How can I not begin with the amazing miracle that happened to us on the last day of 5764? Four hundred ballistic missiles were fired by Iran at Eretz Yisrael, and 181 made it to Eretz Yisrael, past the outer defenses. (These are the numbers that I heard.) Many of those were also shot down, but some did hit and explode, with damage (overall minimal damage), and one victim in Yericho (nebuch). Many misses, many near misses, and many hits in “open areas.”

How many open areas are there in the populated areas in Israel?! I heard from one person in Holon how he watched a missile land in the empty area behind their building with a huge explosion - behind their building and all the others around them, with barely any damage to the buildings. Someone who lives in Bat Yam said that he watched 25 missiles (or pieces of missiles) land in the sea with giant splashes and explode, with none landing on the land around them. (I’m not asking why they weren’t in a safe room.) Amazing miracles!

The odds of all the various anti-missile systems working together so well are very low. That’s what the experts are saying. Last summer, I had the opportunity to speak to one member of the team (a frum Jew from the States) who worked on both the Iron Dome and Arrow systems. To quote him: “It’s pretty much like shooting a bullet at a bullet, and it’s a huge challenge regardless of how many homing devices and trackers you stick onto it. The sky is a big place.” With this second attack having similar results as the first last erev Pesach, we must view all this as nothing less than a massive miracle done through natural means - which is not at all natural.

We must give thanks to Hashem for the amazing miracles and keep praying that He continues to save us from our enemies. What a way to end of the year!

As this article is for the erev Yom Kippur paper, I’d like to share one explanation for what teshuvah is. Teshuvah literally means to return. Return to who? To what?

The Rambam, while describing the seriousness of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, uses the expression that we are “running to return to Him.” Simply, we want to return to Hashem, the source of our security. For example, when a baby is born, it cries. There are many reasons for crying. A big reason is because it was just ejected from the warmth and security it had in its mother’s stomach. There it had everything, and it just lost it. 

On Rosh HaShanah, we declared that Hashem is our King. Our King who we turn to and rely on for everything. On Yom Kippur, we want to return to Hashem, to be together with Hashem without anything blocking us. Our sins do block us, so we wish to be cleansed from them. We declare that we will stop doing them. This is part of the process. However, the first step is to have charatah, regret, and to declare lo shava lanu, the avairos weren’t worth it. Based on the Rambam Chazal explain, that if right now that avaira came before me, I would not do it! Rav Zeidel Epstein zts”l (Mashgiach in Torah Ore) said that Hashem gives us a natural hisorirus, an inspiration, to be the best we can on Yom Kippur. This is to help us focus with true intention that we really have charatah for our past deeds, and are wholeheartedly retuning to Hashem!

Chazal teach us that on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur, we can come before Hashem with the power of ba’asher hu shom - as he is right now. We learn this from Yishmael. Yishmael and his mother Hagar had been banished from the house of Avraham Avinu, based on Hashem’s directive. Yishmael (who was 17 years old) was sick, and his mother placed him under a bush and went on the side to cry. He lay there dying, and he prayed to Hashem to save him, and he did teshuvah. The malachim (angels) argued that his descendants will kill Jews, so why save him? Hashem answered: He is judged based only on his current state, and right now he has begged for forgiveness and done teshuvah

There are a few questions on this. What was the basis of the malachim’s claim? Why should he be judged based on his descendant’s future actions? Judge him, not his kids! Also, what teshuvah did he do? Doesn’t teshuvah require action, to repair what was done? Regret itself is here now, but is it sincere? Isn’t there the rule, “there are no atheists in a foxhole”? How is that real teshuvah?

R’ Yisrael Altusky shlita explains that the malachim were claiming that Yishmael’s teshuvah was insincere, as it was very shallow, only surface level. The biggest proof was that he didn’t do teshuvah until much later in his life! So we should view him as if he didn’t do any teshuvah, and look - see that his kids will carry on his evil ways! Don’t save him. So why was it considered to be teshuvah now? This was the great insight that Hashem taught us. Even if the teshuvah is not deep - it’s only an exterior teshuvah - it will still save us on judgement day, as it did to Yishmael. Of course, one should strive to keep improving their teshuvah. However, for that moment, when one has charatah and wishes to return to Hashem, it is considered to be a full teshuvah to save them!

[As an aside, this is the power we can use today as we are facing our adversary, Yishmael. The power that he used - we can also use in our times. Yishmael today is all very exterior, screaming their beliefs, and their modesty is literally a covering; underneath, it is all rotten, (nine kavs of z’nus came to the world...). For ourselves as well, even though we would like our belief, trust, and reliance on Hashem to be deeper, and for our teshuvah to be sincere, our surface level is also powerful, and much more deep-rooted than theirs!]

This is the power we wish to utilize on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Even if at the moment our teshuvah is not deeply sincere, Hashem will still accept it and consider as if we have done complete teshuvah! 

As a practical step toward the teshuvah, to make it more real, we’ll share advice given by Rav Leib Chasman zts”l (Mashgiach of Yeshivas Chevron). He advised to take the smallest new year’s resolution that you think is possible to keep, something between you and Hashem, or something in midos to improve between yourself and others. Something really possible to do and to keep doing. Take it, cut it in half and do it! Do that!

May we all be zoche to return to Hashem with sincere teshuvah, and to be sealed for a wonderful year, and greet Mashiach very soon!

Adapted from shiurim given by R’ Yisrael Altusky shlita, Yeshivas Torah Ore, Yerushalayim. Shiurim can be heard at the Kol Halashon website.

By Rabbi Dovi Chaitovsky