an offering—he writes that the offerings must be unblemished and choice. So the Rebbe explains: it is not enough that it have no blemish; it must also be choice, something special. That is the point of “unblemished.” “Unblemished, to be accepted”—not merely unblemished, not dirty or damaged, but unblemished so that it will be accepted. To be unblemished before Hashem, to be accepted, pleasing and beloved. So the same is true of teshuvah. Teshuvah is not only returning from sin, turning away from the past; it is returning to stand before Hashem. It is all the same point. There is turning away from evil—“turn from evil.” That is one way of doing teshuvah. And then there is returning in the sense of connecting, forming a bond, standing before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. For that, something more is needed than the aspect of teshuvah we discussed in chapter 1. That is why there is the matter of fasts, which the Alter Rebbe is now going to explain. This is why works of mussar and Kabbalah and so on discuss various practices of rectification in teshuvah. Those practices are connected with this. The practices of teshuvah that the Arizal wrote about, and everything the Alter Rebbe is now going to explain, concern a person who seeks to stand before Hashem, who wants to be pleasing and beloved. That is what the rest of the chapter will address: What must one do to be pleasing and beloved? It is connected to what the Alter Rebbe writes here, that a person is not reminded of anything and is not brought to punishment for what he did. I want to add another point here. There is a story told by our Rebbeim. They tell of an incident in the time of the Tzemach Tzedek involving a woman about whom there was some talk, some rumor that she had committed a transgression, and she was suspected of—

21:58 A woman who... who had done something [unclear]. This woman went to various tzaddikim, and there were problems there concerning a get. One of the tzaddikim, one of the great sages of that generation—whether it was the Viledniker [?] or Rabbi Chaim of Sanz, one of the tzaddikim of the Tzemach Tzedek’s time—said that she was all right, that everything was fine with her and there was no need to... Then, when the matter came before the Tzemach Tzedek, who was the leading halachic authority of the generation in matters involving these laws, he said that this tzaddik had ruled as he did because he looked at her face and saw no sin there. When a person commits a sin, a blemish remains on the forehead, and he saw that her forehead was clean. But the Tzemach Tzedek said that when you have to issue a halachic ruling, you must look in the Shulchan Aruch, not at someone’s face. Looking at a face—that involves very lofty matters. It could be that she had done teshuvah and cried, and with her tears she had washed away all the sins, leaving no trace. But you do not issue a halachic ruling by looking at that. You have to look at the halachah. So that is what the Alter Rebbe is saying here: a person is not brought to account in spiritual matters; on that level, everything is fine. But in this world there is halachah, there is the Shulchan Aruch, and we must do what the Shulchan Aruch says. I see there is a question here as well. Okay, of course. Being pleasing and beloved—okay. I already addressed that part in the class. Being pleasing and beloved is not something selfish; it is the opposite. It has to do with a Jew’s love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, with wanting to attain the closest possible bond. And with the fact that the souls of the Jewish people are called children

24:09 of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Of course, the whole matter of teshuvah is connected more with the relationship to a king than to a father. And so on. Chassidus discusses this subject at great length. The entire essence of teshuvah is connected with the concept of a king. With a king, there is the possibility of doing teshuvah, and that is what is being discussed here in Tanya. That is the analogy the Alter Rebbe gives here: the analogy of a king.