Annuling The Evil Decree

לרפואת חיים מנחם בן פרימט רויזא

We all know that Teshuva, Tfillah and Tzdaka remove the evil decree. Let us define our terms.

Teshuva

Teshuva means the feelings of remorse and regret one has as if he borrowed 250k from various sources in order to make an investment which turns out to be a complete bluff and all of the money down the drain. The person is left with not a cent and a debt of 250k - with a family of nine to support. How does he feel about his investment the moment he realizes that it all went down the drain, to the last penny? Indescribable regret and contrition. THAT is the feeling one should have when looking back on an aveirah.

Teshuva means returning to Hashem. Where is Hashem? At the end of Ksuvos it says that if one lives in Israel it is as if he has a G-d while if he lives outside the land is as if he has no G-d. Returning to G-d, teshuva, means returning to Israel. At the very least, if one finds it impossible, he should YEARN to return to Israel. The comfort people find in their palaces outside the land is Jewishly disturbing. Some people need to stay in Chutz La-aretz for parnassa purposes - they can partially fulfill the mitzva of yishuv ha-aretz by supporting the Aretz.

Teshuva means returning to Torah. The bracha in Shmoneh Esrei about teshuva begins השיבנו אבינו בתורתך - Return us to your Torah. To return to Hashem is to return to Torah. Why do the best balabatim suffice with daf yomi? Seven years of superficial learning with no chazara. True Torah is with ameilus, sweating, thinking, analyzing and finding the true meaning of the text. Daf Yomi is great for a quick kviyus in the morning to give one a sense of community and some yedios. But in the 14 hours a day when one is not working [I am giving 10 hours for work. I bless you that you don't have to work so much] there is time for deeper iyun [in addition to eating, sleeping, davening and maybe most important - family time].

What about weekends? Half a day Friday, all day Shabbos, all day Sunday, Jewish Holidays, [lihavdil] Secular Holidays, Chuppahs [a free hour to learn uninterrupted. You really don't have to watch the kallah's friend's walking down the isle...], Shmorgasbords, Bar Mitzvahs, waiting for trains, appointments, the chazan to start chazaras ha-shatz etc. etc. So much time to learn!!

Teshuva means to return to Torah.

Tfilla

The gemara says that one may not eat before davening because one may not eat before asking for his life. לא תאכלו על הדם - לא תאכלו לפני שתתפללו על דמכם. Davening is asking Hashem for existence and knowing that without Him we have nothing [Rebbe Shlita]. Davening is standing before Hashem with complete העדר - utter nothingness. I have no daas, no parnassa, no health - NOTHING. Then I come before Hashem and says "Please give me what I need. Without You I have nothing". [Maharal]

We feel quite secure in what we already have. We shouldn't.

Tzedaka

Tzedaka means that a person appreciates that his money is not his. I know a lot of people who give a lot of tzedka but rare is the person who realizes that he is giving away Someone Else's money [Hashem's:-)]. If one has that realization he gives with tremendous simcha and an open heart as the Torah requires.

Tzedaka is giving at least 10 percent. If all frum Jews would give maaser all of the yeshivos would be out of the rough. Presently, they are almost all IN the rough. If a person has extra he may give 20 percent and even more. Why does a person need hundreds of millions for himself? I have read of goyim who have billions and are doing everything they can to give it away. We Jews should do no less.

ותשובה ותפילה וצדקה מעבירין את רוע הגזירה