Aseret Yamei Teshuva and Short-Term Kabbalot: Whom Are We Fooling?

The ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, inclusive, are referred to as aseret yemei teshuva. Regarding these days, the Shulchan Aruch teaches us the appropriate way to conduct ourselves. “בכל הימים שבין ראש השנה ליום הכיפורים מרבים בתפילות ובתחנונים… אף מי שאינו נזהר מפת של עכו”ם בעשרת ימי תשובה צריך ליזהר  – During the days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur we increase prayers and supplications… even one is isn’t usually careful with non-Jewish bread, during the ten days of repentance they ought to be careful.”¹

This is an interesting proposal, that we should adopt a halachic stringency during the days between which our judgement is drafted and when it is sealed. There is, obviously, no buttering up Hashem, and no fooling Him regarding our standards in practice throughout the year. What is the Shulchan Aruch teaching us with this directive?

Leaping Beyond the Law

The Chayei Adam explains the addition of such stringencies during this week. He says this is the time to take on lifnim meshirat hadin, more than strictly required by law, just as we want Hashem to judge us with mercy far beyond what the letter of the law would mandate. The commentators discuss the sort of stringencies a person may take upon themselves that will not be considered a vow, and agree that something that is not a halachic requirement will not present this pitfall. This explains the Shulchan Aruch’s choice of pat palter as demonstration of our heightened diligence during the aseret ymei teshuva. 

To demonstrate that we are aching to come forward and take on well beyond what is required, we couldn’t take on something that is of halachic primacy, even if only according to some opinions. Although Pat Palter stems from the same Halachic principles as the prohibition against wine poured out by a non-Jew, which we have accepted in practice not to drink, nevertheless Chazal have permitted the use of non-Jewish bread during times of necessity. And while many communities have recommitted themselves to this practice in an era where the necessity is all but gone, it remains an area of service that is mandatory and praiseworthy rather than obligatory. 

Once we are facing the right direction, once we’ve clarified where is up and where is down and therefore where all the pieces go, then we take the time to make sure everything is in the right place. To return from where we have strayed, to compensate those we have hurt, to dive deep and discover why we fail where we fail – that’s the work of standard teshuva, the nitty-gritty but vital work of Yom Kippur, when we repeat vidui over and over. But before any of that, a person must know where they are facing and what they are aiming toward.

The Tur² brings the source for this stringency. He cites a Yerushalmi³, where Rav Chiya commands Rav to eat his “Chullin al taharat hakodesh” – that is, to apply the laws of tumah and tahara, that halachically apply only to the priestly offering of teruma, also to everyday food. There is no contamination of impurity for regular food, yet Rav Chiya is highlighting a voluntary elevation of tahara. Then Rav Chiya adds: If you are unable to do this all year, at least take this upon yourself for seven days a year. The Raavya clarifies that these are the seven days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. 

Two Paths of Teshuva

There is another approach discussed in mussar sources. This insight will help us understand what we are trying to accomplish in taking on a hiddur that is something of a stretch from halachic practice, and why this one.

We are well familiar with the basic step-by-step teshuva process, including vidui and regret, that are necessary to rectify our sins and come clean on Yom Kippur. The Rambam puts forth a simple picture of what our judgement on Rosh Hashanah looks like: Mitzvot and aveirot are counted up and measured against each other. Tzaddikim are people whose mitzvot tip the scales: resha’im are those whose aveirot amount to more. Beinonim, who include most of us, have a fifty-fifty balance. Beinonim are meant to use the ten days until Yom Kippur to do teshuva so they tip the scales to the side of mitzvot by the time the judgement is finalized.

This is strange. What are really the odds that most of us line up precisely at the midpoint between tzaddik and rasha? And if that is indeed the case for most of us, why not just add on a mitzvah or two, and then we’re squarely in the tzaddik zone? Why is the recommendation teshuva, if a little more weight on  one side will change our category placement entirely?

Rav Wolbe brings an explanation in the first chapter in his work on Chinuch. He explains that there are two layers to the process of teshuva, personified by Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. On Rosh Hashanah we don’t confess, we don’t do Teshuvah. We only, and wholeheartedly, align ourselves with Hashem’s dominance by declaring His absolute Kingship and our total servitude and commitment. We orient ourselves toward His mission, declaring everything we are and everything we have as totally devoted to Him. 

Once we are facing the right direction, once we’ve clarified where is up and where is down and therefore where all the pieces go, then we take the time to make sure everything is in the right place. To return from where we have strayed, to compensate those we have hurt, to dive deep and discover why we fail where we fail – that’s the work of standard teshuva, the nitty-gritty but vital work of Yom Kippur, when we repeat vidui over and over. But before any of that, a person must know where they are facing and what they are aiming toward.

Kingship, Repentance, Judgement

This is the work of Rosh Hashanah, of being mamlich Hashem. This is why Rambam says most of us are at the point of fifty-fifty: not because our mitzvah/aveira count is there, but because our orientation is. We are all born neutral; not a tzaddik, not a rasha, free to make our choices and mark our own directions. Most people have never made the decision to be evil. The darkest crimes have been historically committed by people full of justification and philosophies. 

But neither have most of us decided, with total dedication, that we are here only for good, that all we have and are will be dedicated only to the cause of what is good, true, beautiful, and holy. Most of humanity is situated comfortably right in the mediocre zone, trying to do good, failing all the time, never going down to the root and asking ourselves: Why am I here? Where am I headed? 

In an Elul address⁴, Rav Dessler closes the circle for us. “It is clear that intellectual exercises will not influence action…The answer is action… Once we have made a radical change in our attitude, we can set about increasing the number of positive acts we do each day…

“The Shulchan Aruch recommends that in the Ten Days of Awe we should adopt special stringencies, even if we do not demand this from ourselves during the rest of the year… I believe our Rabbis are hinting at this very method.”

The beginning of the teshuva process is the Rosh Hashanah work of positioning ourselves properly. During the aseret ymei teshuva, we are meant to actualize and express that high ideal into manifest kabbalah that highlights our newfound commitment, totally removed from our previous levels. That is the appropriate time to take on something one wouldn’t try during the year. 

And hopefully, come Yom Kippur, we arrive with an ironclad new mission statement and a week full of teshuva and good deeds that are far beyond our standard practice. May this lineup equate a verdict of sweetness and abundance for all of Yisrael, and the complete geulah soon. 

1. Orach Chaim 603:1, Mishnah Berura 603:1 ↩︎
2. Orach Chaim 603 ↩︎
3. Shabbat 1:3 ↩︎
4. Delivered in Ponovezh Yeshiva in 1952, Found in Michtav Me’Eliyahu 2 ↩︎