(2010/5771)

On Yom Kippur, we take our religiosity to the extreme; Jews all around the world spend an entire day praying and fasting, mainly for the goal of achieving Teshuvah, penance, from Hashem. However, how many of us can really say we comprehend the abstract idea that is Teshuvah? Adding to the complexity of what exactly Teshuvah means, Chazal comment on the nature of this atonement. The Gemara (Yoma 86b) tells us that Teshuvah brings healing to the world. How so? When one does Teshuvah, he is forgiven, as is the rest of the world with him. This Gemara is at first difficult to understand. While Teshuvah leads to absolution for one’s sins, it is hard to comprehend how and why the rest of the world is healed too. What causes an individual’s repentance to have such a global effect?

        Rav Kook beautifully elucidates this concept with a deeply spiritual explanation. He explains that we are not mere objects of the world, influenced only by its progression and by our environment. Rather, we take hold of our surroundings and master them for the greater good of the world. Rav Kook expounds that, on a basic physical level, we can observe man’s power over nature in our quotidian surroundings, such as manipulating fire, water, electricity, and other elements for our own purposes. However, there is also another understanding of man’s power, namely that of the greater, spiritual kind. Rav Kook points to the mystical essence of the world, and posits that the world’s spirit is directly connected to the spirit and essence of all mankind. Nature and man are in a constant spiritual unity, as man exercises its power and influence over the essence that is nature to manipulate and create a greater spiritual world.

However, there is also an opposite possibility. When we sin and thereby harm the purity of our spirituality, it causes a negative spiritual environment that has a global impact. This understanding of the world can shed a new light on the Gemara’s comment. When someone does Teshuvah, he or she creates an environment that influences his or her surroundings. It is not merely a self-deprecating act, but also a global one.

On a similar note, Rav Soloveitchik expresses a duality inherent in mankind. There is an aspect in life of both man as the object and also man as the subject. As an object, we sometimes give in to our surroundings and become spiritually weak, eventually leading to sin. It is only through becoming the subject and being active that we can exert our positive influence on the world around us for the better. The Rav points out that sleep is often associated with sin, as sleep is the epitome of inaction. Furthermore, the Shofar blown during the Yamim Nora’im, the High Holidays, is meant to “awaken” us to do Teshuvah (see Rambam Hilchot Teshuvah 3:4). This figurative awakening now takes on a much more powerful meaning. The awakening is a spiritual one, reminding us that we must arise from our passivity and become the subject of the world, and not an object.

Building on this point, a greater meaning behind the ideas of one’s spiritual ascent and descent becomes clear. When one ascends, one takes action, fights the forces that push one down, and in this manner rises. It is ultimately through becoming a subject and taking action that ascension can be achieved. Conversely, descending is a passive act, as one allows gravity to take over and force oneself down. It is comparable to one who is riding a bike and encounters a steep hill. It requires much hard work and effort to pedal up the hill, but once one reaches the top, going downhill is a passive and effortless act. We are exactly comparable to this biker in a spiritual way. To descend into spiritual depths is to succumb to pressure and to one’s surroundings, while to ascend is to take action and fight back, becoming the subject of a display of effort.

Building on this point, a greater meaning behind the ideas of one’s spiritual ascent and descent becomes clear. When one ascends, one takes action, fights the forces that push one down, and in this manner rises. It is ultimately through becoming a subject and taking action that ascension can be achieved. Conversely, descending is a passive act, as one allows gravity to take over and force oneself down. It is comparable to one who is riding a bike and encounters a steep hill. It requires much hard work and effort to pedal up the hill, but once one reaches the top, going downhill is a passive and effortless act. We are exactly comparable to this biker in a spiritual way. To descend into spiritual depths is to succumb to pressure and to one’s surroundings, while to ascend is to take action and fight back, becoming the subject of a display of effort.

This thought illuminates the idea of Sa’ir HaMishtalei’ach, the goat that is sacrificed on Yom Kippur as atonement for Bnei Yisrael’s sins, as described in the Mishnah (Yoma 6:1-3). In a unique and unusual form of sacrifice, the goat is pushed off a cliff to fall to its death. It continues falling and tumbling until it finally hits rock bottom and dies. Connecting the technique of sacrificing Sa’ir HaMishtalei’ach to the idea of spiritual descent makes it clear that this method of sacrifice is a metaphor for sinning. When we become objects that are controlled by those around us, we fall and tumble, like the goat that is helplessly pushed off a cliff. We are sinning and separating ourselves from Hashem, until we finally reach rock bottom, spiritually dead.

As we face a new year of promise and opportunity, it is essential that we make the most of our capabilities and recognize the potential for Mitzvot. Hopefully, we can internalize this lesson and become active subjects, positively influencing and healing the world around ourselves, and ultimately fulfilling our obligation of Tikun Olam, fixing the world.