Speaking to Your Heart — 5786

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Sefer Devarim (30:11-14), we read a cluster of pesukim that the Rishonim — Ramban, Sforno, and others — explain as referring to teshuva. The Torah tells us: “For this mitzvah that I command you today — it is not hidden from you, and it is not distant… Rather, it is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.”

In a previous publication, we discussed these same pesukim and the Torah’s promise that teshuva is “near to us.” Here we will add another way to understand this message. But first – this seems puzzling. Teshuva is one of the most difficult avodos — it requires a person to uproot habits and behaviors ingrained for years. How can the Torah say that it’s near to us, as if it is easy?

The Meshech Chochmah (Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk) explains that the Torah is not claiming teshuva is easy. It is not. But it is natural. The natural tendency of a Jew is to be connected to Hashem, to love mitzvos, and to long for Torah. The difficulty arises from the distractions that conceal our inner nature, primarily physical desires and the stirrings of the imagination. A person’s taiva (desire) pulls him strongly toward comfort and pleasure, while imagination paints alluring pictures that magnify those desires and make them harder to resist. These two forces cloud the Jew’s true self. When they are quieted and pushed aside, the natural orientation of the Jew shines forth again.

This is especially true in our generation. In the past, taiva was present but not always right before our eyes. Today, the street itself has become a nisayon, with immodest dress and constant visual temptation. Technology puts those same desires into our very pockets, with endless images and messages always within reach. Imagination then grabs what we see and magnifies it, reshaping how we think and feel. If a Jew does not fight back, he is swept away. The only way is to unplug — to push away the street, to shut off the screen, to step out of the noise. Go to the beis medrash, spend time with family in kedusha — even a short time spent this way can already begin to bring change. The inner self is revealed. That is why the Torah assures us: teshuva is not distant.

These pesukim conclude with: “For it is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” Why the emphasis on the mouth? The Midrash Rabbah (Devarim 8:6) on this pasuk explains that when it says “it is in your mouth,” it means not only that the words are there, but that you must take them out and speak them, because speaking words out loud is what reaches the heart and strengthens it. Even what one already knows becomes clearer and firmer in the heart. Teshuva begins by speaking out.

The pasuk says Hashem created man as a nefesh chayah (Bereishis 2:8), which Targum translates as a ruach memalela — a speaking soul. Speech is man’s unique gift. With it, we daven, we learn, we encourage others. The Midrash in Devarim adds that we also build ourselves through speech. By speaking words out, we shape our hearts and draw closer to Hashem.

During the recent war in Eretz Yisrael, many who were not outwardly religious found themselves speaking words of emunah. By voicing what was hidden, they discovered faith was inside them all along. Some were surprised, and some even became religious as a result. Others felt a sudden closeness to Hashem that they had never experienced before. Families who had long been distant from Torah found themselves talking together about Hashem’s protection. Soldiers at the front spoke about miracles they had seen. These words gave strength, comfort, and opened hearts that had been closed for years.

What should we speak to bring teshuva closer to our hearts? Rav Yechezkel Levenstein advises: Speak out your emunah. Talk about yetziyas Mitzrayim in detail until you can picture it clearly. Say aloud the kindnesses Hashem has done for Klal Yisrael and for you personally. Repeat them slowly, with focus, until gratitude fills the heart. Then speak mussar: ask yourself, “What am I doing in this world? What is my purpose?” Name the middos that hold you back and learn Mesilas Yesharim, chapter 11, little by little, until it penetrates. Then think about yourself and speak out how these middos affect you: “This jealousy is killing me. This taiva is destroying me.” Say it again and again, slowly and clearly, until the heart hears.

This is the derech of mussar: deliberate, repeated speech, said with feeling until it penetrates.

Not long ago, I met a man who told me about his past. When he first came to Eretz Yisrael, he planned to stay only a year before returning to America to finish his bookkeeping degree. In Kfar Chassidim he met Rav Eliyahu Lopian, the legendary mashgiach. Rav Lopian taught him that Gemara speaks to the head, but mussar must speak to the heart. A short phrase is read with intensity, repeated, sung with the traditional nigun, again and again, until it burns inside. After tasting this method, he no longer wanted to return to bookkeeping. The words of mussar, voiced with nigun and passion, changed his life and he stayed to become a rabbi in a seminary.

May we be zocheh to do teshuva sheleimah lifanecha with our whole heart.