The Secret Sale Of Treif Meat

What's the meaning of Hashem taking a bribe? What does that mean? So, the Al-Khashmani talks about a soul that made a mistake.

Al-Khashmani says that if a soul makes a mistake, the soul that made a mistake didn't know what to do.

The soul asked Hashem, he asked the Torah, And he asked the prophets, what should I do? I've made this mistake.

So the Al-Quran says that each of the ones that the soul asked for a way to rectify his mistake, give a different answer.

The Torah said he should bring a sacrifice and he'll be forgiven.

The prophecy said that he should die.

Wisdom said he should have pain.

But God said, says the Talmud, Yaakov Tshumeni, do Teshuvah and you'll be forgiven.

The bribery that our sages refer to when they say that Teshuvah brings Hashem to respond to us beyond what we deserve, what they're referring to is that through Teshuvah, out of love, the sins that we do on purpose are considered like mitzvahs.

It's not only that Hashem forgives the mistakes, but Hashem considers the mistakes themselves to be as if they were mitzvahs.

The Alter Eber writes, in Tanya, in Gerset Shuvah chapter one, the definition of Shuvah is to decide, believe Shoma with a complete heart, not to return to the foolishness again, and never violate the will of Hashem.

The Altar then goes on in the twelve chapters of Gerset Shuvah to describe various things that are done to bring the perfection in Shuvah, to complete the Shuvah, but V'at Rebbe says that the essence of the mitzvah is just the decision itself.

So the bribery that the Medrash speaks of is that even before we've done all the various rectifications of the mistake, we've just made a step towards Hashem.

That first step towards Hashem, Hashem considers as if it's all been taken care of.

Hasidus compares the first moment of returning to Hashem to the conception of a baby.

The Gemara says, Rabbi Yechanan says, a person should spend his whole life doing teshuvah.

On the other hand, it says that teshuvah is done, as the Zohar says, in one moment.

So it says it's like a baby.

A baby is conceived in one moment.

But then that initial impetus, initial feeling, I want to become closer to Hashem, that has to develop and embrace every facet of who we are.

It shouldn't just be just this feeling, this decision.

It should be something that affects all that we do, that all that we do is with this feeling of closeness to Hashem.

So even before we are in the zone of... of affecting every detail of our lives with this Teshuvah energy, the second we make a step towards Hashem, that already Hashem considers as if we've done the perfection of Teshuvah.

And the sins that were done on purpose are considered like mitzvahs.

That's a bribery.