Today’s learning is dedicated to the refuah sheleima of Simcha Nosson ben Zissel.

Attribute # 8 – He Suppresses Our Sins – יכבש עונתינו

Hashem behaves with this Attribute regarding Yisrael; it is the secret of suppression of sin. A mitzvah blossoms upward, breaking through and ascending without limit until it enters before Hashem. Sins, in contrast, are not allowed entrance there, G-d forbid; rather, He suppresses them, so they will not enter. As it is written, “’Evil will not dwell with You’ (Tehillim 5:5) – evil will not dwell in Your dwelling place” (Shabbos 149b). Thus, the sin does not enter inside.

For this reason, “Mitzvos are not rewarded in this world” (Kiddushin 39b), because they stand before Hashem. How could Hashem dispense from what is before Him – spiritual reward – in the physical world? All [the pleasures] of this world cannot equal [the reward of] one mitzvah and the satisfaction that is before Him.

This explains how Hashem “does not accept bribery” (Devarim 10:17), of mitzvos. For example, Hashem does not say, “He did forty mitzvos and ten sins – thirty mitzvos remain, for ten cancels ten,” G-d forbid…

This is a great kindness Hashem does for the righteous. He does not subtract, because mitzvos are very important; they ascend up before Hashem. How can they be canceled by the sins?… Rather, Hashem punishes for sins, and rewards for all the mitzvos.

This is expressed in the Attribute of “He suppresses our sins.” The sins do not prevail before Him, like mitzvos. Rather, He suppresses them, so they will not ascend and enter. Although His providence extends over man’s deeds, both good and bad, even so, He does not suppress the good deeds. They ascend high above, where they combine with one another to form a [spiritual] structure and garment of honor. Sins do not have such a quality. Hashem suppresses them so they will not have such success and will not enter inside.

A person must also emulate this trait. He should not suppress the good others have done for him and remember only the evil they caused him. To the contrary, he should suppress the harm, and forget it and push it to the side; let not evil dwell with him. Instead, the good should be set before him always. He should remember the good and make it overcome all the other deeds he did to him.

He should not cancel in his heart, and say, “Although he did me a good turn, he also did me a bad one,” and forget the good [as a result]. He should not act like that; rather, he should be appeased for the bad done in whatever way possible, and never remove his focus from the good. Let him ignore the bad to the best of his ability, just as Hashem suppresses sins, as I explained.   —   Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Tomer Devorah

From this Attribute, we learn about the incredible impact of the mitzvos we perform. They soar high to the loftiest of levels, resulting in phenomenal ripple effects.

As the Zohar teaches, when a mitzvah is preformed properly, an angel opens the gates of heaven, guiding it towards its proper place above, where its main reward is preserved.

Rebbe Nachman teaches that no deed is ever lost. We may not always see the results of our actions immediately, but every positive thought, word, or movement in the right direction, leaves a tremendous impression on high. The smallest actions in this world create vast reverberations in all the upper worlds.

In Siporay Masiyos, Rebbe Nachman tells over a story of a man who forced himself from a state of sadness to happiness. “He had not moved at all, except perhaps a hairsbreadth discernible only by Hashem… He was then shown that every movement and small change that a person makes in this world, even less than a hairsbreadth, is so precious to Hashem that thousands of miles and countless worlds are incomparable to it”.

Rebbe Nachman compares this to a wheel with spokes protruding from the center. The center of the wheel represents our world, and the spokes are the effects of the good deeds we perform. The further the distance from the center point, the wider the spokes spread; so too, the higher the realm, the greater the impact of our deeds.

Similarly, the Mezricher Maggid teaches, “Through our prayers and good deeds, we arouse mercy, great good, sustenance and blessing to all the worlds from Hashem. It is His will that His good be transmitted to all universes through our good deeds.”

In this Attribute, Rabbi Cordovero teaches us that while our mitzvos stand directly before Hashem, our sins are suppressed and are kept on a lower plane; they do not enter before Hashem to raise accusations against us. As the verse states, “He does not look upon the sins of Yaakov, or see the impurities of Yisrael” (Bamidbar 23:21).

(This is not intended to lessen the severity of our transgressions. As we quoted from Rebbe Nachman, every sin leaves an impression. However, this teaches us that the effects of our misdeeds are limited in nature, and are always reversible.)

As we quoted previously, the Mishnah in Perkei Avos states that with every sin, a prosecuting angel is created; and with every good deed, a defending angel is created. However, the Sfas Emes explains that while they may be similar in a quantitative sense – each sin creates one prosecutor, and each good deed creates one advocate – this is hardly true in a qualitative sense. The words of the defending angels are far more effective than the prosecutors.

Similarly, regarding the judgement process in the Heavenly court, the verse in Iyov states, “If he has an interceding angel, one [defending angel] out of a thousand [prosecuting angels] to attest to a man’s righteousness, then He is gracious to him and says, ‘Redeem him from descending to the pit; I have found atonement.’”

(Commenting on this verse, Reb Noson explains that having so many prosecuting angels will itself act as his defense. Reb Noson writes, “Since he has so many accusers, that means he had so many different yetzer haras, for those prosecutors are the same yetzer haras that convinced him to do whatever they convinced him to do. Therefore, it is actually a wonder how a person like this was strong enough to grab some good points of some mitzvos he did despite all the opposition he faced!”)

Considering the unparalleled worth of a mitzvah, Hashem does not allow our transgressions and good deeds to cancel each other out. As Rabbi Shmuel Meir Riachi explains, “Each person has two accounts in heaven, one for his mitzvos and one for his aveiros. This is not like a checking account, in which debits are subtracted from credits. Rather, they are two separate accounts. In one account are the aveiros, which are waiting to be erased through repentance. In the other account are the mitzvos that a person has done – and the reward for mitzvos is eternal.”

We are naturally inclined to focus on our shortcomings. Too often, we allow our mistakes to define us. But Hashem sees the true nature of our pure souls; He therefore decides to focus His attention on the good we possess.

And as Rebbe Nachman explains, we must try to do the same. He teaches that each of our good deeds or character traits represents a “good point” or a “good (musical) note.” Our task is to seek out the good notes and gather them together one by one, creating a melody. As Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum elaborates, “Each person has his or her unique good points and unique song. This is the music of life that banishes depression and negativity, bringing vitality and joy into the soul.”

By focusing on the light of our deeds, we can repel the darkness of our transgressions. As the Lubavitcher Rebbe said, “Darkness, no matter how ominous and intimidating, is not a thing or force: it is merely the absence of light. So light need not combat and overpower darkness in order to displace it – where light is, darkness is not. A thimbleful of light will therefore banish a roomful of darkness.” Similarly, the Chofetz Chaim said, “Darkness is not chased away with sticks, not even with cannons. One simply lights a small candle, and the darkness flees before it.”

The evil inclination places our mistakes at the forefront of our minds. He tries to make us believe that we are unfit or unworthy. But in truth, our sins and our good deeds are simply incomparable. As the Toldos Yaakov Yosef explains, “I heard from my master [the Baal Shem Tov] that a person’s many sins may blunt his experience of worshipping Hashem. As a result of his degradation, he does not believe that his Torah study and prayer can bring spiritual sustenance to all universes. He does not realize that all the angels are sustained through his words of Torah and prayer. But if you are aware of the results of your actions, it would cause you to serve Hashem with the great joy and awe… Think about this and realize that you are, ‘a ladder standing on earth, whose top reaches the heavens’ (Bereishis 28:12). Every motion that you make, every word that you speak, all your travels and affairs, make a mark on high, and even higher than high… Our Sages teach us, ‘Know what is above from you.’ They are saying that you should know that the Attribute on high are ‘from you’ – they are all aroused through your deeds.”

Similarly, Reb Noson teaches, “Does it make sense that one who cannot perform a complete mitzvah, should not preform half a mitzvah either? So, if one can’t profit from all that there is to profit in this world, they should not earn any profit at all? And they should even lose out whatever they would lose by this, G-d forbid? For surely whatever holy action one would do for Hashem’s sake, even a small little thing, none of that will ever be lost, even one word of Torah, one word of prayer, one penny of charity, etc. And not only will this little action never be lost – no matter what – even if one would be the way they would be, even if one G-d forbid transgressed the entire Torah many times – nevertheless, Hashem does not take away the rewards that are due to any being, and everything one did for Hashem’s sake, whether a small action or a big action, none of the rewards for that would ever be lost in eternal life.”

Due to its incomparable value, the reward for a mitzvah is preserved before Hashem so that we can reap the highest and most spiritual reward, one that will last for all eternity. This is a great kindness of Hashem. As Rabbi Riachi explains, “The greatest pleasure this world has to offer cannot compare to the reward of a mitzvah in the World to Come.” 

The Chofetz Chaim compares this to a person walking into a candy store and trying to buy a treat with a million-dollar bill. The storekeeper will not sell it to him, not because the bill does not have value, but because it is beyond his level of trade. The value of the bill far surpasses anything available in the store.

Similarly, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Brodie of Kelm taught, “The pleasure received in the World to Come for performing the slightest mitzvah is greater than all the cumulative pleasures ever experienced in this world.”

(Parenthetically, Rebbe Nachman teaches that all the worldly pleasures we seek – money, honor, lust, etc. – are all fleeting and lack substance. The evil inclination places falsehoods before us and tries to distract us from what is truly important. From his window facing the marketplace, Rebbe Nachman spotted one of his followers rushing by. “Have you looked up at the sky this morning?” Rebbe Nachman asked. “No, Rebbe, I haven’t had the time,” answered the student. Rebbe Nachman responded, “Believe me, in fifty years everything you see here today will be gone. There will another fair – with other horses, other wagons, different people. I won’t be here, and neither will you. So what is so important that you don’t have time to look at the sky?!” It may be difficult, but we must always strive to see through the fog of this exile and focus on what is everlasting and enduring.) 

In the coming post we will discuss how we can practically apply this lesson when interacting with others, bringing this Attribute of Mercy into this world. We will also see how this Attribute teaches us an incredible lesson in gratitude and appreciation.

TO BE CONTINUED…