Musar su Levitico 5:78

The fourteenth principle is confession, as it is stated (Leviticus 5:5), "and he shall confess that wherein he has sinned." And he must mention his iniquities and the iniquities of his fathers. For he is punished [for them] - if he holds on to the actions of his fathers. And likewise is it written (Leviticus 26:40), "and they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers."

והתודו את חטאתם . The Sefer HaChinuch writes that we are commanded to confess all our sins before G–d as soon as we feel sorry to have committed such sins. The manner in which this is done is that the sinner recites: "O Lord, I have sinned inadvertently, knowingly, or even out of feelings of rebelliousness," followed by a list of the sins committed. It is necessary to spell out each sin as explicitly as one is capable of, and beg for forgiveness. The procedure should not be something cursory. Our sages add that even sins that can be atoned for by the bringing of a sacrifice must be spelled out at the time the sacrifice is offered. Concerning such sins, the Torah says in Numbers 5,6: "Speak to the children of Israel, any man or woman who will commit any of the sins one is apt to commit against one's fellow man thus breaking faith with G–d, and that person becomes aware of his guilt, he shall confess their sins which they have committed." The Mechilta there comments that the words in Leviticus 5,5: והתודה אשר חטא עליה, indicate that the confession must take place before the sin offering has been slaughtered.

The third level is the negative commandment that is rectified by a positive commandment: Our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Chullin 141a) [that] we do not give lashes for a negative commandment that is rectified by a positive commandment - for example (Deuteronomy 22:6), “you shall not take the mother from over the young,” is rectified by a positive commandment, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 22:7), “You shall surely send away.” But even though they would not give lashes through the court [in such a case], there were some with weighty punishments, such that it would reach the heavens and their judgement would be raised to the clouds. For example theft - as it is stated (Leviticus 19:13), “you shall not rob” (Leviticus 5:23) - is rectified by a positive commandment, as it is stated “and returned what he robbed.” Yet they said (Sanhedrin 108a), “The final judgement of the generation of the Flood was sealed only because of robbery, as it is stated (Genesis 6:13), ‘The end of all flesh has come in front of Me, for the earth is filled with extortion.’” And even though sexual immorality is weightier than robbery, it is the characteristic of the punishment of robbery to bring close its day and to quicken the future [consequences] to it. And they [also] said (Vayikra Rabbah 33:2), “[If you have] a seah full of iniquities, there is no prosecutor among all of them like robbery.” And King Solomon, peace be upon him, said about treasures [acquired] from dishonesty and fraud (Proverbs 21:6), “Treasures acquired by a lying tongue are like driven vapor, heading for death.” The explanation is [that] treasuries [acquired from] dishonesty and fraud are vanishing vapor, for their end is destruction. And while they are still in his possession, they are his enemies and seek the life of their master and cause his death - like the matter that is stated, (Habakkuk 2:9-11) “Ah, you who have acquired gains to the detriment of your own house, etc. For a stone shall cry out from the wall.” And in [the case of] robbing the poor, one is liable for death at the hands of the Heavens on account of it, as it is stated (Proverbs 22:22-23), “Do not rob the indigent for he is indigent; and do not crush the poor man in the gate. For the Lord will take up their cause and despoil those who despoil them of life.” Its explanation is, “do not rob from the indigent” because “he is indigent” and has no one to help him; “and do not crush the poor man in the gate,” with shame and disgrace. And “in the gate,” is to say, in public. And it is like the matter that is stated (Isaiah 3:15), “How dare you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” “For the Lord will take up their cause,” since they have no support, or someone to argue and take up their cause. “And despoil those who despoil them of life” - since the cry of the indigent has been brought to Him, He will not take money from you in place of the loot that you robbed, but rather God will remove your soul. And it is stated (Job 27:8), “For what hope has the impious man when he is cut down, when God takes away his life?” And it is also stated (Proverbs 1:19), “Such is the fate of all who pursue unjust gain; It takes the life of its possessor.” And one who torments and pains a widow or an orphan - whether with robbery, or fraud or shame or any type of pain - is liable for death at the hands of the Heavens. And likewise the judges who are able to rescue someone robbed from him who defrauded him, and do not judge [the case of an] orphan, have a death sentence upon them - as it is stated (Exodus 22:21-23), “You shall not ill-treat any widow or orphan. If you do oppress them, I will heed their outcry as soon as they cry out to Me. And My anger shall blaze forth and I will put you to the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children orphans.” Its explanation is, “and your wives shall become widows,” corresponding to the oppression of the widow; “and your children orphans,” corresponding to the oppression of the orphan - measure for measure. And even though these punishments are not written [about the following], one who pains any Israelite transgresses a negative commandment - as it is stated (Leviticus 25:17), “A man shall not oppress (tonu) his kinsman.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Bava Metzia 58b) the verse is speaking about verbal oppression. And that is from the contents of pain and torment, like the usage “(Isaiah 49:26), “I will make your oppressors (monayich) eat their own flesh.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, [also] said (Bava Metzia 59a), “All the gates [of prayer] have been closed, except for the gates of [one who is praying as a result of his] oppression.” And where Scripture was speaking about financial oppression, it mentioned buying and selling, as it is stated (Leviticus 25:14), “When you sell property to your kinsman.” And they said (Bava Metzia 58b) [that] verbal oppression is greater than financial oppression, for this is upon his body and that is upon his money - and about [the former] it stated (Leviticus 25:17), “but you shall fear your God,” but about [the latter (25:14)], “but you shall fear,” is not stated.

לא יבדיל . Concerning the law not to sever the head of a bird serving as a sin offering (5,8). Rabbi Menachem HaBavli reasons that seeing the sinner had been קשה עורף, stiff-necked vis-a-vis G–d when he committed the sin he now wishes to atone for, this is symbolized by the Torah specifying that he must "pinch the head of this bird at its neck without severing it."

מוצא שפתיך תשמור ועשית כאשר נדרת לה' אלוקיך . This verse contains an allusion to the oath of loyalty to the Torah each soul is made to swear by the angel who taught it that same Torah while still in the mother's womb (Niddah 30b). The phrasing "keep your promise," presupposes that everyone has taken such a vow.

ומעלה מעל בה' . Rashi, quoting Rabbi Akiva, comments that since transactions such as loans and the purchase of something substantial always involve the presence of witnesses and the recording of the transaction in a document, we must assume that denial in the quotation means that the guilty person denies the authenticity of the document and/or the reliability of the witnesses. This is not the case, however, when someone entrusts valuables to a friend. The essence of such a transaction is its very secrecy. The depositor can only rely only on the third party [G–d] to know the true facts. Any denial of such a deposit by its recipient is a direct sin against G–d. Thus far Rashi. This teaches us what enormous dimensions a simple monetary dispute may assume. It may be equivalent to denying the very existence of G–d, G–d forbid.

The fourteenth principle of repentance is the confession, as it is said, "That he shall confess that wherein he hath sinned" (Lev. 5:5). And a person is obliged to remember his sins, and the sins of his fathers. Now why should he confess the sins of his fathers? Because of the fact that he is considered guilty if he clings to the evil deeds of his fathers. And thus it is written, "And they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers" (Lev. 26:40). And he should be very careful at the time of the confession to resolve in his heart to abandon his evil ways, for if he returns to them and does not abandon them he is like one who immerses himself but grasps an unclean creature (Ta'anith 16a). For confession is like immersion and the sin is like the unclean worm, and it is clear that immersion is of no use when the person who immerses himself holds on to the source of his defilement.

We are taught in Sofrim 6,4 that there are three occasions when the Torah writes the word לא whereas we read it as לו. Once in Leviticus 11,21, another time in Leviticus 25,30, and a third time in Leviticus 5,1, where the Torah commenced the verse with the words: ונפש כי תחטא, "When a 'soul' commits an inadvertent transgression, etc." The nature of the transgression is improper use of the mouth, abuse of the power of speech. In this instance the abuse consists of failure to testify, i.e. אם לוא יגיד. The Zohar (Sullam edition page 86) seems to understand the choice of the word נפש as opposed to the word רוח or נשמה, part of our life-force, as indicating that any sin we commit is due only to this inferior part of our "soul." The superior parts such as רוח ונשמה are by themselves quite incapable of committing a sin. The dual spelling of the word לוא is a hint that the רוח ונשמה has to make restitution to the נפש for the purity it has deprived them of by its sin. In other words: What the purely part of man has deprived the רוח, of "לא," has to be restored to the רוח, i.e. לו. Unless this occurs, the result will be: ונשא עונו, "he will bear his sin." This is the first of the three aspects concerning which an individual's lifestyle will be examined after his death, as we mentioned at the beginning of this discussion.