BS”D
BRAZENNESS VS.
BASHFULNESS: YOM KIPPUR
Shira Smiles shiur
– 5781
Adapted by Channie
Koplowitz Stein
Every
year at this time we focus not only on doing teshuvah, repenting for sins we
have committed, but also on on improving the character flaws that led us to transgress.
Let us today focus on those sins caused by einiyim ramot/haughty eyes
and by azut metzach/brazenness. Rabbi Meislish explains that these
characteristics refer to one’s attitude both toward God and toward others
greater than himself, such as rabbis, teachers and parents. In the era
immediately preceding the arrival of Moshiach, the Gemorra Sota notes
that the generation would have deteriorated to a state where sons and daughters
display complete insolence toward their parents, the government will turn to
heresy and there will be no rebuke, those who dread sin will be despised, and
truth will be absent. These are indeed frightening times when we have no one to
turn to except to our Creator.
An
arrogant, brazen man is shameless. As such, he invites many sins and arguments,
is disrespectful of others, and, as Pirkei Avos notes, is headed for Gehinom,
writes the Orchot Tzadikkim. In a similar vein, Rav Dessler explains why
the exile after the destruction of the first Beit Hamikdosh was only seventy
years long while our current exile continues for nearly 2,000 years. The First
Temple was destroyed for our sins of immorality, idolatry and bloodshed. These
sins are more easily remedied than sins caused by an innate character flaw. In
contrast, the Second Temple was destroyed for our sin of baseless hatred.
Baseless hatred is not the antagonism one feels toward someone who is causing him
injury or preventing his success. This hatred is for the very fact of the
other’s being, of the fact of his mere existence.
Baseless
hatred is the characteristic of Edom/Esau, actualized through his grandson
Amalek. For this kind of hatred there is no easy cure. It is irrational and the
product of one’s imagination, and it manifests itself in arrogance and
insolence to all that fall outside the confines his personal ego has
established. The embodiment of this evil eventually destroys itself, but in the
interim, it destroys peace and security, it leads to despair, and finally to
the realization that technology and materialism will not save us, that we can
rely only on the spiritual, that which Amalek works so hard to destroy. Science
and technology feed man’s arrogance, leading man to falsely believe that he is
in control. We need some humility, for we are not in control.
Rabbi
Yechezkel Levenstein explains that even yeshivah bochurim are guilty of
arrogance. The young man forms an opinion and, because it is his, believes it
to be correct. Then he goes to his Rebbe and asks for the Rebbe’s approval and
approbation, rather than first asking for advice in advance. After all, if I
feel myself to be as wise as that Rabbi, why should I let him tell me what to
do? “...For the sin of brazenness.”
When
this attitude infects the general public, continues Rabbi Levenstein, society
will break down and anarchy will prevail, for each person will feel he has the
right to do and say whatever he feels, and he needn’t conform to anything
someone else says or feels.
Arrogance
and brazenness leave no room for shame, and shame, notes the Talmud, is an
inherently Jewish characteristic. It is a vital and positive character trait,
for it prevents us from sinning, while arrogance, writes the Orchot
Tzadikkim, prevents us from acknowledging even the possibility of our
having sinned.
However,
boldness is not all bad. Rabbi Judah ben Tema advises us in Pirkei Avot
to be bold as a leopard. Rabbi Irving Bunim elaborates and explains that if one
knows how and when to be bold, boldness is a positive trait. Nonetheless, our
primary persona should be one of shame and humility. Shame is one of the three
characteristics that define a descendent of Avraham Avinu, for of all God’s
creatures, only mankind can experience shame. It shows on his face. As a child
sees the faces of others, he begins to realize that his own face, his own
“forehead” will reveal his emotions. That shame actually appears on his face is
one incentive to refrain from sinning initially and to do teshuvah if one has
indeed transgressed. Both arrogance and shame are visible on one’s face. Every
time we sin, we act in arrogance to Hashem’s presence before Whom we stand.
While
Western culture considers shame a negative emotion, Judaism considers it be a
necessary component of the Jewish soul, so much so that one who has no shame is
viewed as one whose ancestors could not have stood at Sinai and who trembled at
God’s voice, write Rabbi and Dr. Pelcovitz in Step by Step. After all,
it is shame that acts as a barrier and prevents our sinning.
Bushah/Shame is related
to boshesh/delay/hesitate, continues Rabbi Pelcovitz. It is the word
used for when Moshe’s return from atop Sinai was delayed, and when Sisera’s
mother wondered about the delay of her son. It is also related to yavesh/dry,
indicating a break in the expected flow of action. “A healthy level of
self-consciousness makes us painfully aware of our vulnerabilities – and our
responsibilities.” Shame makes us pause before we act. Shame is the feeling of
smallness, of wanting to hide for not living and acting in accordance with
one’s true, inner essence. Shame brings remorse and growth.
However,
there are time when one must overcome shame, continue Rabbi Raphael and Dr.
David Pelcovitz. One cannot be too timid if one wants to learn. Nor should one
be ashamed to observe mitzvoth even in strange situations. Shame should be an
integral part of one’s being, not a matter of appearances. This was the
difference between Shem and Yafet. When Ham’s son told them how Noah had disgraced
himself by lying naked in the tent, Shem went in to cover his father because
that condition was shameful for Noah even if no one else saw him. Yafet, on the
other hand, was upset at the appearance of impropriety, that it could be
revealed outside. Man must be guided by that which is intrinsically right,
ethical and proper, not by appearances. Ethics must be taught to be
internalized, not to make an impression on the neighbors. Shame must be
developed even in private settings as a braking mechanism to stop and think
before doing any actions that would not conform to one’s innermost ethical
values.
An
egotist will find it hard to do teshuvah, writes Rebbetzin Felbrand in
Humility as an Aid to Teshuvah. The egotist will find no fault within
himself, justifying his failures by attributing them to other people or to
circumstances. His haughtiness prepares him for sin, for the arrogant person
cares for nothing beyond himself. His brazenness shows on his face as azut
metzach/boldnes of the forehead.
Besides
signifying brazenness in humans, azut can also refer to an aiz/goat.
In the Temple period, it was a goat sacrifice that would be offered as a sin
offering to counter the azut panim/boldfacedness that leads to sin,
writes Rabbi Eisenberger in Mesillot Haneviim. It is brazenness that
leads one to act against societal norms. It is shame and humility that leads
one to enter shul unobtrusively when arriving late. Headed toward Gehinom is a
natural outcome for the brazen and boldfaced.
Since
each human being is a microcosm of the world and carries within him the traits
of all animals, we each have the boldness of the leopard within us, and we must
use boldness too in ways that enhance our Torah observance. The negative
boldness, represented by Esau is visibly manifested in his hairy, furlike skin.
When Rivkah tells Yaakov to bring her two good seirei izim/hairy goats
to prepare and bring to Yaakov to receive the blessings, she is teaching Yaakov
that boldness can be used in a positive, good way, not just in Esau’s way.
Similarly, continues Rabbi Eisenberger, Yosef’s brothers, although mistaken,
used the blood of a goat to imply that Yosef had been killed by a wild beast
rather than sold. The brothers acted on the false assumption that Yosef was
boldly and brazenly attempting to wrest the monarchy from the intended royal
tribe, Yehudah. They felt the blood of the aiz/goat would atone for
Yosef’s azut/brazenness.
At
the center of the Temple’s Yom Kippur Service was the dual mission of the two
goats the High Priest took. Through lots, one was selected to be sacrificed on
the altar while the other one was sent to a desolate plate where another priest
would kill the goat by throwing it off a cliff. Every sin we do has a
manifestation of brazenness. Let us transform that boldness into a sacrifice
for Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
Not
only brazenness, but also kedushah/holiness can be recognized on an
individual’s visage. [My mother a”h would say that a certain individual, a
Rebbe or tzadik, had hadras panim/a glorious face, shining with a sacred
quality. CKS] This sacred light was visible on Moshe Rabbenu’s face, but after
Bnei Yisroel sinned, they could no longer bear to gaze upon it. Their shame
prompted Bnei Yisroel to ask Moshe to wear a mask when talking to them. But
that shame, an acknowledgment of sin, is also the key and the hope of repair
and return to the previous, sinless state.
But
that repair can only be accomplished when one takes personal responsibility for
his choices and actions. Rabbi Brazile recounts the aggadah about Rav Elazar
ben Dudai who, after having sinned egregiously, tried to change the decree
against him by blaming his parents, his environment, and even his wealth. When
none of these were effective, Rav Elazar finally put his head between his knees
and sobbed uncontrollably, realizing that his actions, whatever circumstances
surrounded him, were still his choice. When he finally took personal
responsibility, Hashem forgave him.
On
Yom Kippur, we precede the recitation of our viduy/confession by
acknowledging that “we are not so brazen and obstinate as to say… that we are
righteous and have not sinned. Aval/but we and our fathers have sinned.”
It is that very word, aval/but, teaches us Rabbi Brazile, that is the
basis of our inability to do proper teshuvah. Aval gives us
justification for our transgressions, allows us to say, “But it was not my
fault.” This is pure brazenness. Hashem has given us these parents and all
these other blessings for our benefit, and now we blame Hashem for giving us
these blessings? [What was the greater part of Adam’s sin? The brazenness in
blaming Hashem for giving him a wife who then gave him the forbidden fruit.
CKS]
It
is important to remember that a sense of shame is proof of our being
spiritually alive, writes Rabbi Biderman in Ohel Moshe. Shame helps keep
us vigilant so that we don’t become accustomed to sin, to feeling sin is not a
problem. But that sense of shame must not be limited to outward appearances. It
must be internalized so that we take responsibility for our transgressions, so
that we can break down the arrogant world of Esau and destroy the underlying
cause of this extended exile at the hands of Edom/Esau/Rome.
May
this year be a year of personal, communal and national redemption.