The Levush in Siman 591 paskins that one should not wish his friend leshanah tovah tikasaiv vesaichasaim after the first three hours of the day of Rosh Hashanah for it has already been decreed in heaven for the tzadikim. This teaches us that we must assume that our friends are in the category of tzaddikim. If one will ask says the Levush why then do we contradict ourselves by asking during the Aseres Yemai Teshuvah כתבינו בספר החיים וכתוב לחיים טובים .? The answer is that each individual must view himself as a beinoni and not a complete tzaddik and therefore one must daven for himself during the Aseres Yemai Teshuva to be inscribed in the Book of Life. However, while looking at individuals besides oneself, one must be of the opinion that he is deemed a tzaddik and was already inscribed as such in the Sefer Hachayim.

The Rambam in HIlchos Teshuva 4,4 talks about the issur of חושד בכשרים which is counted amongst the issurim for which teshuva would probably not be undertaken since one does not even consider it an aveirah. The Ramban in his famous iggeres wirtes that every person should be greater than you in your eyes. If he is smart or wealthy then it is incumbent upon you to honor him. If he is poor and you are rich or smarter than him, think in your heart that he is meritorious than you for if he sins he is unintentional while you act intentionally.

In the sefer Shevet Meeyisrael the author writes that by observing this psak of the Levush and judging every individual favorably instead of negatively, we acquire for ourselves an incredible zehcus for the Yom Hadin. For the Kedushas Levi writes in parshas Shoftim that on the Yom Hadin, Hashem judges Am Yisrael with the middah of rachamim. However to trigger this middah from above we through our actions, must arouse tremendous rachmanus. When we on earth choose to learn zechus and merit on another Yid, this causes that shamayim as well they will mirror your middah and conduct and judge you and Klal Yisrael favorably.

The Chofetz Chayim reinforces this idea even more strongly. He writes in his sefer Shemiras Halashon (Shaar Tevunah 4). Man must invest much effort to strengthen himself to judge others favorably because through this middah or its opposite one can very easily acquire the title of tzaddik or rasha. For it is known that one’s merits and demerits are contingent on the majority of mitzvos and avairos that lie in his hands. A tzaddik has a majority of mitzvos while a rasha possess a majority of avairos. Now even if the merits are so plentiful, nevertheless if Hashem analyzes them with the middah of strict judgment, they will suddenly lose their majority. For after a close scrutiny, very few mitzvos will remain wholesome since they are surely lacking at least partially in devotion, simcha, love, and fear which are all necessary components of mitzvah fulfillment. In this scenario, man will unfortunately earn the title of rasha and its for boding consequences.

How then can one avoid such a strict examination? One must arouse the middah of rachamim for then his majority of mitzvos will remain intact and the number of his avaios will wane since they too were performed incompletely. Yet, the only way to trigger Hashem’s rachamim is by having rachamim on others by judging them in a favorable light seeking to find them meritorious instead of guilty. As the Medrash in MIshlei states that one should clearly understand that at the time that he passes judgment on his friend whether for good or bad, his own positive or negative assessments are used as a judgment against himself.

On Rosh Hashanah we are told that different sefarim are open. We can immediately be inscribed in the sefer of tzadikim or reshaiim. If we do not awaken in shamayim the middas of mercy then there seems little option left than being inscribed in the sefer of rehsaiim. If we stir up the middah of rachmanus then we will be immediately inscribed in the sefer of tzaddikiim for then our majority of spiritual deposits will be on the plus side over the withdrawals. The segulah is ours for the taking. But then again it is not easy to be melamaid zechus, to reframe and interpret what one’s eyes literally saw. Where is the key to succeed in this endeavor?

They tell the story of a Rebbe who once said that the name of every parsha is somehow connected with the mitzvah of loving every Yid. One of his Chassidim who was sitting by the tisch asked the Rebbe but how does that fit in with the name of parshas Balak? Whereupon the Rebbe replied with a broad smile on his face that בלק is the acronym of באהבת לרעך קמוך. This time the chosid was the one who had a broad smile on his face and asked but Rebbi isn’t the word veahavta spelled with the letter vov and not beis, and the word komocha spelled with the letter chaf not kuf? The Rebbe just smiled back and replied if you truly love Yidden then you will make your love for every Yid comes about even in the most challenging situations!

Eretz Yisrael’s mounting problems with its neighbors have intensified day to day. What is the spiritual arsenal with which we must gird ourselves in order to trigger Hashem’s protection of His nation? I suggest it is this very issue of limud zechus on our fellow Jew. Yishmael had a merit that he circumcised himself at 13 years old while Yitzchak had bris milah done to him at the age of eight days old. He prided himself on this self inflicted act which was totally missing from Yitzchak. Who knows says Yishmael to Yitzchak. If you were my age perhaps you would never have done it. To which Yitzchak replied on the contrary. You Yishmael sacrificed only one limb to Hashem. If I was requested to surrender my entire body I would gladly do so. Following his words Hashem commanded Avraham with the Akaidas Yitzchak who was 37 years old at that time.

True that Yishmael produced the merit of milah with mesiras nefesh which merited him a claim to Eretz Yisrael, but it was bound with his inability to be melamed zechus towards Yitzchak. For he used this very merit of milah to demonstrate that Yitzchak would not have been mosair nefesh to perform bris milah on himself at the same age. Yet, bris milah specifically performed at the eight days mark symbolizes that the Jew is connected to Hashem in a very deep way, unconditional of his deeds, actions and thoughts. Bris milah therefore signifies and teaches that one must be melamid zechus on every Yid no matter what the viewer sees on the outside even though it might appear as a negative behavior. For the viewer who is to pass judgment according to the way he registered it with his senses, must try to take the deeper plunge inside the neshama of that Yid and bring out the essential good that lies within and thereby judge him favorably instead. Yishmael demonstrated by using his milah to judge Yitzchak unfavorably, that his milah even though it was done at 13 does not produce in him that capacity to be melamid zechus.

The Akaidah which demonstrated how Yitzchak surpassed the mesiras nefes of Yishmael and his milah, was also a display of the incredible power of limud zehcus from both Avraham and Yitzchak which stems from their milah. Avraham judged Hashem in a good light even though what he was requested to do seemed very contradictory. For on one hand Hashem promises to Avraham that Yitzchak will be the future of Klal Yisrael and on the other hand He commands him to be sacrificed. Avraham’s willingness to pursue the fulfillment of the sacrifice was due to the fact that he did not follow what his natural eyesight and intelligence registered. Instead he looked at Hashem as a loving G-d who would not command an hurtful act which would have a negative consequence. Yitzchak also, when asked by his father to allow himself to be sacrificed, could have easily and even rightfully responded that it was not him who heard this command from Hashem. He could have also refused by saying that can he allow to be an object of human sacrifice for it was a practice which his father has criticized to the world for years in that Hashem detests such behavior. Yet, he too was melamed zechus on his father that he could not imagine that he would commit an act which was the antithesis of his life’s teachings unless it was so commanded by Hashem.

This connection of Yitzchak’s bris of eight days and the Akaidah are bound deeply together. It was Yitzchak’s willingness to sacrifice his entire body for Hashem at the Akaidah that removed Yishmael’s claim that he was greater than him through his 13 year old bris, It also included the demonstration that the bris of Yitzchak portrayed the power of limud zechus towards a fellow Yid by focusing on his essential good and which both Yitchak and Avraham proved with the successful completion of the test of the Akaidah.

Bris milah renders the right to the possession of Eretz Yisrael. Both Yishmael and Yisrael have this merit.. Yishmael constantly claims his bris milah was greater than Yitzchak’s and therefore he alone is deserving of Eretz Yisrael. Am Yisrael claims that they are greater than Yishmael because of Yitzchak’s Akaidah where he sacrificed his entire body for Hashem. But this zechus only came about because of their power of limud zechus as we explained above. As long as we use this middah that made the zechus of the Akaidah a reality, then it downgrades Yishmael’s milah to be inferior to ours. However, if we fail to live our lives with this middah of limud zechus, then we cancel out that zechus of the Akaidah thereby allowing the bris of Yishmael to surpasses ours, hence legitimizing his claim for Eretz Yisrael and putting Klal Yisrael’s survival in danger.

If we work on this middah of limud zechus especially during the days of judgment, we stir in shamayim a rachamanus to be showered upon ourselves to be judged favorably just as we judge others. Our tefillos will be readably accepted since the gematriah of תפילה = לימוד זכות and the major avodah of the Yomim Noraim is tefillah. This zechus will bestow upon Klal Yisrael Hashem’s promises of protection which we received from the Akaidah, This will also enable our claim to Eretz Yisrael to become undisputable in the eyes of the entire world and bring the building of the third Beis Hamikdash to its reality.

Kesivah vechasima tova

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