1) The next five of the 20 Ikarim of Teshuva are as follows:
6.
Be tremendously embarrassed and immensely shamed before the King of
Kings, Hashem, and be afraid to lift your eyes to appear before Him.
7.
Humble your heart and be self-effacing in the knowledge that one who
rebels against the great King [Hashem], surely will lose some of his
status and will be ridiculed in his own eyes and in the eyes of others
and unless you repent you will be relegated to being treated like a
leper, despised and detested by society.
8. Act humbly by always keeping your eyes focused downwards, speaking in low tones, and not speaking harsh words.
9.
Break your material Ta'avos (lusts and desires). Lessen your enjoyments
of pleasures and don't stuff yourself with food more than is necessary
for satiation and to sustain your life, and avoid [excessive] marital
relations with your spouse (besides what is necessary to fulfill the
Mitzvah of Pru U'Revu, or other spousal obligations)
10. Rectify the particular areas in which you have sinned with their good alternatives.
2) Some examples of the previous Ikar of Teshuva (#10):
If
you gazed at immodest images, train your eyes to always avoid
inappropriate sights, and let your eyes gaze at the light of the Torah
(by reading Torah texts or gazing into the Sefer Torah by Hagbah etc.).
If
you used your feet to run to sin, train them now to always run to do
Mitzvos. If your tongue was accustomed to uttering falsehoods and/or
foul language, train your mouth to only speak good and wise things.
If
you used your hands to spill blood, or for stealing which is tantamount
to spilling blood, train your hands to provide for poor people, orphans
and widows, as well as saving people from being taken advantage of
financially by unscrupulous people.
If
your heart was always filled with heretical thoughts, train and purify
your heart to understand the greatness of our Creator [Hashem].
If
you were involved in spreading Machlokes (disputes) between friends,
train yourself to seek peaceful resolutions and pursue peace always.
QUESTION&ANSWER CORNER
Reader
Submitted Questions of interest on topics related to Halachos we
covered, as well as other interesting topic and Answers.
Although
the answers I give to questions are taken directly from the Sifrei
HaPoskim, and aren't my own, they are still for study purposes
only, NOT for Psak Halacha. Questions can be emailed to HalachaForToday@Gmail.com
QUESTION:
My
friend and I always have disagreements on a certain topic. And that is
about the Aveiros (sins). My friend states that most of the halachos
that we are commanded to keep aren't from Hashem but from the rabbis
that make it up. they make up these halachos (for example muktzah).
Therefore he said he thinks the reason for most of the halachos that the
rabbis made are gates around the Aveiros itself. Therefore he thinks
that its not necessary for us to keep the rabbinacal halachos rather
then the original ones. I tried explaining to him that Hashem commanded
us to listen to our rabbis and their decisions are counted as sins if
violated. But he disagrees. What should I tell him? and is it true [what
I say]?
ANSWER:
You
are 1000% correct. The Torah explicitly commands us (Devarim 17:11) to
listen to the Rabbanim/Chachamim and not to deviate an iota from what
they tell you .
Thus
every rabbinical edict, for any reason they deemed it necessary is
basically a Torah cammandment and must be kept to the tee. Only if the
Rabbis themselves said that any particular edict was for a certain time
only may we not do it anymore.
It is not up to us as individuals to decide what is worth keeping or not, it is up to the great sages to interpret the law.
The
Midrash tells us that Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov, our holy
patriarchs, kept all the Mitzvos and even all the rabbinical edicts!
(See Talmud Yoma 28b)
The
Gemara tells us that all the edicts that would eventually be instituted
by the Rabbis were shown to Moshe Rabbeinu on Har Sinai by Hashem
Himself!
The
Posuk (Devarim 30:12) tells us that the Torah was given to mortals, and
isn't in heaven anymore. It was given to the Rabbis to interpret and to
institute fences, edicts etc. as they saw fit.
There
is a famous Gemara (Bava Metzia 59b) that describes a dispute in
halacha between Rav Eliezer and the Rabbis. Rav Eliezer caused all sorts
of miracles to happen to prove his point and that he was right, yet the
rabbis were unimpressed, saying that Torah was given to them, and it
isn't up to heaven anymore to determine halacha!
The
laws of Rosh Chodesh were given to the rabbis to determine. The
calendar month and the days on which holidays fall is not determined by
the sun or the moon, rather by edict of the rabbis, as the Torah says
(Shmos 12:2) "Hachodesh hazeh lachem- this (and all) months are for you
to determine!"
In
fact, there are even rabbinic Mitzvos on which we recite "Asher
Kidshanu B'Mitzvosav, V'Tzivanu... saying that Hashem commanded us to do
it, when seemingly it was only the rabbis! (See Gemara Shabbos 23a and
the Ritva's explanation there)
There
are countless more examples of this tenet of Judaism. Bottom line is
that one who transgresses a rabbinical decree has transgressed an Aveira
equal to transgressing a biblical decree
CHIZUK CORNER
This
section is dedicated L'Ilui Nishmos the Telzer Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav
Chaim Yaakov Stein Zatzal , the Mir Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Noson Tzvi
Finkel Zatzal and the Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Ohr, the great Posek
HaRav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg Zatzal.
May we all strive to follow in their ways and may they be Melitzei Yosher for all of Klal Yisroel.
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.
Important Numbers
