Who’s Going to Heaven?

One of the salient negative features of exile is the lack of sensitivity to G-d and others. Passover, the Holiday of liberation bans Chometz the symbol of an inflated ego because the source of exile is insensitivity that is generated by an inflated ego.

Open the Gates for those who Made Amends

Does one who has committed serious crimes go to Heaven? Recently, there has been much talk about what it takes for one who has committed heinous crimes to procure forgiveness from G- d. The answer can be found at the end of this week’s Parsha:

“If a soul shall sin and be unfaithful to G-d, by denying that he has his friend’s deposit, or denying a partnership, or if he has stolen or withheld wages from his friend. Or if he had found a lost article and denies it etc. When it will come to pass that he [will acknowledge] that he has sinned and that he is guilty, he shall return the stolen goods that he has stolen etc.”

In addition to compensating the victim, the Torah adds the requirement to bring a sacrifice to G-d.

From this we see how the process of making amends requires that one first make amends to the person he has wronged and then, and only then does he attempt to procure G-d’s forgiveness.

This approach is echoed in the words of the Mishnah:

“Sins that are between man and his fellow man, Yom Kippur does not atone for until he pacifies his fellow [whom he has wronged].”

Why Can’t G-d Forgive?

One is entitled to ask, what is the reason for the requirement of asking one’s fellow for forgiveness? Why can’t we go straight to G-d and ask Him for forgiveness? After all, it is G-d who commanded us to treat the other properly. When we violate that we are essentially going against G-d. Why can’t we then just deal with Him?

There are several explanations that have been given.

Continuous Pain

First, when we cause someone pain and we do not ask that person for forgiveness, we are actually continuing to contribute to the other person’s pain. Only sincere requests for forgiveness from the one we have wronged can help the victim to begin to heal. As long as the pain persists because of our actions or our inaction, we have an obligation to stop it by sincerely apologizing.

Hence asking for forgiveness is not just to erase the past; it is also to prevent pain in the future.

To ask G-d for forgiveness and not the hurt party is to show that we are really not contrite about what we did wrong. Otherwise, why would we want the hurt party to feel pain now? If it was wrong to cause one pain it is equally wrong to not do anything to help the person be relieved of their pain.

A half-hearted request for forgiveness—by asking G-d for forgiveness but forgetting to pacify the victim—is much like the child who threatened his friend he had just punched in the nose: “If you don’t forgive me, I’ll punch you again…”

Sensitizing

Second, when G-d commanded us to treat our fellow properly, it was His intention that we do so not only because G-d said so, but also because G-d wants us to develop a sincere concern for the other. As Maimonides states that a person who desists from hurting another only because G-d said so, is morally inferior to one who is repulsed at the thought of hurting another.

While it is true, that G-d wants us to perform all of the Mitzvot — including the man-to-man ones — because, they are G-d given — nevertheless, .G-d also wants us to care for and feel the pain of the other.

Were we not required to ask forgiveness from the person we have hurt, it would have suggested that G-d does not really want us to care about the pain of that individual. Even if we express remorse to G-d, it would not indicate that we have cultivated the sensitivity that the man-to-man obligations require.

Making Amends for Galus Mentality

As we enter into the Season of Our Liberation—as the Holiday of Passover is called—and as we ready ourselves for the ultimate liberation through Moshiach, we must make the proper amends for the past by detaching ourselves from the “anti-liberation” mindset.

Every minute we remain in Galus/exile we cause ourselves and others untold suffering. And just as important it is to make amends to others when we hurt them physically or offended them, so too is it crucial that we make amends to those whom we have hurt by virtue of the continuing exile.

And the way to make amends for the exile is to identify the exile mentality and to live our lives in direct opposition to that mentality.

Our Sages tell us that when Moses heard the way some Jews spoke ill of the others, he wondered whether G-d would liberate a people who do not have a sense of kinship for the other. Similarly, the Talmud attributes the senseless hatred that prevailed in those days, as the root cause of the destruction of the Second Temple and the ensuing exile.

Much has been written about the slavementality our ancestors had when they left Egypt. After thousands of years in exile we have also adopted a Galus mentality. One aspect of Galus is the desensitization process it engendered. The worst expression of this insensitivity is the senseless hatred that our sages implicated as the primary cause for the destruction of the Second Temple and the ensuing exile.

To be worthy of liberation, thus, we have to work on developing proper sensitivity to each other and to not be content with some perfunctory expression of remorse when we hurt the other. At the same time we have to recognize that we cannot be sensitive to someone if we continue to cause them pain. As long as we do not counter the Galus and its mentality we are in effect embracing exile and perpetuating the insensitivity and pain.

A Kosher Passover

The traditional greeting for Passover is: Chag kasher v’sameiach-Have a Kosher and Happy Passover. The simple meaning of kosher in relation to Passover is to get rid of the chometz, the leavening and all products that contain leavening.

To ensure that the holiday is truly Kosher, in all senses of the word, one must get rid of not only the physical chometz (leaven) but also the chometz-arrogance that prevents us from truly making amends for the pain we cause others.

Senseless hatred, the very cause and characterization of exile is rooted in an inflated ego. When we are obsessed with ourselves we cannot tolerate the existence of another. Getting rid of the inflated chometz is thus the means through which we get rid of Galus.

A Happy Passover

In addition to the need for a kosher Passover to ensure Redemption we also need to have a “happy” Passover. Going out of exile requires joy. Depression and lack of life and enthusiasm are also characteristics of exile. To get out of exile, we must generate feelings of joy.

However, as Maimonides notes, to truly experience oy we must also make others happy, for true joy is experienced only when it is shared by all.

In the traditional greeting the word kosher appears before the word happy. To truly experience joy one must get rid of the inflated ego. As long as one is preoccupied with his or her own needs and interests, one cannot experience true joy. There is never enough to satisfy the appetite of the person driven by ego and self-interest.

By having a kosher Passover—getting rid of the chometz—one can then have a joyous Passover. The absence of ego enables us to feel the joy and to share it with others, which enhances the joy. And it is this joy that serves as the catalyst to get out of exile.

Having a kosher and happy Passover will surely lead us to the time when all chometz— symbolically speaking—will be removed, with eternal joy prevailing.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Vayikra by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.