In a stirring drashah ahead of Yom Kippur 5787, renowned mashpia Rav Elimelech Biderman delivered a powerful message about the extraordinary opportunities of the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, stressing the unique power of tefillah, teshuvah, tzedakah and forgiveness during these precious days.
Rav Biderman opened by speaking about the exceptional power of tefillah during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, when Hashem is especially close to every Yid. During the rest of the year, he explained, a person does not know when his tefillos will be accepted. During these days, however, even the tefillah of an individual possesses a special power to tear up an unfavorable decree and bring about a yeshuah.
Rav Biderman cited the Tur and Bais Yosef regarding the custom of Sephardic communities to recite Selichos and sound an alarm even on Shabbos Shuvah. The reason, he explained, is that a person’s judgment is finalized on Yom Kippur, making preparation for the holy day a matter of the greatest urgency.
To illustrate the unique power available during these days, Rav Biderman related a mashal from Rav Shimshon Pincus zt”l. A person could never lift an enormous concrete wall with his own strength. Give him a crane, however, and suddenly the seemingly impossible becomes possible.
The Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, Rav Biderman explained, provide every Yid with just such a “crane” of Siyata d’Shmaya. With that extraordinary Heavenly assistance, a person can lift himself even from a place from which he might ordinarily believe there is no way to rise.
Rav Biderman then related a striking mashal involving a child from Bnei Brak who required an expensive eye operation from a renowned specialist in Texas. In an extraordinary turn of events, the specialist himself suddenly arrived at the family’s home in Bnei Brak. But the child’s father, who had been sleeping, mistakenly turned him away, failing to realize who was standing outside his door.
“This is ‘Dirshu Hashem b’himatzo,’” Rav Biderman said. “Hashem is knocking at the door now. We must not miss the opportunity.”
A significant portion of the drashah focused on the tremendous zechus of tzedakah and chessed during the Yemei Hadin. Rav Biderman cited the Shulchan Aruch and Rambam, who write that during the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a person should increase his giving of tzedakah and performance of good deeds beyond what he ordinarily does throughout the year.
But tzedakah, Rav Biderman stressed, is not limited to giving money.
Citing the Sefer Hachinuch, he explained that anyone who brings benefit or pleasure to another person — whether through money, food, sound advice, consolation or even a kind word — is performing an act of tzedakah. At times, he said, a smile, a word of encouragement or a few strengthening words can literally serve as a pidyon nefesh.
In that connection, Rav Biderman related a story involving Rav Itzele Charif zt”l. A young man once approached Rav Itzele because he feared being drafted into the army. His family had prepared money for a bribe in the hope of securing an exemption.
Rav Itzele instead took the money and gave it toward the wedding expenses of a penniless orphaned kallah. In the zechus of that tzedakah, Rav Biderman related, the young man ultimately received an exemption from the army on medical grounds.
Rav Biderman then turned to the obligations of bein adam lachaveiro, emphasizing that Erev Yom Kippur is not merely a day for preparing physically for the fast. It is a day for forgiveness, reconciliation and removing resentment between one Yid and another.
Citing the Sefas Emes, Rav Biderman explained that a central element of the kapparah is connected to the ninth day of Tishrei, when Klal Yisroel makes peace with one another.
A person must therefore seek reconciliation on Erev Yom Kippur even when he is absolutely convinced that he is right, Rav Biderman stressed.
He pointed to the account of a great Amora who went to appease Rav Chanina on Erev Yom Kippur for thirteen consecutive years. The lesson, he explained, is that the question is not simply who was right. The question is who is prepared to give in, lower himself and do what is necessary to restore peace.
Rav Biderman also related the story of a well-known baal chessed from Bnei Brak who had hurt the feelings of a divorced man who had been a guest in his home. Subsequently, the man felt that his children’s shidduchim were being held back.
On Erev Yom Kippur, he resolved to let go of the matter completely, call the man and seek reconciliation. Shortly afterward, the impediment appeared to disappear, and his daughter became engaged.
Another story concerned a father who traveled to the kever of Rav Shimon bar Yochai and wept over four of his children who were struggling to find their shidduchim.
As he poured out his heart, he suddenly remembered that members of his household had treated his son-in-law coldly. The family subsequently asked forgiveness from the son-in-law and their daughter, and the two sides wholeheartedly forgave one another.
Within the following year, Rav Biderman related, all four children became engaged, one after another.
Toward the conclusion of the drashah, Rav Biderman spoke about the extraordinary kedushah of Yom Kippur itself.
On this day, he said, Hashem Himself purifies Bnei Yisroel. A Yid rises above his ordinary physical existence and reaches a level comparable to the malachei hashareis. This, he explained, is why on Yom Kippur the words Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuso L’olam Va’ed are recited aloud.
Rav Biderman placed particular emphasis on the final moments of Ne’ilah, when the decrees of the Yom Hadin are sealed.
Until the very last moment, he said, a Yid can accomplish extraordinary things through tears, teshuvah and heartfelt pleading. Even severe decrees can still be overturned. A person must never give up and must never conclude that it is already too late.
Rav Biderman also discussed the mitzvah of eating on Erev Yom Kippur. Chazal teach that one who eats and drinks on the ninth of Tishrei is considered by the Torah as though he fasted on both the ninth and the tenth.
The eating of Erev Yom Kippur, he explained, expresses the joy of drawing close to Hashem and appreciating the extraordinary gift of kapparah that Hashem has given Klal Yisroel.
Rav Biderman’s message was one of both urgency and hope: These are not ordinary days. They are days to daven, to give, to forgive, to make peace and, above all, to open the door.
Hashem is close. The gates remain open. And every Yid still has the opportunity to begin anew and merit a gemar chasimah tovah.
{Matzav.com}