In the begining of the Parsha we read about the מצוה of וידוי מעשרות. If a person has מעשר in his home which he hasn’t yet given away, the תורה states that on ערב פסח of the 4th year in the שמיטה cycle, he must remove the מעשרות from his home and give them to the proper recipients.
After removing the מעשר he must say the following פסוקים which are known as וידוי מעשרות:
ביערתי הקודש מן הבית וגם נתתיו ללוי ולגר ליתום ולאלמנה ככל מצוותך אשר ציוויתי. לא עברתי ממצוותיך ולא שכחתי….שמעתי בקול ה אלוקי עשיתי ככל אשר ציוותני.
I removed the מעשרות from my home and gave them to the correct recipients. I listened to You Hashem and did all that You told me to do. He concludes וידוי מעשרות with the following תפלה:
השקיפה ממעון קדשך מן השמים וברך את עמך את ישראל.
As רש”י explains:
עשינו מה שגזרת עלינו, עשה אתה מה שהבטחתנו. Just like we did as we were told, so to Hashem do as You promised, and Shower us with your ברכה.
Harav Yosef Ber Soliveichik asks: We know that וידוי is meant to be a confession over misgivings. Yet here, by וידוי מעשרות, not only is it not a confession, it appears that the person is actually bragging that he did everything right. Why then is it called וידוי?
Answers Rav Soleveichik, the תורה is giving us guidance on how a person should be approaching וידוי, and תשובה in general. Certainly one should confess his misgivings. But 1st he has to acknowledge the good he’s done. Realize that your a good Jew, who tries to do what’s right, speak about all the good you have done, and then, you can confess and say וידוי for the mistakes that you made. So the תורה here is teaching us the proper way to וידוי.
This idea is especially relevant this time of year, as we prepare ourselves towards the ימים נוראים. In order to do proper תשובה we must 1st acknowledge that we are good Yidden who try hard to do the will of Hashem each and every day. When we realize that we are on the proper path, we can now turn to הקב”ה and say ” We want to be even better in the next year.”
Just like by וידוי מעשרות, we must be cognizant and aware of our many מעלות. This will keep us in the proper frame of mind to be able to do real תשובה.
We’ll conclude with a beautiful story which highlights this point, as told over by Harav Yaakov Galinsky.
Rav Chaim of Volozhin was learning ספר תנא דבי אליהו, and came across a puzzling passage. “הקב”ה שמח בחלקו” The רבש”ע is Happy with His lot.
A person is limited in what he has, and therefore should be happy with his lot. But the רבש”ע has everything, what then does it mean that He’s שמח בחלקו?
Rav Chaim couldn’t figure out an answer, so he went to ask his Rebbe, the Vilna Gaon. Explained the Gaon” It’s true that Hashem has everything, but there’s 1 thing he decided not to control. And that thing is a person’s יראת שמים. As חז”ל say הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים.
It’s up to each individual to decide his own יראת שמים. It’s on this concept that תנא דבי אליהו says הקב”ה שמח בחלקו. The חלק of הקב”ה is us, Klal Yisrael, as the פסוק says, כי חלק ה’ עמו יעקב חבל נחלתו. And it’s to us that הקב”ה is שמח בחלקו. Whichever level of יראת שמים that we are on, הקב”ה says ” I’m שמח בחלקו- I’m Happy and Proud of you!”
May we all merit knowing and appreciating all the good we do, and through that, merit growing even closer to the רבש”ע. Good Shabbos
Weekly Parsha Shiur 