Today's Halachos are dedicated by a daily reader as a Zechus Refuah Shelaima for Raizel Leeba bas Faiga B'soch Sha'ar Cholei Yisroel.
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Please also learn and daven for Rivka Freidel Bas Tova Gittel who needs rachmei Shomayim. May she have a Refuah Shelaima B'soch Sha'ar Cholei Yisroel. Dedicated by her family.
1) It is three days until Yom Kippur, and the order of the day, of course, is Teshuva' it's on every observant Jew's mind on some level at least.
We all want Hashem to forgive us for any sins we may have transgressed against Him or against our fellow Jews.
As we mentioned a few days ago, sins against our fellow Jews cannot be forgiven by Hashem until forgiveness is first sought from the one who we offended.
When forgiving someone, it is extremely important to verbalize this fact by saying "I am Mochel you with my whole heart". (See Rabbeinu Bechaya Bereishis 50:17 where explains that Yosef HaTzadik was Mochel his brothers, the Shevatim , in his heart, but never verbalized this thought, thus the Asara Harugei Malchus and many other Tzaros needed to befall Klal Yisroel over the ages. There is a lengthy discussion about this, but this forum is not the place)
2) After receiving forgiveness from the people that we hurt, there are still 24 things (Brought by Rabbeinu Yonah in Sharei Teshuva, end of Sha'ar 1. They can also be found more at length in the Rambam Perek 4 of Hilchos Teshuva. The original source for this seems to be a Tosefta) that are Me'Akev -prevent- proper Teshuva from being attained.
Obviously it is best to try and make sure that we don't have any of these impediments in our day to day lives, so we can assure that our Teshuva is easily attained and properly accepted by Hashem.
Most of these things are probably not relevant to most of the people reading this, but it is still Halacha, and can be used as a catalyst for Teshuva in other areas in which we may indeed need rectification.
The 24 obstacles to Teshuva are: (Loose translation. It would be too lengthy to delve into the details of each one. If you have any questions as to the definitions, or details of each one, please feel free to ask and I will try to clarify.)
1) One who frequently spreads Rechilus (slanderer)
2) One who regularly speaks Lashon Hara (Gossiper)
3) One who gets angry quickly
4) One whose bad (impure) thoughts control him
5) Being connected to a rasha (evildoer)
6) Taking from food that isn't sufficient for its owner
7) Gazing at Arayos with sinful intent
8) Partnering with a thief
9) One who says "I will sin and repent afterwards" or " I will sin and Yom Kippur will atone for the sin"
10) One who derives honor [and pleasure] from his fellow man's humiliation.
11) One who separates him/herself from the Tzibbur (congregation).
12) One who ridicules his forefathers and/or teachers
13) One who curses the public
14) One who prevents a group of people from doing a Mitzvah
15) One who causes another Jew to leave the good path and take a bad path [of living not according to the Torah]
16) One who uses the pillow of a poor person [i.e. causes a poor person to lose the use of any of his meager possessions]
17) One who accepts bribes in order to skew and distort justice from prevailing.
18) One who finds a lost object and doesn't [try and] return it to its proper owner.
19) One who sees their child going off the [Torah] path, and doesn't admonish them.
20) One who eats [i.e. usurps] the food [i.e. livelihood] of poor people, orphans or widows.
21) One who argues [and does an action] against the will of the sages.
22) One who accuses good people of doing wrong [without proper proof or reason]
23) One who hates [and cannot accept constructive] criticism.
24) One who ridicules all or some of the Mitzvos of the Torah [or those instituted by the sages]
Reader's Question:
[Regarding tying the left shoe first that you mentioned in the halachos of 11 Av 5770 ] should I assume that fastening a velcro strip on a shoe is treated like tying its laces?
Answer:
There is actually a debate amongst the poskim if velcro is like tying or not.
Rav Menashe Klein Zatzal (who was niftar a little over a week ago) in Shu"t Mishne Halachos Vol. 13 Siman 3 rules that it is best to be stringent and fasten the shoe that should be tied first even if the fastening is not being "tied" with laces.
CHIZUK CORNER
This section is dedicated L'Ilui Nishmas the late Telzer Rosh Yeshiva , HaRav Chaim Yaakov ben Rav Binyomin Moshe Stein Zatzal.
We will B'Ezras Hashem post here each day a short inspirational thought to help us all improve our lives and grow in our service of our Father in heaven, HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING MEANINGFUL FOR THIS SECTION, PLEASE EMAIL IT TO HalachaForToday@Gmail.com
THANK YOU AND תזכו למצות!
זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה
Hashem Sefasay Tiftach, Ufi Yagid Tehilasecha. Hashem, open my lips and my mouth tells Your praise.
Our mouths are holy vessels.
Let's keep them clean and use them for holy words, kind words, encouraging words.
Hashem has endowed some with a talent to use language to write and speak. Let's do so in an elevated fashion as befitting our status as the Chosen People, as well as people created in G-d's image.
It's a new year, the Aseres Yemei Teshuva. What better time to start than now?
Written and submitted by daily reader, Esther Asna, in memory of Saul Bruckner of blessed memory.
Important Numbers
