Parshat Ki Seitzei 5780
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha the mitzvah of Ha’Shavas Aveidah, the mitzvah of returning a lost object. The Torah obligates us to retrieve an object that was lost and keep it with us until the owner claims the object. The words of the pasuk are (Chapter 22, Pasuk 2) Va’Asafto el Toch Beisecha, V’Hayah Imcha Ad Derosh Achicha Oso. You shall remove it to your home and keep it with you until your brother claims it.
The Sfas Emes teaches on this parsha that this mitzvah applies in spiritual matters as well. Every time someone performs a mitzvah, they receive a reward of an increased spiritual effect. They are not the same as they were before they performed the mitzvah. And this reward is meant to be given permanently; it’s not something which Hashem takes back. This is taught by the Gemara in Ta’anis 25A, Gemiri, Meihav Yehavi, Mishkal Lo Shakli. We have a tradition; Hashem gives to us and doesn’t take it back.
He doesn’t take it back, but we can lose what we have. When we don’t stay on the track of performing mitzvos, we lose the spiritual sense we once had. Sinning puts us in a different space, and we’re no longer on the spiritual plane we once were. Just as one checks in his pocket and can’t find his wallet, so too we do a spiritual check and find we lost what we once had.
Where did it go? As we explained, Hashem doesn’t take it from us; it doesn’t just disappear. But Chazal teach that when there is an outpouring of holiness that was in the world that is subsequently lost, it is claimed by others. As the pasuk says Va’Asafto el Toch Beisecha; you shall take it to your home. And who is able to “retrieve” the Shefa shel Kedushah”, the outpouring of holiness, that has been lost? The Tzadik.
When Bnei Yisrael said Na’aseh V’Nishma at Har Sinai, they received great reward. They received two crowns; one for Na’aseh and one for Nishma. However, when they sinned at cheit ha’egel, they lost what they had. But where did they go? The Gemara in Shabbos 88A teaches in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, V’Chulan Zachah Moshe; Moshe Rabbeinu merited in those crowns which were lost. Since Bnei Yisrael were no longer worthy, and Hashem wasn’t about to take them back, the natural place for them to land is with those who didn’t sin and deserve them, i.e. the Tzadik Moshe Rabbeinu.
It is brought in the Sefarim that even though Moshe Rabbeinu merited in the crowns of Bnei Yisrael, he returns them every Shabbos. This is because during the week we are affected by Shichecha. Just as the forgetful person loses his wallet and other valuables, during the week we forget and don’t remember what we’ve lost. But Shabbos is a day of remembering, as the pasuk says, Zachor es Yom Ha’Shabbos Lekadsho. We remember what we’ve lost and we try to get it back.
And this is why Moshe Rabbeinu returns the crowns of Bnei Yisrael back to them on Shabbos. For the pasuk says by Ha’Shavas Aveidah, V’Hayah Imcha Ad Derosh Achicha Oso. When your brother requests the lost object back, you must return it to him. And on Shabbos we realize what we’ve lost and demand it back. As the Gemara in Beitzah 16A darshens on the words (Shemos, Chapter 31, Pasuk 17), Shavas Vayinafash, Voy Avdah Nefesh! On Shabbos we are cognizant through our Neshamah Yeseirah and aware of what we have lost. Shabbos is the day of Ha’Shavas Aveidah.
The Sfas Emes adds that the fact that we have a mitzvah of Ha’Shavas Aviedah mirrors a trait of Hashem. He wants to help us retrieve what we have lost. He wants us to find all the Torah and the Kedushah we once had and get it back. The Gemara in Nidah 30B teaches that when we are in our mother’s womb we learn the entire Torah. I once heard from Rav Moshe Shapiro zt”l that we spend our entire life searching after this lost Torah, since the job of the Ba’al Aveidah is to search after his lost object (see Kiddushin 2B). And the one day when we have the most clarity and memory of what we’ve lost is Shabbos. This is why Shabbos is a special day for learning and for doing Teshuvah. And Shabbos is also the day that all of Bnei Yisrael receive their crowns back. For on Shabbos we recognize what we’ve lost and we sigh, Voy Avdah Nefesh!
Good Shabbos
Print this article