Tanya Part 3 Chapter 2
By Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Gedalia Potash and William Schecter, MD
September 28, 2022
This draft has neither been edited nor approved by Rabbi Potash
But regarding forgiveness and atonement, he was completely forgiven when he transgressed the commandment of the King and made a complete repentance. They make no mention of this sin or punishment, G-d forbid, in the world to come, and the sinner is completely exempt from judgment in the world to come. Nevertheless, it would be necessary to bring a sacrificial offering to the Temple even for transgression of a simple positive commandment which does not carry the penalty of Kritot or a death penalty from a Bet Din if G-d is to be as pleased with the service of the penitent as He was prior to the sin.
Comment: In the days of the Temple, even though sincere repentance immediately nullifies the sin, a “sin offering” is still necessary
As the Sages taught in the Torah (law) of the Cohanim (Priests) in the passage
“סָמַ֣ךְ יָד֔וֹ עַ֖ל רֹ֣אשׁ הָעֹלָ֑ה וְנִרְצָ֥ה ל֖וֹ לְכַפֵּ֥ר עָלָֽיו׃
You shall lay a hand upon the head of the burnt offering, that it may be acceptable in your behalf, in expiation for you.” (Leviticus 1:4)
As it states in the Gemorrah Masechet Zevachim, Chapter 141 the burnt offering expiates a transgression of a positive commandment. And it is a gift to G-d after one has repented and been forgiven for his transgression and like the man that offended the king and who appeased the king via a defense attorney and was forgiven, even so he sends a gift, meal offering before Him to be acceptable to appear before Him (and the word “mkaperet” - מכפרת – atones- appears in the Talmudic tale cited above and also appears in the passage from the Torah previously cited “that it may be acceptable in your behalf, in expiation for you.” (Leviticus 1:4) The sacrifice does not atone his soul, rather it is atonement before the L-rd to be a source of gratification for his Creator as it is said there in the Gemorrah and likewise it is written
“וְאִ֗ישׁ כִּֽי־יַקְרִ֤יב זֶֽבַח־שְׁלָמִים֙ לַיהֹוָ֔ה לְפַלֵּא־נֶ֙דֶר֙ א֣וֹ לִנְדָבָ֔ה בַּבָּקָ֖ר א֣וֹ בַצֹּ֑אן תָּמִ֤ים יִֽהְיֶה֙ לְרָצ֔וֹן כׇּל־מ֖וּם לֹ֥א יִהְיֶה־בּֽוֹ׃
And when any party offers, from the herd or the flock, a sacrifice of well-being to יהוה for an explicit*explicit or “unspecified” or “extraordinary”; meaning of Heb. lephalle uncertain. vow or as a freewill offering, it must, to be acceptable, be without blemish; there must be no defect in it.” (Leviticus 22:21)
And now that we do not have a sacrifice to produce the Desire from G-d, we fast in place of a sacrifice as it is written in the Gemorrah,
רַב שֵׁשֶׁת כִּי הֲוָה יָתֵיב בְּתַעֲנִיתָא, בָּתַר דִּמְצַלֵּי אָמַר הָכִי: ״רִבּוֹן הָעוֹלָמִים, גָּלוּי לְפָנֶיךָ בִּזְמַן שֶׁבֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ קַיָּים, אָדָם חוֹטֵא — וּמַקְרִיב קָרְבָּן. וְאֵין מַקְרִיבִין מִמֶּנּוּ, אֶלָּא חֶלְבּוֹ וְדָמוֹ, וּמִתְכַּפֵּר לוֹ. וְעַכְשָׁיו יָשַׁבְתִּי בְּתַעֲנִית וְנִתְמַעֵט חֶלְבִּי וְדָמִי, יְהִי רָצוֹן מִלְּפָנֶיךָ שֶׁיְּהֵא חֶלְבִּי וְדָמִי שֶׁנִּתְמַעֵט כְּאִילּוּ הִקְרַבְתִּיו לְפָנֶיךָ עַל גַּבֵּי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וְתִרְצֵנִי״.
The Gemara recounts that when Rav Sheshet would sit in observance of a fast, after he prayed, he said as follows:
Master of the Universe, it is revealed before You
that when the Temple is standing, one sins and offers a sacrifice.
And although only its fat and blood were offered from that sacrifice on the altar, his transgression is atoned for him.
And now, I sat in observance of a fast and my fat and blood diminished.
May it be Your will that my fat and blood that diminished be considered as if I offered a sacrifice before You on the altar,
and may I find favor in Your eyes” (Berakhot 17 a:5)
And therefore, we have found in some Tanaim and Amoraim
Comment: The term Tanaim refers to the first Rabbinic commentators in the Talmud, usually quoted in the Mishnah. The term Amoraim refers to later Talmudic commentators who discussed the various Mishnayot in the Gemorrah. The Mishnah and the Gemorrah together comprise the Talmud although the term Gemorrah is often used colloquially to refer to the entire Talmud.
There are many fasts for simple transgressions. For example, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah would permit a cow to go out (in the public domain) with a strip between its horns on Shabbat but other Sages forbade it. Once his neighbor’s cow went out (with a strip between its horns) and Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah did not protest. His teeth blackened because of all the fasts because he did not observe the words of his colleagues.
Comment: Even though Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah permitted this activity, he performed many fasts because he felt he should have observed the more stringent ruling of his colleagues in retrospect.
And Rabbi Yehoshuah said “תַּנְיָא, אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ: בּוֹשַׁנִי מִדִּבְרֵיכֶם, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי! אֶפְשָׁר אִשָּׁה לָשָׁה בַּעֲרֵיבָה — אִשָּׁה וַעֲרֵיבָה טְמֵאִין שִׁבְעָה, וּבָצֵק טָהוֹר? לוֹגִין מָלֵא מַשְׁקִין — לוֹגִין טָמֵא טוּמְאַת שִׁבְעָה, וּמַשְׁקִין טְהוֹרִין?!
It is taught in a baraita with regard to this debate between Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel: Rabbi Yehoshua said: I am ashamed of your words, Beit Shammai, for they are illogical. Is it possible that there should be a corpse on the first floor, with an earthenware vessel blocking the opening to the second story, and a woman is standing upstairs kneading dough in a metal bowl, and the woman and the bowl are impure for seven days owing to the impurity of the corpse, while the dough inside the trough is pure? For that would be the result according to Beit Shammai, who distinguishes between food and earthenware vessels on the one hand and metal vessels on the other. Similarly: Is it possible that there is a metal pitcher full of liquid in the second story, and the pitcher should be impure with impurity of seven days, while the liquids remain pure?”
Comment: I inserted the entire passage from the Talmud to which the Elter Rebbe is referring. Basically, he is talking about a disagreement between the House of Shammai and Rabbi Yehoshuah regarding the purity of earthenware vessels and metal vessels in certain circumstances. This relates to certain transgressions which might require fasting in order to assist in the achievement of atonement.
And his teeth were blackened because of the fasts. And Rabbi Hunah once had one of the leather straps of his Tfillin turn over and he fasted forty fasts
Comment: The black leather straps of the head Tfillin must face outward. If the undyed portion of the leather strap faces outward, it is a transgression. Many people now use straps died on both sides as it is easy to the straps which hang down to turn over. That is why many people tuck them into their belts. (this has happened to me on more than one occasion).
The Arizal
Comment: Let’s stop for a minute and discuss the Arizal to whom the Elter Rebbe has referred many times before in our studies. First, what does Arizal mean? It is a Hebrew Acronym “אריז״ל” which stands for אלוקי רבנו יצחק זכרונו לברכה (Elokai Rabaynu Yitzchak, zicrono lebracha). Ok, lets break up the translation of this long phrase into two parts: Ari (Elokai Rabaynu Yitzchak) means Our G-dly Rabbi Yitzchak. This acronym is a Hebrew play on words because as many know, the word Ari means lion in Hebrew. Rabbi Yitzchak - because the name of the Arizal was Rabbi Yitzchak Luria. The second phrase, zicrono lebracha, means “let his memory be for a blessing”. This acronym ז״ל (z”l-or sometimes rendered in English as “of blessed memory) is frequently placed after the name of a person under discussion as a respectful way of indicating that the person is no longer alive.
The Arizal (1534-1572) was perhaps the greatest Kabbalist of all time. He lived and taught in Safed in the Galilee about 200 years before the advent of Chassidut but his teachings have greatly influenced Chassidic thought which is inextricably intertwined with Kabbalistic mysticism. The Arizal’s father, Shlomo Luria, was an Ashkenazi descendent of Rashi (10th century commentator living in France). His mother was a Sephardic Jewess. When the Arizal’s father died at a young age, the young boy was raised by his maternal uncle Rabbi Mordechai Francis of Alexandria (Egypt). The Arizal undoubtedly knew Ladino, Arabic as well as Hebrew and Aramaic. I do not know whether or not he knew Yiddish. He lived for two years in Safed and very little of his writings are preserved. However, his pupil, Rabbi Chaim Vital published much of the Arizal’s teaching posthumously in a text entitled Atz Chaim (the tree of life). Now back to the Elter Rebbe’s text.
And on this foundational principle (the concept of sincere repentance followed by fasting in place of the sacrificial sin offering), the Arizal taught his pupils, according to the wisdom of the truth, that is, the Kabbalah, the number of fasts required for some sins and transgressions not punished with Kritah or death by the Heavens, for example he prescribed 151 fasts for anger etc. And he even taught a prohibition of the Rabbis, like the transgression of drinking a wine produced by a gentile, the punishment for which is 73 fasts etc. And so, for the transgression of a positive Rabbinic (as opposed to Torah) commandment, like prayer, the punishment is 61 fasts, etc. And in general, the secret of the fast is the wonderous prescription for the revelation of the Divine Will which is like the sacrifice, about which it is said “a pleasing scent for the L-rd” (Leviticus 1:9). And as it is written in Isaiah (58:5) “and for this you call a fast and a day of the will for the L-rd” from the rule that the fast desired by G-d is the day of His Will.
Comment: In other words, according to the Arizal, the reason we undertake a fast is not for purposes of self-mortification but to please the L-rd and bring us closer to Him
אך כל זה לעניין כפרה ומחילת העוון, שנמחל לו לגמרי מה שעבר על מצוַת המלך כשעשה תשובה שלימה, ואין מזכירין לו דבר וחצי דבר ביום הדין לעונשו על זה חס ושלום בעולם הבא, ונפטר לגמרי מן הדין בעולם הבא. אמנם שיהיה לרצון לפני ה' ומרוצה וחביב לפניו יתברך כקודם החטא להיות נחת רוח לקונו מעבודתו, היה צריך להביא קרבן עולה אפילו על מצוַת עשה קלה שאין בה כרת ומיתת בית דין, כמו שדרשו רז"ל בתורת כהנים על פסוק "ונרצה לו", וכדאיתא בגמרא פרק קמא דזבחים דעולה מכפרת על מצוַת עשה. והיא דורון לאחר שעשה תשובה ונמחל לו העונש, וכאדם שסרח במלך ופייסו על ידי פרקליטין ומחל לו, אף על פי כן שולח דורון ומנחה לפניו שיתרצה לו לראות פני המלך (ולשון "מכפרת", וכן מה שכתוב בתורה "ונרצה לו לכפר עליו", אין זו כפרת נפשו, אלא לכפר לפני ה' להיות נחת רוח לקונו, כדאיתא שם בגמרא, וכמו שכתוב: "תמים יהיה לרצון").
ועכשיו שאין לנו קרבן להפיק רצון מה', התענית הוא במקום קרבן, כמו שכתוב בגמרא, שיהא מיעוט חלבי ודמי שנתמעט כאילו הקרבתי לפניך וכו'. ולכן מצינו בכמה תנאים ואמוראים שעל דבר קל היו מתענים תעניות הרבה מאד, כמו רבי אלעזר בן עזריה שהיה מתיר שתהא פרה יוצאה ברצועה שבין קרניה בשבת, וחכמים אוסרים, ופעם אחת יצאה כן פרתו של שכנתו ולא מיחה בה, והושחרו שיניו מפני הצומות על שלא קיים דברי חביריו. וכן רבי יהושע שאמר: "בושני מדבריכם בית שמאי", והושחרו שיניו מפני הצומות. ורב הונא פעם אחת נתהפכה לו רצועה של תפילין, והתענה ארבעים צומות, וכהנה רבות.
ועל יסוד זה לימד האריז"ל לתלמידיו על פי חכמת האמת מִסְפַּר הצומות לכמה עוונות וחטאים, אף שאין בהן כרת ולא מיתה בידי שמים, כמו על הכעס קנ"א תעניות וכו'. ואפילו על איסור דרבנן, כמו סתם יינם יתענה ע"ג תעניות וכו'. וכן על ביטול מצוַת עשה דרבנן, כמו תפילה יתענה ס"א תעניות וכו'. ודרך כלל, סוד התענית היא סגולה נפלאה להתגלות רצון העליון ברוך הוא, כמו הקרבן שנאמר בו "ריח ניחוח לה'". וכמו שכתוב בישעיה: "הלזה תקרא צום ויום רצון לה'", מכלל שהצום הנרצה הוא יום רצון.