"Return O Israel, unto the L-rd thy G-d;/For thou hast stumbled in thine iniquity." (Hosea 14:2)
Should we not find it cause for wonder that the prophet directs his call to repentance - "For thou hast stumbled in thine iniquity" to "Israel" - a name which denotes those among the People who have attained the highest spiritual level? Should not the call to repentance be directed, first and foremost, to those who are submerged in sin, to those who have descended to the depths? Should not the call go out to the wicked to forsake his way and the man of iniquity his thoughts (v.Isa. 55:7)? Are not the sins of the righteous light ones and their transgressions few? Why then is it to them that the prophet sends out his call?
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"A fire devoureth before Him,/And round about Him it stormeth mightily." (Ps. 50:3) From this verse we learn that G-d examines those "round Him" most strictly and minutely - "to a hairsbreadth" (Baba Kama 50:a) Once again the question must be asked - why? It is plain that the Heavenly Judgement is not swayed by favouritism nor can it be bribed with good deeds. The fulfillment of a mitzvah does not cancel out a transgression. The Almighty does not indulge the righteous over others, and the rank of "round Him" does not grant immunity before the Law. The Heavenly Judgement does not tend, as mortal courts sometimes do, to show a greater respect for those who have done great deeds than for the common man. It does not forgive the righteous more easily nor does it overlook that which is to their discredit. But why is there such a minute scrutiny - "to a hairsbreadth" - of those "round Him"? After all, justice is impaired no less by an overly severe punishment as by one that is too light.
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To weigh one's merits against one's sins is a task for Divine Judgement. Only the Omnipotent can appraise the value of one's merits in relation to one’s sins. (Rambam, III Hilkhoth Teshuvah 32)
The Sages admonish us to "be careful to perform a minor mitzvah just as well as a major one, for you do not know the reward for each mitzvah." (Pirkei Avoth 2:1) From this precept we may infer that it is possible for us to differentiate between a minor and a major mitzvah. How then is it not possible for us to weigh the value of our merits in relation to our sins? Why does the valuation of one in relation to the other seem to be so deeply concealed that "only the Omnipotent" can make the appraisal?
The explanation would appear to be that a deed which has been done, whether for good or for evil, does not exist in isolation. It projects an echo; it sends out waves. A deed has impact not only upon the doer - for "one good deed draws [in its train] another good deed, and one transgression leads to another" (Pirkei Avoth 4:2). It has an impact also upon the surroundings - both near and far - of the doer. It awakens a chain reaction extending far beyond the deed and the doer.
"Wherefore they that speak in parables say: Come ye to Heshbon!" (Num. 21:27) - (Heshbon = a city of the Amorites; heshbon [Heb.] = a reckoning or accounting.)
The Sages interpreted this verse thus: Let us make up a reckoning of the world's account. Let us compute "the loss sustained by the performance of a mitzvah against the reward secured by its observance, and the profit of a sin against its injury." [Pirkei Avoth 2:1] (Baba Batra 5:b)
Those who maintain control over their natural impulses and desires know that their own reckoning is not merely that of an individual, but an integral part of the world's account! For the individual is an inseparable part of the Klal (communality). And the events which take place in the life of an individual have their effect upon the community and the world as a whole. This is so not only tangibly, perceptibly, consciously, but intangibly and unawares. The Sages interpret the verse: " ‘And thou shalt love the L-rd thy G-d’ (Deut. 6:5) - let the name of G-d be loved by you." (Yomah 86:a) This is the tangible. These are the deeds on account of which there is a Kiddush HaShem (Sanctification of the Name) or, - G-d forbid - a Hillul HaShem (Desecration of the Name). These are the good deeds which bring in their train similar deeds by others. So, too - often to an even greater extent - does a bad deed serve as a bad example to others.
But there are also deeds whose impact is not easily or immediately perceptible. These are the deeds which spread in hidden waves across the world leaving behind imprints of good and evil. This was the meaning behind the saying of the Natziv, Rosh Yeshivath Wolozhin, that "When the matmid (diligent student) remains late at night to study Torah in the Yeshiva in Wolozhin, it is a guarantee that the last of the assimilationists in Paris will not marry a non-Jew"
Thus do we see that - "the loss sustained by the performance of a mitzvah against the reward secured by its observance" - is a part of the world's account. It is obvious therefore, why the valuation of our merits in relation to our sins is so complicated and difficult that only the Omnipotent can make the appraisal!
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"And round about Him it stormeth mightily." (Ps. 50:3) The definition of what constitutes Kiddush HaShem and Hillul HaShem is not limited in its terms and varies from person to person. For, there can be no comparison between the influence exerted by the actions of one whose deeds serve as an example to many, and those of one who is unknown to others. So, too, in the matter of hidden influences, the impression made by the actions of those "round Him" is not the same as that of those who have not achieved this status.
Concerning other influences which are tangible and perceptible the Gemara asks: "What is considered Hillul HaShem? - Rav said, an example would be, if I were to purchase meat from a butcher and not pay him immediately. R. Yohanan said - if someone such as myself went 4 cubits without a tallith and tefilin." (Yomah, ibid.) That is, in the case of great men such as these even a trifling offense may constitute a Hillul HaShem. For it is they who serve as our models, whom we watch and from whom we learn. And when a fault of any kind is perceived in the righteous, too often it is taken by the unwary as a license to overstep the bounds.
And this is true, not less but even more so, of those hidden influences which are imperceptible. The Gemara tells us: “A man was killed and eaten by a lion three parasangs from R. Yehoshua ben Levi, and Eliyahu the Prophet refused to speak with him for three days.” (Makhoth 11:a) This is the Gemara's explanation of the chain which links the involuntary manslayer who is sentenced to exile in a city of refuge and the High Priest upon whose death the manslayer returns from his place of exile. The High Priest is held to bear an indirect guilt for the slaying - for it was his task "to pray for mercy for his generation and he did not pray for mercy." (Ibid.)
"...and he did not pray for mercy." - on what grounds does the Gemara state that the High Priest did not pray for mercy for the People? On the face of it, the blame for a death must be placed upon the lack of care and the recklessness of the manslayer, to whom it did not occur that his actions were liable to result in injury and even death for someone. The choice of action was the manslayer's. Wherein then lies the guilt of the High Priest who neither knew nor recognizd the manslayer, who may not ever even have seen him? But if the High Priest had prayed for mercy for the People in the manner he should have - with all his heart, identifying himself totally with all who suffered, all who were stricken - then the quality of mercy would have found its way into the heart of the manslayer, wherever he might be. He might have weighed his actions more carefully and taken into consideration that what he was doing might cause an injury to someone without his being aware of it.Then he might not have been responsible for bringing about the loss of a life in Israel.
At first glance the sin of the High Priest appears to be a light one. He was a little negligent in fulfilling his duties. But the results of his negligence are farreaching and great. And the charge which he must answer before the Omnipotent has been put forward against him by the blood of the slain, and the blood of all his descendents who might have been for all the generations to come.
Thus does G-d examine those "round Him" most strictly and minutely "to a hairsbreadth". For all who are "round Him", close to the center, have a strong and powerful influence upon the world. And even a "hairsbreadth" that extends outward from "round Him" can lead to tempests and fierce winds at the very farthest corners of the world.Thus that measure of justice which examines the righteous minutely is not flawed, but rather it is the stringent measure of justice which is able to weigh merits and obligations upon a scale whose precision no mortal can grasp.
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Therefore does the prophet cry - "Return O Israel!" He does not preach to those whose ears and hearts are sealed; they are unable to hear him. But the principle guilt is not in them. The prophet crys out to those "round Him". It is they who must cleanse their hands of iniquity. And even though they do not stand with murderers and oppressers, if they are able to return from their "stumble into iniquity" then will mighty waves of repentance sweep over all the House of Israel and "And they shall come that were lost in the land of Assyria,/And they that were dispersed in the land of Egypt;/And they shall worship the L-rd in the holy mountain at Jerusalem." (Isa. 27:13)
---HaRav Shaul Yisraeli, Ma’amar
(translated by Rhea Magnes)