Radical Acceptance - Tomer Devorah - Day 7
And You will cast into the depths of the sea all of their sins
This is an especially good attribute of the Holy One, Blessed is He, For when Bnei Yisroel sinned, He delivered them into the hands of Pharoah and they repented. If so, why should He punish Pharoah, or Sancheriv, or Haman and others like them? Yet the Holy One, Blessed is He, is not content with saying “They repented, so no further evil will befall them, and thus, Haman, Pharoah or Sancheriv will be removed from them.” This is not sufficient; rather, the wickedness of Haman reverts onto his own head, and so too, with Pharoah and Sancheriv.
The reason for this conduct lies in the essence of the verse pertaining to the Temple service on Yom Kippur, where two identical goats were brought, one was sacrificed on the altar, and the other sent to Azazel – pushed down a rugged mountain. “The goat that was sent to Azazel will carry all their sins, to the desolate land” (Vayikra 16:22); meaning that the goat actually bears the punishment for their sins! Now, this is very difficult to understand, for it Bei Yisroel sinned, why should the goat bear their sins? However, the reason for this conduct is as follows: When a person confesses with the intention in his confession to receive a cleansing of his sins – as King David said: “Cleanse me abundantly from my iniquities” (Tehillim 51:4), and so are our words in prayer, “Cleanse my sin with Your great compassion” – he only prays that his afflictions be light so that they will not interrupt his Torah study. As we say in our prayers: “…but not by way of severe afflictions.” This is also the intention when one states, “You are righteous with regard to all that befalls me,” – he actually accepts willingly upon himself afflictions in order that he be vindicated for his sins, for there are sins that can be cleansed only by means of afflictions or death. This is the conduct; immediately when one confesses in prayer, the Holy One, Blessed is He, decrees some sort of affliction upon him for his sins. As the Zohar in Parshas Pikudei (pg 262b) explains, this is the portion of the Satan as portrayed by the ‘goat’ that was sent to Azazel. What is actually his portion? That the Holy One Blessed is He, decrees on him (that is the one who sinned and afterward repented and confessed) afflictions, and then instantly Satan comes by there, and collects his due. And behold, the ‘goat carries the sins,’ meaning that the Holy One Blessed is He, gives him permission to collect his due, and through this, the Bnei Yisroel become cleansed. But, eventually, everything will revert back to Satan. The reason for this is that the holy One, Blessed is He, decreed upon His world that all who do this – bring suffering upon Bnei Yisroel—should be nullified. That is why G-d decreed, “The animal which was involved in human transgression resulting in man’s execution must be killed” (Vayikra 20:15). Similarly, the stones used to carry out the sentence of those condemned to death by stoning and the sword used to carry out the sentence of decapitation must be buried (Sanhedrin 46b) in order to nullify their existence and power after they have been used to carry out the judgment.
Behold, this is actually the essence of the statue of Nevuchadneetzar which he saw in his dream (Daniel 2:32-34): When Bnei Yisroel were given over into the hand of the Babylonian king symbolized by “a head of gold,” this same “head” was eventually subjugated and given over into the hands of Persia, symbolized by “a silver chest and arms,” who was, in turn, expelled by another nation, and so on, until Bnei Yisroel descended to the fourth Kingdom of Edom and Yishmael, symbolized by “legs of iron and clay.” And what will be the final good ending? Eventually the Holy One, Blessed is He, will uplift them (the Bnei Yisroel), and execute justice upon them (those kingdoms). As it is written: “I will use up My arrows against them” (Devarim 32:23), meaning that the arrows will be used up but the Bnei Yisroel will not be annihilated (Sota 9a). “And then the parts of iron, clay, brass, silver and gold will be crushed together” (Daniel 2:32). First, it is written, “And he smote the idol to its legs” (Ibid 2:34), implying that there was nothing left of the idol but its legs; for they had lost all their power symbolized by the way the head, arms and torso were removed. Nevertheless, in the end as it is written “Together they will be crushed” (ibid 2:35), for in the future the Holy One Blessed is He will indict Satan and the wicked who carry out his deeds and actions, and He will visit justice upon them. This is the meaning of the verse (Micha 7:19) “and You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea”, implying that He will cast the power of judgment, to be executed upon those are likened to the depths of the sea (as the verse states). (Yeshayah 57:20): “The wicked are like the spewing sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters spew mud and mire”. This refers to those who execute judgment on Bnei Yisroel: He will return their evil deeds upon their own heads. The reason for this is, for after Bnei Yisroel receives their judgment, the Holy One, Blessed is he, reconsiders even the initial punishment, and exacts retribution for their insult and suffering. And furthermore, “I was angered only a little, and the nations of the world helped to do more evil than required” (Zechariah 1:15).
This, too, is an attribute that man should use in his behavior toward his fellow. Even if the latter is wicked and crushed through afflictions, do not hate him, for ‘after having been whipped, he is like your brother’ (Makkos 23a). Befriend the rebellious and those who have been punished and have mercy on them. And on the contrary, save them from their enemies, and don’t say – “His own sin caused his suffering.” Rather, have mercy on them in accordance with this attribute, as I have explained above.
NOTE
This is the tikkun for sinas chinam... this will bring us to the geula if we can absorb this midda of H’- and bring ourselves to the ultimate awareness of RADICAL ACCEPTANCE. WHAT IS IT REALLY ???? AHAVAS CHINAM✨
May klal Yisrael get this message before we have to go through more nesayonos, Chas vshalom.
“Even if the latter is wicked and crushed through afflictions, do not hate him, for ‘after having been whipped, he is like your brother’ (Makkos 23a). Befriend the rebellious and those who have been punished and have mercy on them. And on the contrary, save them from their enemies, and don’t say – “His own sin caused his suffering.” Rather, have mercy on them in accordance with this attribute