This is a brief synopsis of the chiddush of my Shabbos Shuvah Drosho. The Drosho was given at Cong. Anshei Palisades on Shabbos Shuvah 5785 and the synopsis was given at the Mesivta of Clifton today. I am posting it on 6 Tishrei, the 50th yahrzeit of my grandfather, HoRav Dov Yehuda Schochet zt”l, and it should be l’illui nishmoso.
It is on Reb Elchonon’s question. My brother shlit”a addresses the question briefly at https://evenshesiya.com/parsha-sheet-vayelech-shabbos-shuva-rebirth/
There’s a famous question attributed to Rav Elchanan Wasserman ZT”L HY”D: Teshuva is considered to be a tremendous KINDNESS from Hashem. What is the major kindness when in Jewish law there is a simple equivalent: If a person is “Toheh al harishonos”-regrets doing a Mitzvah he loses the reward of that mitzvah. It should follow that if a person regrets wrongdoing he should ‘lose’ the punishment of that wrongdoing. That’s Torah law, so what’s the kindness? One of the several answers to this question is: Teshuva is not about escaping penalty alone, it’s about getting past the sin so that it’s no longer in you or in the world! Rav Tzadok HaCohen of Lublin points out that seemingly goyim have Teshuva also as per the story of Ninveh in the book of Yona. He differentiates by saying that goyim’s Teshuva only helps them escape penalty, it doesn’t expunge the sin and the contamination it caused! Their Teshuva is truly nothing more than regretting one’s actions. If it works to lose reward, it works to ‘lose’ punishment. Jewish teshuva actually expunges the evil! why is there this difference? Because we have Shabbos and they don’t! Just like Shabbos shuts down the profane so as we can get beyond so also Jewish Teshuva has the power of Shabbos to expunge all evil, because Shabbos was gifted to us.
You can find more material, which I used in the actual drosho, but not in the synopsis at:
https://etzion.org.il/he/talmud/seder-nashim/massekhet-kiddushin/קידושין-דף-מ-עא-תוהה-על-הראשונות
(the author’s answer in the name of Rabbi Ezra Bick is essentially the Pachad Yitzchok’s answer which you can find in English in Rabbi Ahron Rapp’s section at https://parsha.net/devarim/NitzavimVayelech60.doc and in Hebrew at https://www.dirshu.co.il/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20האזינו-שובה.pdf), https://files.daf-yomi.com/files/bookfiles/daf-al-hadaf-kidushin/daf-al-hadaf-kidushin205.pdf, https://tora-forum.co.il/attachments/נפש-אברהם-גליון-ג-pdf.114493/, and taamu.co.il/dwqa-question/מה-החסד-בתשובה-שה-מוחל-עוונותינו-הרי-ג/
I give two answers. I think the first one is not bad, but the second one is really good, BH, and I feel מן שמיא קא זכו לי and I hope to write it up here at some point.
See pp 10-11 from a booklet put out by R Hadar Yehudah Margolin, available at www.dafyomi.co.il/lectures/reviis/kuntras-kzayis.pdf What we call "Chazon Ish Shiurim" is a mistake. The measures given for the Seder were not intended as iqar hadin, but included a safety margin beyond the largest known shitah. When it comes to Berakhos, you cannot make […]
On Wed, Mar 25, 2026 at 08:38:03AM -0400, Zvi Lampel via Avodah wrote: > Rabbi Berel Wein z"l with a different nuance: > https://www.rabbiwein.com/blog/post-2225 ... > [On the other hand.] Too much individuality can lead to narcissism and > arrogance. No individuality makes life meaningless and without true > purpose. Judaism always preaches balance in […]
RJIR in Avodah V44n18: > A recent Wall Street Journal article examined an emerging practice of human composting as a solution to cemetery space shortages. The process involves natural organic reduction transforming bodies into nutrient-rich soil using microbes, clover, hay, and straw in sealed vessels over 40 days. Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery plans on adopting this […]
I suppose it depends what happens with the bones. Do the bones themselves decompose with the soft tissue, or not? If they do, it's just an accelerated version of the normal burial process. We put holes in the casket, or in Israel bury in cloth, davka to speed the decomposition of the body and return […]
Tue, 24 Mar 2026 Joel Rich posted: From, The Paths of Providence -Chaim Gross: One of the hallmarks of modernity was the adoption (in the 18th and 19th > centuries) of individualism as the basis by which political and social > groups are structured. This principle values the individual over the > community to a […]
. R' Joel Rich asked: > A recent Wall Street Journal article examined an emerging > practice of human composting as a solution to cemetery space > shortages. The process involves natural organic reduction > transforming bodies into nutrient-rich soil using microbes, > clover, hay, and straw in sealed vessels over 40 days.... > What […]
A recent Wall Street Journal article examined an emerging practice of human composting as a solution to cemetery space shortages. The process involves natural organic reduction transforming bodies into nutrient-rich soil using microbes, clover, hay, and straw in sealed vessels over 40 days. Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery plans on adopting this method. What does halacha has […]
From, The Paths of Providence -Chaim Gross This articulates one of my deepest frustrations: One of the hallmarks of modernity was the adoption (in the 18th and 19th centuries) of individualism as the basis by which political and social groups are structured. This principle values the individual over the community to a much greater extent […]
On Wed, Mar 18, 2026 at 12:22:53AM +0200, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote: > ... which raises the question when can we say there is a minhag when > something is infrequent (tbd) I recently encountered the AhS saying "no". Those who are learning the supplementary material to Arukh haShulchan recently learned YD 57:19. The […]
The mlacha of kotzer on Shabbat is generally defined as taking a living organism and detaching it from the ground which is its chiyut (source of life). The Yerushalmi (shabbat 48b) and many rishonim use this definition to classify taking a fish out of water as kotzer. Some extend the concept to keeping a fish […]
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