Musar zu Ijow 33:35

And King Solomon, peace be upon him, spoke about the matter of repentance and specified this topic. And he surely opened his words and said (Proverbs 28:12), "When the righteous exult there is great glory, but when the wicked rise up, men will be sought." The explanation [of this] is that the righteous will exalt and honor people about all the good traits that are found with them; but the wicked seek peoples' blemishes and their mistakes, to put them down - even when they have already left these actions and returned in repentance. Afterwards he said (Proverbs 28:13), "He who covers up his faults will not succeed; but he who confesses and gives them up will find mercy." For even though a penitent should not reveal his iniquities to people - as is to be understood from that which is stated, "but when the wicked rise up, men will be sought" - he is obligated to confess them [privately], like the matter that is stated (Psalms 32:5), "Then I acknowledged my sin to You; I did not cover up my guilt." And it is [also] stated (Jeremiah 2:35), "Lo, I will bring you to judgment for saying, 'I have not sinned.'" But the Sages of Israel, may their memory blessed, explained (Yoma 86b) [that] there are times when he who covers up his faults will not succeed - like with sins between a man and his fellow. As he does not attain atonement until he returns what was stolen, extorted or taken unjustly; and until he asks to be pardoned for that which he annoyed him, embarrassed him or spoke evil speech about him. [Likewise must he not cover up his] sins between a man and the Omnipresent that have become known to people. For one who sins publicly desecrates [God's] name (but Rashi, may his memory be blessed, in the Chapter [entitled] Yom HaKippurim, understands it in a different way. See there.) So he is obligated to grieve and mourn about it in front of people to sanctify [God's] name. And this is [the meaning of] that which is written (Jeremiah 31:19), "Now that I have turned back, I am filled with remorse; now that I am made aware, I strike my thigh." The meaning of, "I am filled with remorse," is regret and pain. For the essence of repentance is bitterness of the heart, as we have explained. And [the meaning of,] "now that I am made aware, I strike my thigh," is after people have been made aware and my iniquities have been publicized, I mourned with actions that were visible to people. [This is] like (Ezekiel 21:17), "strike the thigh"; and it is [also] stated (Job 33:27), "He declares to men, 'I have sinned; I have perverted what was right.'"

And the penitent should also pray to God to erase his transgressions like a fog, and his sins like a cloud; and that He desire him, accept him and listen to him as if he had not sinned - like the matter that is written in the words of Elihu about a penitent after [he has suffered] afflictions (Job 33:26), "He prays to God and is accepted by Him." For it is likely for the iniquity to be forgiven and he be redeemed from all afflictions and from all decrees, but God [still] not desire him and not want to accept an offering from him. And it is the desire of the righteous from [their] successes, to incline God's will towards them and that He should desire them. And his will is [for] real everlasting life and for the great light that includes all of the pleasant things - like the matter that is stated (Psalms 30:6), "when He is pleased there is life." And it [also] stated (Psalms 80:20), "O Lord, God of hosts, restore us; shine Your countenance that we may be delivered" - and our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed said "(Midrash Tehillim 80), "We have nothing besides the shining of Your countenance." And that is the matter of [His] desire - and we have already mentioned this and explained it. Therefore you will see in the prayer of David at the time of [his] repentance after he said (Psalms 51:4), "Wash me thoroughly of my iniquity, and purify me of my sin," [that] he prayed further about the desire - that God's desire, may He be blessed - for him to be like before the sin. So he said (Psalms 51:13), "Do not cast me out of Your presence, or take Your holy spirit away from me." Afterwards he prayed and said (Psalms 51:14), "Let me again rejoice in Your salvation" - that the miracles of God and His salvation be found with him, and that the spirit of God would come upon him as at first. And afterwards he [continued], "and a generous spirit sustain me." Its explanation is - behold I have been lessened because of my transgressions and am not fitting to be a prince, and for Your holy arm to be revealed upon Me. And even if you have lifted (forgiven) the iniquity of my sin, I am not worthy to be beloved and acceptable as in earlier times. Yet sustain me with a generous spirit; for there is no end to Your generosity and Your goodness. And [the word,] spirit, comes lacking a [letter,] bet (in front of it, which would mean, with the spirit), like [in] (Genesis 27:37), "sustained him grain and wine" (which is to be understood as if grain was preceded by a letter bet, meaning "with grain, etc."). And Hosea, peace be upon him, said about this matter (Hosea 14:5), "I will heal their affliction, I will take them back in generous love." The matter of generous love is like the matter that David said, ["and a generous spirit] sustain me."

On Exodus 21,7, כי ימכור איש את בתו לאמה, the Zohar, Sullam edition page 17, explains the entire paragraph as referring to the soul. The איש in the paragraph represents G–d, since G–d is also known as איש מלחמה, as we know from Exodus 15,3. The words "his daughter," refer to the soul. The exhortation תצא כצאת העבדים, means that she must not leave the body sullied, i.e. full of debts (sins) like the male slaves, but as a free (sinless) being. ואם לא יעדה, if the body (her master) that she inhabited did not "wed” her, i.e. has not matched her in sanctity and holiness, that body will be lost, i.e. והפדה, has to release her. Only when the body does penitence, תשובה, can the soul act as a release for it from purgatory. The body is not at liberty to consign the soul to purgatory, since אם אחרת יקח לו, the sinner may have to undergo transmigration, have to live another life on earth in order to rehabilitate itself. This process may repeat itself up to three times, i.e. שלוש אלה. The basis for the approach that we are talking about גלגול נשמות, may be the use of the word אחרת in our paragraph which is similar to Leviticus 14,42, ועפר אחר יקח.

And this matter is further clarified from that which is written in the Torah (Leviticus 4:27-28), “If any person from among the populace unwittingly incurs guilt by doing any of the things which by the Lord’s commandments ought not to be done, and he realizes his guilt. Or the sin of which he is guilty is brought to his knowledge, etc.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said that a sin offering comes for being inadvertent about something for which volition [would bring] excision. And on account of a sin that [brings] excision - due to its significance - the atonement of the sinner will not be complete until he brings a sin-offering, even though he confessed his sin. For without the confession and repentance, his iniquity will not be atoned by the sin-offering, as it is stated (Proverbs 21:27), “The sacrifice of the wicked man is an abomination.” But after the confession and the sacrifice, his iniquity is atoned, as it is stated (Leviticus 4:20), “the priest shall make expiation for them, and they shall be forgiven.” And you [should] understand from this how strong the punishment of the volitional one [must be], if the inadvertent one is not pure after repentance until he brings a sacrifice. Indeed, his iniquity is atoned with afflictions, as it is stated (Job 33:19-26), “He is reproved by pains on his bed, etc. He prays to God and is accepted by Him.” And it is stated (Proverbs 3:12), “For whom the Lord loves, He rebukes, as a father the son whom he favors.” But there is [also] advice and rectification for the sinner to protect himself from [such] pains - with good deeds, as will be explained.

And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Yoma 87a), “One who angers his friend, verbally must appease him.” And it is not [even] necessary to say [this] if he spoke evil speech about him, for that is from the [more] severe transgressions. And if his fellow does not forgive him, he is obligated to come to him with a group of three people. And if he does not forgive him [again], he comes in front of him a second time with a different group. And so must he do a third time. And Elihu said (Job 33:27), “He should then assemble (yashor) a row of men, and say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right (yashar), and it was not fitting (shavah) for me.’” The explanation is, I have perverted a just man - from the usage (Job 1:1), “blameless and just man (yashar)” - for I did not see the merit of the just man, but rather made him into one crooked and twisted. But it was not level (shavah) and just for me, from the usage (in Isaiah 28:25), “Is it not if he leveled (shivah) its surface”; [and in] (Genesis 14:17), “to the level (shavah) valley” - [meaning] straight and level. And since he disparaged just ones in front of people, he must humble himself and confess in front of the many. Hence Elihu spoke about this sin in particular, for it is one of the weighty sins that destroys the soul. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Shabbat 119b), “Anyone who disparages Torah scholars cannot be healed from his wound” - for they profaned the Torah - as it is stated (II Chronicles 36:16), “And they mocked the messengers of God, etc., it could not be healed.”

Some souls are forced to undergo a second round of life in this world as a punishment i.e. rehabilitation for sins committed in this life which cannot be atoned for in the purely spiritual regions. This is the way the King of Kings has arranged it. When one has broken a number of covenants one may have to return to earth for each and every covenant one has broken during a previous life on earth. This is the mystical dimension of infants or small children dying. They obviously did not commit a sin in their most recent incarnation, yet they may have had to experience death a second time to expiate for having broken G–d's covenant with Israel in a previous incarnation. All of this occurs when the sinner had failed to repent properly while he lived on this earth. This is why it is appropriate for a person who is not knowingly guilty of any major sins in his present life on earth to repent thoroughly any sins he may have been guilty of in a previous incarnation and for which he had not then obtained forgiveness. If such a person engages in thorough repentance in this round of his life on earth, the vicious circle of transmigration will be broken and his soul will find eternal rest in the Hereafter, not needing to return to life on this earth again. A different fate awaits those who have failed to take advantage of their third round of life on earth, as we know from the words of Elihu in Job 33,29. During the first two or three incarnations the souls were reincarnated in the bodies of human beings. If they have failed to rehabilitate themselves they will be reincarnated as "pure" animals, i.e. the kind of animals fit for consumption by Jews; their eventual fate may be reincarnation in the bodies of impure animals. Anyone who has failed to understand Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai [the author of this description in the Zohar ] properly, believes that he describes how G–d puts ever greater distance between Himself and the sinner. In fact the reverse is true; G–d tries to arrange for the "lost object" to be restored to its owner. This kind of reincarnation is based on the attribute of פחד, fear, [not relying on or appealing to G–d's attribute of Mercy. Ed.] the outstanding characteristic of Isaac. The third category of transmigration is due to providing an opportunity for the souls in question to perform those commandments which they had been unable to in a previous incarnation due to lack of opportunity. This kind of reincarnation could theoretically continue for one thousand generations under the aegis of the emanation תפארת, outstanding characteristic of Jacob." Thus far Rabbi Solomon Alkabez.

He who provokes his companion must bring three groups of three people, as it is said, "He cometh before men and saith" (Job 33:27), and he must say in their presence, "I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not." But he does not have to ask him for forgiveness more than three times. If the man whom he provoked dies, he should take ten men to his grave and say, "I have sinned to the Lord, the God of Israel and to this person, for I have provoked him" (Yoma 87a).

Rabbeinu Yonah holds that wine in its fourth year, after redemption, requires a benediction as a matter of biblical law, both before and after one has drunk it. He bases this on the word הלולים, in the plural. A drunk person is not allowed to recite such a benediction. By reciting a benediction one "redeems" the wine from its גלגול, its need to be rehabilitated. The author, basing himself on some works of the Arizal, describes the benediction recited by the owners of the sacrifices who eat part thereof as crucial to the process of "the priests perform the service, whereas the owners eat in order to bring about effective atonement." The injunction not to eat of the sacrificial meat prematurely, i.e. before the blood has been sprinkled on the altar by the priests (19,26), also contains allusions to this process. The allusions to transmigration of the soul are found in Job 33,29 where hope is held out that a person who has not fulfilled his task on earth may be given a second or even a third chance to do so. We may see a similar allusion in the legislation of נותר, which follows the legislation that meat of the peace-offerings may be eaten on two days and the intervening night, i.e. during a maximum of three time periods. This alludes to the three opportunities given to the soul (personality) to redeem itself within the body of a person while on earth. When the Torah says in 19,8: ואכליו עונו ישא, "that anyone who consumes such sacrificial meat after the deadline has expired will bear his sin," the idea is that he will no longer qualify for atonement. The statement by Hillel in Avot 1,14 –If I am not for myself, who is? If I am only concerned with myself what kind of a person am I? If not now when?" – may also be read as an allusion to the statement in the Talmud concerning the validity or invalidity of the repentance of a person who says: “I shall sin since I will have a chance to rehabilitate myself (on the Day of Atonement, Yuma 86), or, in a transmigration of my soul!" Anyone who ever had such thoughts during his life on earth will not be permitted to rehabilitate in such a way, for surely he will not be granted a second round on earth. Pardes Rimonim deals with this problem in his chapter on the soul. The author explains that the contribution one's friend or associate can make to one's own rehabilitation is extremely limited; this is why Hillel stresses that what one does not do for oneself no one else is going to do for one. On the other hand, if one attempts to achieve one's rehabilitation by one's own efforts, not relying on other factors, one will experience that G–d extends one a great amount of help, similar to what David said in Psalms 31,20: "How abundant is the good that You have in store for those who fear You!" One will realize then that one's own contribution was really major, that G–d appreciated it. The rhetorical question: "What am I?" must be understood in the sense that I grew to realize my importance in the eyes of G–d. This is the deeper meaning of 19,5: לרצונכם, "to your satisfaction."

Rabbi Yochanan looks at the chain reaction which follows performance of the first מצוה and deems it as sufficient to attract blessings from G–d. He presumably took his cue from Job 33,23: אם יש עליו מלאך מליץ אחד מני אלף להגיד לאקדם ישרו, "If he has a representative (angel), one advocate against a thousand, to declare the man's uprightness." In line with the tradition that every מצוה performed results in the creation of a "good" angel, Rabbi Yochanan feels that such an advocate is already something substantive. When the Torah speaks about the curse in 11,28, it makes certain that the words לא תשמעון are followed immediately by the words וסרתם מן הדרך, "you depart from the path," a reference to action. While G–d grants blessing for a good intention even when it could not be translated into action, He does not curse for the mere failure to listen to the commandments, to Torah lectures. Only once such non-study and non-preparedness to listen results in violation of the commandments will the punishment take into account the attitude displayed which led to the violation. Midrash Shmuel on Avot 3,1 "then you will not commit a sin," points out that Akavyah does not speak about the sin coming to you but about you coming to the sin. With the right attitude you can stop yourself even when the sin has come quite close to you. The Torah uses the word ראה in the singular, instead of ראו, plural which would have matched the rest of the verse, in order to underline the importance of the performance of even a single commandment.

Therefore one must realize in general that the Holy One Blessed is He holds a person responsible even for his casual comments, not to mention for his deeds. He has many agents and many harsh punishments with which to requite those who do not live in accordance with His will. Therefore let every good deed seem precious in a person’s eyes. If the opportunity to perform a good deed comes before him, let him rejoice as if he discovered a precious jewel. Let him give praise to the Holy One Blessed is He for granting him this merit and enabling him to fulfill a commandment. And if there should come his way a commandment that no one else is concerned over, let him be especially eager and quick to perform it to the best of his ability, with his body, his resources and his soul. For a commandment that no one takes interest in is called a meis mitzvah [the name by which the Talmud refers to a corpse that has no one to bury it and that all are required to attend to]. Take hold of it and earn merit through it. At the same time you will be restoring and elevating the esteem of that commandment in the same way that the Holy One Blessed is He lifts us the poor and needy from the dung heap. Afterwards that commandment will be your defender and a just champion on your behalf before the Holy One Blessed is He. And if Heaven has decreed that some evil is to befall him, that commandment will stand up and confront the Heavenly court and plead for him until the decree is rescinded. Concerning this it states, “If there shall be for him one defending angel in a thousand to tell of the man’s uprightness” (Iyov 33:23).

The "one" angel then is the one of the "thousand" that is represented by the עולם העשיה.