TESHUBA 5:3. I’m what I do in the next 5 minutes

In the third chapter of his Hilkhot Teshuba, Maimonides explains that in terms of religious behavior there are three categories of people: rasha ‘tsadiq and benoni.
The rasha ‘(the bad guy) is the individual whose balance of good and bad actions is negative. The tsadiq (righteous person) is  the one who has done more good than harm. And benoni (average) is defined by Maimonides as the person whose good and evil deeds are in a state of equilibrium (3: 1).
In a later Halacha (3: 4) Maimonides explains that this calculation of good and bad deeds is inaccessible to us. I cannot know if God considers me a righteous or an evil person. The difference between these two states is very subtle. And since this evaluation does not depend on the “quantity” of commandments that have observed, or transgressions that I have made, as if they were red and blue “dots” on a scoreboard. Actually, this calculation is only known to God. Why? Because He is the only one who knows, for example, what our true potential is. If my potential to do Mitsvot is foe example 10, because I have the means, the time, the knowledge, etc., to reach 10, but I reach only 7, I have less merit than the person whose potential is 5, because maybe he did not have the means or possibilities of reaching higher than 5, and has reached 5. Sometimes 5 is more than 7! (as in 5/5 > 7/10).
Another example: only God knows the negative psychological forces that could be influencing a person to drive him or her to do something he should not do. The more intense these forces are, the more merit that individual has when he overcomes and controls his impulses. For some people it can be very difficult to avoid a desire to steal, a person could have a natural inclination to theft, or she might have been raised to get always what she wants…  For other individuals, stealing or lying might not be a great challenge, because his nature or education dictates to behave with honesty.
In sum, the positive or negative balance of our merits is inaccessible, even to ourselves, says Maimonides. It is known only to God.
This thought leads to the next question: Since I can not know if in the eyes of God I am a good or a bad person, how do I have to see myself?
If I see myself as a righteous man, I may rely too much on my merits and remain in a state of inertia and stagnation. I have nothing to improve. In fact, I might think, I have some credit to commit some sins … At the other extreme, if I see myself as a bad guy, I might think I’m already beyond redemption (this is what the Rabbis called, ye-ush, a state of psychological abandonment) and might I believe that I have nothing left to do to save myself.
Maimonides deviates from the conventional explanation that distinguishes righteous from sinners, and as a great teacher he was, uses a principle that today we would define as “behavioral psychology”.
Maimonides concludes (3: 8) that a person should always perceived himself or herself as being in a perfect state of balance, 50/50. As if my good and my bad deeds are in a delicate balance between merits and sins. And therefore, the next action I do, will tip the balance to the positive or the negative side.
My next moral decision, to perform or not perform a Mitsva, to commit or not commit a transgression is not going to be “just” one more point in the score board. It is extremely important because my next action will tip the scale one way or the other, and it will determine if I am a good or a bad person.
The secret, according to Maimonides is to perceive ourselves always in this state of balance.: “I am what I do with my life in the next five minutes.”

 



Free Will and Evolution Theory

האדם רשותו בידו וכל מעשיו מסורים לו
Hilkhot Teshuba, 5:4
Yesterday, we explained that the difference between humans and all other living beings is “free will”. The freedom to make moral decisions, places man above nature. In Nature “determinism” rules and reigns. Man is NOT part of nature. Man is “supernatural”.
Free will, from a more philosophical angle, is evidence of “Divine Design”. In other words, a living being with freedom of choice can not be the product of an evolutionary process.
Firstly, because for the theory of evolution we are considered an integral part of nature, where everything is guided by instincts.  We are not a unique specie, which transcends nature, designed to reach the Divine. We are “monkeys, with a little bit more intelligence.”
Secondly, free will runs against the fundamental principle of the theory of evolution: the survival of the fittest. Since moral freedom of choice means that a human being can choose, for example, sacrificing his biological needs, or even his own life, for an “ideal”. This is completely contrary to the evolutionary principle of “survival”.
It is no wonder then that for Judaism free will is the human characteristic that bring us closer to God. Midrash Tanhuma  explains that “the image and likeness of God” which we humans possess is our “freedom of choice”.
Nor is it surprising that those men and women of science who are identified with atheism, would vehemently oppose the idea of free will and would try to prove that it does not exist. An American scientist Benjamin Libet conducted an experiment in 1979 to show that what determines our actions and decisions are unconscious brain processes. The phenomenon of “consciousness”, or making an independent decision, outside the dictates of the brain, is only an illusion. Thus, the less freedom of choice there is, the more animals we are, which is in line with the theory of evolution.
Probably many readers have never heard this argument in such a direct way. But if you stop to observe certain ideological debates, characteristic of our modern society, your will notice that the issue of “free will” is, in a direct or indirect way, very present in most discussions about morality. Those who do not believe in God would justify many moral (or immoral) behaviors claiming that they are innate, uncontrollable conditions. While those who believe in God, would claim that we humans possess the capacity to change, control, and modify our tendencies.
The basic question in this issue is, whether there is something more than the brain in the decision-making process. If the decision maker is the brain, then we are just intelligent animals, as evolutionists say. But if there is something beyond the brain, call it “consciousness”, then we are something other than “nature”, we are above it.
From the Jewish point of view, the brain is not the “I”. The brain is a vehicle, or perhaps the most valuable instrument, of the true “I” that is our consciousness, or in Hebrew “neshama.” The interaction between our consciousness / neshama and our brain is an issue that goes beyond what we can say in these few lines. But briefly: our brain sends signals, for example, that we are starving, but our “consciousness” has the power to make the call and decide “not to eat”, because today is Yom Kippur. Our brain can be stimulated by hormonal urges, but our consciousness has the power to control the response to such urges. The true self is not the the one that produces or sends the electrochemical signals or processes stimuli. Our “I” is the entity that despite the signals or the stimuli can say “NO”.
 MORE ON “EVOLUTION AND FREE WILL”
 
In his book “The Descent of Man” published in 1871, Darwin said that ” “it cannot be maintained that the social instincts [moral principles] are ordinarily stronger in man…  than the instincts… of self-preservation, hunger, lust, vengeance”
 
In the words of William Provine, Professor of History of Biology, Cornell University, “Naturalistic evolution has clear consequences that Charles Darwin understood perfectly… [including the idea that] human free will is nonexistent….”
 
 
In this short video clip you can watch Dr. Provine defining the implications of the modern theory of evolutionary biology (evolution)
 
If there is no God,
There is no life after this life,
There is no objective justification for ethics or morality,
Our lives do not have any transcendental meaning,
There is no free will.   
 


HILKHOT TESHUBA 5:3: Free will and human progress

Yesterday we explained that the idea of free will is, according to Maimonides, the essential foundation of the Tora and its mitzvot. We also said that what makes us different from animals, is not only our intelligence, but above all, our power to make moral decisions. In the animal world there are no “moral choices”. Just survival instincts.  See this.
Man, thus, is a privileged being, and thanks to its free will a “super-natural” creature. This ability to choose is what, according to Maimonides, brings us closer to God.
How?
Let’s deepen this concept a little further.
Maimonides (MT, Teshuba 5: 4) explains that HaShem designed us deliberately with free will: “In the same way the Creator established natural laws, for air to rise and water to descend, … and  animals to be driven by their natural instincts, so decided [the Creator] that man will have freedom of choice, and all his [moral] actions would depend on him …. “
In the natural world,  progress does not consist in a series of choices. Animals progress towards the reaching of their maximum fulfillment in an involuntary,  “automatic”, way. The only exception is man. Human beings have an enormous intellectual and spiritual potential, which’s development depends solely on the choices he or she make. If a man chose to progress, say, intellectually, he would study, learn, instruct himself. But if he wants, he can also relegate his progress and remain as ignorant as he was when he was born into this world. The realization of man’s potential  is not a involuntary, automatic, “natural” process which happens by itself. It depends exclusively on the individual. Ironically,  man is the only creature that can choose to remain less than he can be. This is the essence of “free will”.
We are in an intermediate state, as the philosophers say, between  “angels and beasts.” Thanks to our free will, we can elevate ourselves toward HaShem, or descend to an animal state. The more we exercise our free will, that is, when we learn and grow intellectually and spiritually, when we train ourselves to control our impulses, we get closer, we resemble, God,  Who is,  as we explained, the epitome of free will.
Conversely, the more we relegate our intellectual and spiritual progress, doing nothing to learn,  doing nothing to master and learn to control our urges,  we move away from God and we get closer, we resemble, animals .
In this sense Teshuba means to become conscious that we have a huge potential, and the realization of this potential depends  whether we choose to get closer to HaShem, learning and growing spiritually. The commandments of the Tora train our basic impulses . For example: Kashrut, trains us to control our urge to eat. Taharat haMishapjá, our sexual instincts.  Shabbat, the day we stop making money, teaches us to control our material ambitions. etc.  And so is the case with every Mitsva of the Tora.

 



HILKHOT TESHUBA: The difference between animals and men

In his book Mishne Tora, Hilkhot Teshuba, Maimonides presents the doctrine of “free will” (behira hofsheet), that is, the idea that a human being is free to choose his or her actions, and therefore is responsible and accountable for what he does or does not do.
The issue of free will is quite complex, and Maimonides devotes three chapters to it: Hilkhot Teshuba chapters 5, 6 and 7.
In 5:3 he says “And (free will), is a cardinal principle, and a fundamental pillar of the Tora and the commandments. As it is written: “[Now] Look, I have put before you today life and goodness, or death and evil, and you should choose life” (30:15 Debarim).
Only humans have the power to choose. In the material physical world, and even in nature, free will does not exist. Atoms can not “choose” to act differently than what they are determined to act. And living beings, all but humans, are completely conditioned to act by their survival instincts. It is true that, as Aristotle said, an animal that is both starving and thirsty, can choose whether to eat or to drink first. Animals can choose between two instincts, but no animal can make a moral choice, that is, choosing between an instinct and a value.  A starving animal can not choose “not to eat”. Animals act by instinct, and they can not control it, let alone suppress it. The verse says: “ומותר האדם מן הבהמה אין” “and the superiority of man over the animal is not”  (Kohelet 2: 3). Allegorically, some rabbis use this verse to teach us a lesson,  changing the very last word: “and the superiority of man over the animal is ‘NO’”, in other words, the difference between animals and men is human’s ability to say NO to survival instincts. Man has the “freedom” to satisfy his needs, but he also has the power to delay or even renounce to satisfy his needs. Maimonides explains 5: 1 “This is the meaning of the verse that says: ‘Man is now like one of us.” That man is super-natural., above nature. What distinguishes man from all living beings, is free will. God’s likeness in man is precisely free will, because God “all-mighty” is the epitome of free will.
This moral freedom that man possesses implies that man is responsible for what he does. A person can not justify his or her actions by saying: “I steal money because I have an uncontrollable desire to be rich”, or something like that. Granted that we humans have tendencies or temptations of all kinds, but we have the power to control them. This is free will.
If man were not morally free, it would not make sense that the Tora would command us what to do or not to do. And it would make no sense to be rewarded for what we do right or punished for what we do wrong.
And what does Teshuba, repentance, has to do with all this? Just as we are free to act, and our moral actions are not determined by our instincts, our lives are not irremediably determined by our past. God has given us the power of Teshuba. We are free to repent, which means that in the same way that our future actions are not determined by our instincts,  our past is not irreversible. And if we truly repent, we have the power to “erase” what we did wrong and start over.
As the reader can see the subject of freedom of choice is very complex and triggers plenty of questions. B’H we will devote a little more to it in the coming days.


TESHUBA and the 13 Middot. Forgive, to be forgiven

The core of the Selihot prayer is the Biblical text ‘Amonay, Amonay, E-l Rahum veHanun….”. These words are known as the 13 attributes of God’s compassion.
Maimonides explains that by attributes, we should not understand that these are qualites of HaShem, i.e.,  what God IS (which is beyond our comprehension), but rather, how HaShem operates in this world, as it appears to us.
These words were invoked by Moshe Rabbenu  at a very delicate time: when the people of Israel build and worshipped the golden calf and HaShem wanted to destroy Israel. Moshe pleaded to HaShem to forgive ‘am Israel,  and as we know, He did.
Rabbi Yohanan explained that God Almighty showed Moshe Rabbenu that by invoking these 13 principles, the transgressors will be forgiven.
The 13 principles say the following:
HASHEM – God, behaving with compassion. As opposed to            Eloqim, which alludes to God, acting with strict justice.
HASHEM – (we will explain below this repetition of God’s name)
E-L – mighty in compassion to give all creatures according to their need;
RAHUM – merciful, that humankind may not be distressed;
VEHANUN – and gracious if humankind is already in distress;
EREKH APAIM – slow to anger;
VERAB HESED – and generous in kindness;
VE-EMET– and truth;
NOTSER HESED LAALAFIM – keeping kindness for thousand generations ;
NOSE AVON – forgiving iniquity;
VAFESHA– and transgression;
VAHATAA – and sin;
VENAQE – and pardoning.
Rabbi Eliyahu da Vidas (1518-1592) writes in his book Reshit Hokhma (שער הענוה פרק א) that the expression of the Talmud “by invoking these 13 attributes, the transgressors will be forgiven” should not be understood as by reciting these 13 attributes but “by performing these 13 attributes”.  This means that when we emulate these attributes of God with our peers, we will be forgiven by God.
A few illustrations:
HASHEM, HASHEM:  The repetition of the name of God demands an explanation. Our rabbis taught that from this repetition we learn a wonderful lesson about God’s complete forgiveness: when we truly repent for our transgressions, God will forgive us completely, and will never remind us again of that sin. The repetition of God’s names teaches us thus, that He will behave with us after we repent (SECOND ‘haShem’), exactly as He behaved with us before we sinned (FIRST ‘haShem’). There is no grudge, resentment but a total and complete forgiveness.
Thus, if we want to be forgiven by God, we need to act toward others as we want God to act toward us. Namely, when we forgive others, we should delete and erased all bad feelings toward the person who offended us, and we should act toward him or her as we did before the offense.
EREKH APAYIM (Patient) HaShem waits patiently for us to repent. Instead of punishing us immediately for our sins God gives us time to repent and avoid punishment. So too, if someone wrongs us, we should give that person time to repent and make amends.
VEEMET (Truth). He keeps His promises of good even if we do not deserve that good anymore. If we promised to do a good thing for another person, we should keep our word even if that person does no longer deserves it.
NOTSER HESED LAALAFIM  (Keeps Kindness for thousand generations) If we owe a debt of gratitude to someone, we should continue to express that gratitude to that person’s descendants.
When we recite these attributes we should learn from them, not just how HaShem behaves with us, but also how HaShem expects us to behave with others


Urgent vs. Important

As we have explained yesterday, in Sephardic communities Selihot have already started. And as we will see BH in the coming days, the center of these prayers is the viduyor confession, and the recitation of the 13 attributes of Divine Forgiveness or 13 middot.
But there are also many piyutim, or religious poems in the Selihot. Poems that inspire us to return to God. The first, and one of the best known piyutim is “BEN DAM MA LEKHA NIRDAM” which I would like to explore today.
בֶּן אָדָם מַה לְּךָ נִרְדָּם
“”Son of man, why are you sleeping?! Get up and pray [to God] with supplications!
This piyut begins with an invitation to wake up. “Waking up” in two senses. On the one hand, since the Selihot are said early in the morning, this poem reinforces our commitment to sacrifice our sleep and go to the Synagogue earlier than usual.
But the deepest sense, and certainly the original meaning of this expression, is the invitation to the awakening of our conscience. Let me explain: Given the amount of material obligations we have, given the pace at which we live our crazy lives, and the great variety of distractions at our disposal, it is very possible that our consciences are “sleeping”. How can we identify the sleeping of our consciousness? Spiritual lethargy is manifested by the lack of deep thoughts. If we do not  think about God, and what He expects from us; if we do not ask ourselves why we are here in this world; if we do not reflect on the direction in which our life moves; if we do not reexamine our values and priorities, then our consciences are probably sleeping. Spiritual awakening means bringing to mind and refreshing these questions. Being “awake” means that the search for these answers becomes the purpose of our existence.
This beautiful expression in Hebrew ma lekha nirdam “why are you sleeping” is found in the book of Yona 1: 6. The captain of the ship, which is about to sink, rebukes the prophet Yona (Jonas) who was asleep, away from all worries, ignoring the dangers around him. Yona is in an “escape” mode, almost suicidal. He was literally getting away from God. Undoubtedly, these words also refer to our own existential escapism. A stage we set for ourselves to avoid the commitment involved in asking ourselves the deepest questions. We opt to “escape”, by giving ourselves material distractions which keep us away from God. The first call of the Selichot is the call to wake up and avoid escapism.
How to wake up?
קוּם קְרָא בְּתַחֲנוּנִים
Connecting with our Creator. The connection to HaShem is the beginning of the spiritual awakening.
רְחַץ וּטְהַר ואַל תְּאַחַר בְּטֶרֶם יָמִים פּוֹנִים
“Wash, purify yourself and do not procrastinate ! Do it before the days [of your life] will pass.
The next invitation this piyut is to act “NOW”. Without procrastinating. “Washing” and “purification” does not refer to physical cleanliness, but to the cleansing of the soul: that is, the absence of sins and negative thoughts that keep us away from God.  Our goal is to “cleanse”, i.e., repent for what we did wrong, get rid of red “spots” from our records; and purify our thoughts, moving away from the values of the materialistic society.
To stimulate us to correct ourselves “NOW” we must bring to mind a simple, but usually repressed, idea: our mortality. The certainty that our lives will come to an end, and the uncertainty of not knowing when that end will come ….
This reflection is inspired in the explanation of our Sages to a verse in Qohelet 9: 8 that says בכל עת יהיו בגדיך לבנים, “Let your clothes be clean at all times.” Our sages say that in this verse the garments are our actions. And we are urged to “clean up” our clothes as soon as they get dirty. In other words: we sold never delay  repentance, asking forgiveness, and repair. We must remain clean, without “spots”  permanently, since we do not  know when we will be called by the Heavenly Court.

 



TESHUBA and Chutzpa

The rabbis consider ‘shame’ (busha) as one of the three components of the Jewish ethico-genetical makeup. Together with the practice of benevolence (gemilut hasadim) and compassion (rahmanut). The Rabbis went as far as to say that whoever does not possesses the trait of shame “his ancestors did not stand at Mt. Sinai” (an euphemism to say that he might not be ethnically Jewish).

 

Besides seeing “shame” or “shyness” as an innate condition of the Jewish character, in complete contradiction with the alleged Jewish ‘chuptza’, the Rabbis explained that “shame” is a prerequisite for a perfect Teshuba (repentance).

 

Maimonides writes that when a man or a woman commits a sin… “they shall confess [or articulate] the sin they have done… by saying, `O Lord, I have sinned, I have transgressed and rebelled infront of You. I have done such and-such. And I am ashamed of my actions,  and I regret them and I will never do them again’.”

 

Besides the confession, the regret and the resolutions, the feeling of shame is a critical step for a sincere process of Teshuba.

 

Why?

 

Because unlike guilt, which is a private feeling, shame consists in the uncomfortable sensation of knowing that our flaws and misdeeds are known to others.   Feeling ‘shame’ while articulating our sins in front of God means therefore that we fully realize God’s Presence!

 

God is invisible. It is extremely challenging to be aware of His constant presence. Therefore, we are not easily ashamed of doing something wrong in front of God (=privately) as we are naturally ashamed of doing something wrong in front of other people. Now, feeling embarrassed of our transgressions in front of God means that we have achieved an elevated level of knowing God. It means that we are certain of His existence, and that His presence is so real to us as the presence of other people

 

Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakay blessed his students in its deathbed saying  יהי רצון שתהא מורא שמים עליכם כמורא בשר ודם . “May you be as fearful and respectful of God, as you are of people”. The surprised students said: “Is that all?”. Rabbi Yohanan explained to them that feeling God’s presence in the same way we feel the physical presence of other people, represents a very high level of Emuna (=practical faith).

 

The higher the state of our awareness of God’s presence, the higher the feeling of shame we feel when we confess in front of God. And vice-versa.



TESHUBA, in front of a camera

“What is considered a perfect act of repentance? When one is faced with the same opportunity to repeat the original transgression, but now he does not do it because he has repented… however, when one does not repeat the original transgression, [and refrains from sinning] because now he fears people will find out… his repentance is still accepted, but it is not considered a perfect repentance”  
To explain a perfect scenario of Teshuba, Maimonides gives the example of a man who is involved in an adulterous relationship and later on repents. The ultimate test of his repentance would take place if that man is eventually faced with a similar opportunity but now he refrains from repeating the transgression, because he repented, and because he has reached a new understanding: now he realizes that following his material impulses will hurt him, driving him away from God.
However, if that man faces a similar scenario but now he refrains from sinning because he fears somebody will find out about his affair, his Teshuba is still acceptable, but it is not considered a complete Teshuba. Why? Because this man might have changed his conduct not because of his repentance and his renewed understanding, but just because of social embarrassment, fear of losing his job, etc.
A modern example:  Very often we read in the news about a public figure, usually someone involved in politics, who was caught doing an immoral act. Many times these people would come in front of the TV cameras and publicly express their regret and apologize for what they have done. This is definitely an act of repentance. However, because of its timing, this act of Teshuba is questionable in terms of its credibility and genuineness. Why? Because the whole process of repentance, regret and apologies happened as a consequence of being caught. It is possible that what prompts this person to repent is his fear to loss his  reputation, his job, his family etc., rather than his moral conscience.    
Following Maimonides words, the perfect act of repentance in this case would have taken place if, while still involved in an illicit relationship or other immoral act, before being caught and with no external impediment to continue with it, one would decide out of his own conscience, to stop, repent and change.

That would be a perfect a and complete Teshuba



Teshuba and Jiminy the cricket

Our conscience is an integral part of the makeup of our Neshama (human soul). Like Pinocchio’s cricket, Jiminy, its mission is to warn us whenever we are about to do something wrong. Conscience, moral awareness, is the most effective mental mechanism which protect us from bad behavior. For instance: If we are about to say something negative about someone else (lashon haRa) ideally, our conscience will scream from within and demand us to stop: ‘Don’t do it! This is very wrong!’ .

But, what happens when we don’t listen to the first alert-call of our conscienceand we still do it? How many times our conscience will keep warning us?
As a rule, our conscience would shout very loudly the first time or two. But then, if we keep doing the wrong thing, the conscience’s voice becomes weaker and lower. To the point that, if we persist, our conscience turns virtually mute.
Maimonides describes very vividly this passive moral-state as ‘the lethargy of our conscience’.


The Torah’s cure for the sleeping conscience is the Shofar. The Shofar is the alarm-clock of our consciences. The Shofar has a shocking positive effect on us.Its loud voice represents and helps us to retrieve the original loud voice of our dormant consciences.
In the words of Maimonides (3:4) the Shofar of Rosh haShana carries a strong message :
‘Wake up you sleepy ones from your lethargy, and you who slumber, wake up! Inspect your deeds, repent and remember your Creator…Look at your souls. Improve your ways and actions, and abandon your evil paths and bad thoughts’
 
 
 


HILKHOT TESHUBA 4:2 When the King repents

Maimonides explains the difficulties of admitting to ourselves that we have sinned. Taking charge of our misdeeds -hakarat haHet- is probably the hardest step in the process of Teshuba. In the days before Rosh haShana we are expected to act as our own judges evaluating objectively our past actions. “Objectivity” is not an easy state of mind. It goes against our normal mental behavior. We naturally tend to justify our actions. Everything we have done becomes right in our own eyes.
David haMelekh committed a terrible sin. He took bat-sheba, a married woman, and sent her husband, a soldier, to a sure death in the battlefront. David did not repent by the call of his own conscience. Natan the prophet was sent by God to admonish the King and help him realize the seriousness of the sins he committed. Natan came to the court of King David (back then, the King was also the supreme Judge) and presented him with a fictitious case to judge: A rich man owned thousands of animals. His poor neighbor had only one lamb. One day the rich man had an important guest coming to his house. In order to spare one of his own animals the rich man decided to slaughter his neighbor’s lamb, which he dearly loved.  As Natan expected the King reacted angrily toward this injustice. King David said: “That man (=the rich guy) deserves to die!” Natan the prophet then turned to David and said: atta ha-ish…. “You are that man!”.  Faced now with the objective facts and having issued the harsh sentence against himself King David recognized his wrongdoing. He repented and humbly confessed: ‘hattati laHashem…’ , ‘I have sinned against God’. 
Due to the irreparable damage caused by these transgressions, David was not permitted to build the bet-haMiqdash. But God accepted his repentance.
Natan opened the King’s eyes. And helped him realize the gravity of his actions objectively. By presenting him a fictitious case he forced the King to play the role of an impartial judge. Allowing him to “watch at himself from the balcony”. Freeing him from the psychological mechanisms of self-defense. Which often represent the biggest obstacle in the way to repentance.