Haftorah: "Return, Israel, unto Hashem, your G-d"

Haftorah: "Return, Israel, unto Hashem, your G-d"

הרב אברהם ריבלין, המשגיח הרוחני לשעבר

In the Midrash Rabbah (Bereishit Parsha 84) on the pasuk, "Reuven returned to the pit" (Bereishit 37:29), Chazal interpret the word "returned" as referring to teshuva. Chazal say:

Hashem said: Never did a person sin before me and do teshuva, and you opened with teshuva first. By your life (I swear), your descendent will rise up and open with teshuva first. Who is this? Hoshea (according to Chazal Hoshea was from the tribe of Reuven), as it says, "Return, Israel, unto Hashem your God." (Hoshea 14:2)

The commentators to the Midrash wonder about this, since both Adam and Cain preceded Reuven in doing teshuva. Chazal taught: "Adam met him (Cain) and said to him, 'What was done with your sentence?' He said, 'I did teshuva and reached a settlement' ... Immediately Adam said, 'A Psalm, a song for the Sabbath day.'" (Bereishit Rabbah 22:28) If Adam and Cain did teshuva, what is the meaning of "and you opened with teshuva first" that is said about Reuven?

The Etz Yosef to the Midrash (Parsha 84) explains: "Cain and Adam did teshuva only under pressure and punishment." An additional answer is said in the name of the Kotzker Rebbe, that whereas Adam and Cain sinned with knowledge and intent, Reuven sinned for the sake of Heaven, since he was claiming his mother's disgrace. If so, the chiddush is that even on a sin such as this you have to do teshuva. We can add to this what is said in Masechet Shabbat 55b: "Whoever says Reuven sinned is simply mistaken." The teshuva of Reuven comes to teach us that even on a sin that is not really a sin one should do teshuva.

The Malbim, in his commentary to Hoshea, explains that the pasuk, "Return, Israel, unto Hashem your G-d," refers to teshuva out of fear, whereas the pasuk, "Take words with you and return to Hashem," is referring to teshuva out of love. Therefore, it says in the first pasuk, "unto Hashem," not quite reaching Him, while the second pasuk, "to Hashem," refers to complete and absolute teshuva.

Maran Rosh Hayeshiva zt"l expands on this in his Asufat Ma'arachot, and explains based on this why it says in the first pasuk, "Hashem your G-d (Elokecha)," the attribute of justice. If a person does not do teshuva even out of fear, the kindness inherent in the possibility of teshuva, which he rejected, turns into a source of punishment for him. On the other hand, in the second pasuk it says only, "Hashem," the attribute of mercy. There is no possibility of turning the mercy into punishment because he at least possesses teshuva out of fear. Another difference: The first Pasuk, which is written in a singular form, is fitting for teshuva out of fear, which is a private teshuva. However, the second pasuk is written in a plural from, since teshuva out of love is a teshuva for the general public and the whole society.

It is possible that this is essentially what the Etz Yosef writes, that Cain and Adam did teshuva out of fear, under pressure and punishment – "Unto Hashem your G-d." Reuven innovated teshuva out of love, as his descendent said: "Take words with you and return to Hashem."

 

 

קוד השיעור: 4045

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