Page 142 - Chayei Adam LAYOUT sivan 5782

Chayei Adam - K’lal 143 - Laws of Aseres Yemei Teshuva & Erev Yom Kippur

must pay attention and take time from his work to set fixed times during the day
and at night to sit alone and contemplate. He should wake up early and pursue
teshuva and pour out his heart in tefilah to his Creator, say vidui and do extra
mitzvos and good deeds, learn more Torah than he usually does and give more
tzedaka than he does the rest of the year as these times are auspicious and tefilos
are heard. It is a positive commandment in the Torah to do teshuva before Yom
Kippur, as the posuk says (Vayikra 15:30) “purify yourselves before Hashem”.
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Therefore, it is appropriate to adopt chumrahs during the aseres yemei teshuva,
even though he is not careful to observe them all year long, so that Hashem will
act kindly with us. Those who eat baked by a non-Jewish bakery during the rest
of the year should be careful to eat only pas Yisroel [during these days] and all
similar things. A person should take even more care to repair his relationships
with others because for infractions against other people, neither Yom Kippur, nor
death can atone until he returns the stolen money and appeases his friend so that
he forgives him. Even if he fasts one hundred years, offers fatty korbanos and
confesses one hundred times a day, he still does not achieve atonement, as it says
in the mishna (Bava Kama 100b) that if he brings his asham before he returns the
stolen item, he does not achieve atonement because sinning against man is a
double sin because he sins against a man and against Hashem as well, for he has
[also] transgressed Hashem’s command. Furthermore, if he hasn’t yet appeased
the other party, how can he confess? After all, the main part of vidui is
abandoning the cheit, but here he still holds onto it. Therefore, he must first
appease his friend so that he forgives him. Then all he is left to deal with is the sin
between himself and Hashem, and for this, teshuva helps, like Dovid HaMelech
said (Tehilim 51) “to You alone I have sinned”, meaning that “this sin isn’t between
me and other people, but just between me and You [Hashem]. If so, You can
forgive me.” Therefore, once he has repaired everything, he should say the

םדו רשב

11. See K’lal 139, note 1 for a discussion teshuva in general, and specifically about
of acting stringently during aseres yemei being careful to eat only pas Yisroel.

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