Introduction
Megillat Eicha is the scroll we read on Tisha B'Av, and Yirmiyahu the Prophet, who authored it, witnessed the Destruction with his own eyes: he saw Jerusalem in her glory and he saw her in her ruins. The opening word, "Eicha," is not merely a question of location, like the "Ayeka" addressed to Adam HaRishon ("Where are you?"); it is a cry of anguish: How could this have happened? How could a city once filled with people, "great with people," suddenly sit desolate and alone? And similarly, "she has become like a widow" - not truly a widow, but *like* a widow, for the Holy One, Blessed be He, did not abandon her entirely, but merely hid His face.
In our chapter, we arrive at one of the central verses of self-reckoning in the Megillah:
נַחְפְּשָׂה דְרָכֵינוּ וְנַחְקֹרָה וְנָשׁוּבָה עַד־יְהֹוָה׃ - Let us search and examine our ways, and return to Hashem.
Repentance for What We Caused Others
The author of *Lechem Dimah* explains: "Let us search and examine our ways" - to repent for the sins we ourselves committed, that Hashem may forgive the transgressions between us and Him; furthermore, that we may repent for the sins we caused others to commit. This is an awe-inspiring and fearful matter, for Chazal teach that one who causes the public to sin is not given the means to do teshuva. How could it be that the one who caused his friend to stumble enters Gan Eden while the friend who sinned ends up in Gehinnom?
A yeshiva mashgiach would always warn: If you want to commit sins, never commit sins in which you cause someone else to stumble. Of course, there is no legitimacy to sins whatsoever, but for sins between you and yourself, you can still repent. If you are going to a place where you should not go, at least do not drag anyone else along with you. For that other person, you might never be able to fully repent, because it is no longer in your hands: if he repents, he repents, and if not, he does not. What will you be able to do in Heaven? It will forever be held against you that you led someone else into sin. A person who corrupted his friend, led him out of yeshiva, brought him to spiritual ruin - how does one rectify such a thing? These are difficult questions for which we have no simple answer.
There are many examples: a person who was distant from mitzvot and enticed a woman into sin, or a woman who enticed a man - the gravest sins punishable by karet. And one does not need to look far: within the Beit Midrash itself, during a shiur, you chat with a friend - you caused him bitul Torah; how will you ever repay that? You pulled someone out in the middle of a class, saying, "Come, I want to tell you something" - he missed his learning because of you; how will you return that Torah study to him? Sins in which a person causes others to stumble are exceedingly difficult to rectify.
What can be done? One can pray before the Holy One, Blessed be He, to open the heart of that person who was led astray, so that he will return in teshuva. For if he repents and merits Gan Eden, then you too can be admitted. But if he does not repent, and he is in Gehinnom, he will be asked, "Why did you do this and that?" And he will argue: "I did it?! He caused me to sin! My teacher is in Gan Eden while I am sent to Gehinnom?" "A master is exiled with him" - they will remove you from Gan Eden and cast you into Gehinnom to keep him company. It is truly terrifying. Therefore, the counsel is: pray that the person we led to sin will repent, so that neither he nor we will end up in Gehinnom.
Beyond this, the Vilna Gaon taught that when a person does complete teshuva, Heaven assists him in rectifying even things that are difficult to repair, and even things that seem impossible to repair. If you have done everything in your power and exerted all your strength, Heaven will help you so that the other person forgives you. Rabbeinu Yonah writes similarly: Hashem forgives those who repent in areas beyond their reach to attain His love. That is, do what is in your power, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, will help you reach levels you could not ordinarily attain. In any event, one must be exceedingly careful never to cause another person to stumble: "Let us search and examine our ways" - and concerning the sins we caused others to commit, "and return to Hashem."
Pishpush and Mishmush: Two Stages in Self-Reckoning
The Gemara states that one upon whom suffering comes should examine his actions (*yefashfesh b'ma'asav*) and scrutinize his actions (*yemashmesh b'ma'asav*). What is the difference between *pishpush* and *mishmush*? As the *Mesillat Yesharim* famously explains: "Examine his actions" - one inspects which good deed he is failing to perform and which bad deed he is committing, separating the dross. "Scrutinize his actions" - just as when someone presents you with a fabric and you feel it and handle it to check the quality and texture of the cloth, so too with the actions you already perform: are they done with proper intent, with contemplation, with depth, and truly for the sake of Heaven?
And this is what is written, "Let us search our ways and investigate": "Let us search" - this refers to searching through one's actions, checking whether one is doing what is required and refraining from what is forbidden. "And investigate" - this is scrutinizing the deed itself: even the paths we are already accustomed to walking require examination. After verifying that you are performing what is necessary, let us see how you perform it: how did you put on tefillin - with proper intent, with contemplation and depth, or merely out of rote habit? And not merely searching, but also investigating, which means an exhaustive examination to see if the matter is proper and worthy.
"And Investigate" - Even from the Mouth of Others
The sefer Palgei Mayim explains: "Let us search our ways" - on our own, "and investigate" - from others. Notice that all of these explanations seek to resolve the apparent redundancy: if one searches, one is already investigating, so why the repetition? The Palgei Mayim explains that a person must examine himself not only against his own standards, but also through the eyes of others. This is an essential principle, for often we do not see our own flaws - "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes" (Mishlei 21:2). A person is convinced that what he does is correct and fitting, and out of habit he repeats the same actions without realizing he is mistaken in them.
A teacher once related that a talmid chacham listens to his shiurim and occasionally calls to ask a question or offer a correction on a specific detail, to which he responds: You have no idea how grateful I am to you for doing this chesed with me! For when a person speaks, he speaks from what he has grown accustomed to, and then someone else comes along who read the source elsewhere and notices that the wording is different or was not stated with precision. When a person examines himself, it is deeply flawed; when someone else reviews him, there is another eye observing matters that were overlooked. A person will not catch his own mistakes, because he has become accustomed to them and assumes this is the precise wording and citation. That is why when a sofer STa"M finishes writing a mezuzah, we do not tell him to perform two proofreadings himself; rather, another person must review and proofread it - even if the sofer is completely reliable - lest the habitual error cause him to err once again. "Once an error enters, it remains": an error that repeats itself begins to appear entirely correct.
This was indeed the practice of the gedolim. When Rav Ratzabi wrote his sefer, he handed it to several individuals wishing to hear their critique - whether the language was clear, whether the points were understandable, and whether they had any comments. And the Chofetz Chaim, when composing the Mishnah Berurah, assembled a group of laymen to study from it in a shiur before distributing the work, in order to see whether the wording was accessible, whether the material was easily grasped and understood, and whether there were any notes.
One of those laymen - whose learning the Chofetz Chaim deeply appreciated - was blessed with longevity to live to one hundred years old. When that man reached the age of ninety-eight, they wanted to take him to the hospital. He said: "I am not going; I have two more years. The Chofetz Chaim promised one hundred, and I will not forfeit a single year." He recovered, lived for another two years, and passed away at exactly age one hundred. The Chofetz Chaim had also blessed him that no child of his would die during his lifetime. Once, his son was involved in a car accident, Heaven forbid, and the father, then in his eighties, arrived at the hospital where they told him his son was in critical condition. He said: "Very well, I will recite a Mi Sheberach for him in the synagogue, and return home." The doctors thought he had not understood, and said to him: "Sir, your son is hovering between life and death." He answered them: "I am not worried; my son will recover." They asked him: "What are you talking about?" He said: "I hold two promises from the Chofetz Chaim - that I will live to one hundred, and that no son of mine will die in my lifetime. I am eighty years old; how could both promises be fulfilled if my son does not recover?" He went home, and his son recovered beyond the laws of nature. One of the gedolei Yisrael remarked: "We marvel at the blessing of the Chofetz Chaim, but I marvel at the simple faith of this Jew. An ordinary person would have said, 'Perhaps I lack sufficient merits,' but he said, 'I hold a promissory note from the Chofetz Chaim, and a check from the Chofetz Chaim never bounces.' That is complete, pure emunah."
Returning to our subject: the Chofetz Chaim submitted his writings for critique, so that others would inspect them and offer corrections. The same applies to every person - one must not be intimidated by critique. Someone points something out to you? Thank him, and rejoice that someone illuminates your blind spots and enables you to improve yourself. There are people who cannot tolerate this: "Everything is fine, I am not looking for comments." Why? If someone told you something valid, say to him: "Thank you very much, yasher koach, I will take it to heart and am ready to make amends." One who is willing to hear critique will correct himself, advance spiritually, and grow in every area; one who refuses to hear critique will never advance in any way. Even in the contemporary world, people have come to realize this and actively request feedback: "Do you have any comments?" For critique is for your benefit; if you improve yourself you become better, and if not, no one wants a flawed, deficient product.
"And Return Unto Hashem" - To What Extent?
The author of Lechem Dimah explains the conclusion of the verse: what is meant by "and return unto Hashem"? The Rambam writes regarding what constitutes complete teshuvah - that the Knower of all secrets testifies about him that he will never return to this sin again. To even utter this is truly terrifying and wondrous. The commentaries have already asked: who could possibly say of himself that he has repented with such complete teshuvah? After all, "Behold, He puts no trust in His holy ones, and His angels He charges with folly" (Iyov 15:15). About whom was this said? About the holy Avot! The Holy One, blessed be He, did not attach His Name to Yitzchak until he became blind, and a blind person is considered as dead - until then, it was not possible to say "the God of your father Yitzchak," for who knows what tomorrow may bring? Over Yitzchak, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not guarantee that a tzaddik will remain a tzaddik, nor does He over Avraham. If so, how can the Knower of secrets testify about us that we will never return to this sin again?
The accepted explanation is that the testimony does not concern the future, but the present moment itself: that the Knower of secrets testifies about him that his teshuvah was done with a whole heart and complete resolution, that at this moment his mind is firmly and irrevocably decided never to return to this sin. What will happen later? The yetzer hara is made of fire and we are flesh and blood, and one cannot know. But at that very moment, the Holy One, blessed be He, testifies about him that his repentance is complete to such a degree. This is the meaning of "and return unto Hashem" - until Hashem Himself can, so to speak, testify concerning us that our teshuvah is complete and that we will never return to this sin again. It is fitting to recall these matters precisely now, during Tammuz, as the season of teshuvah approaches, and the word "Av" forms an acronym for "Elul ba" - Elul is coming.
The One Who Rebukes - Should Include Himself with the Public
Rav Fleckeles explains that there is an allusion here: in delivering reproof, one must include oneself with others. When a darshan stands up to preach, he should not say, "Your sins are manifold, you must repent, you need to correct yourselves, and your state is dire." And from whom do we see that he did not act this way, but rather included himself? From Ezra and Nechemiah. When they came to rebuke the people concerning foreign wives, they said: "We have sinned and taken foreign wives." Did Ezra sin? Did Nechemiah sin? Rather, from here we derive a principle: one who comes to rebuke the community should not say, "You have sins," but rather, "We have sins; we must correct ourselves." Even if he possesses none of that flaw, once he says, "We all need to improve" - they accept it from him; but once he says, "You are in the wrong" - they respond to him, "Why do you consider yourself righteous and come to accuse me?" and they do not accept it from him. This is what is written: not "search your ways and investigate," but Yirmeyahu says, "Let us search our ways and investigate, and return unto Hashem" - all of us together.
Even If That One Person Is You
Once, a person came to the Chafetz Chaim and said to him: Rabbi, I give a drashah and many people fall asleep. I do not know if there is any purpose in it, if anyone is influenced, or if the words make an impression. Some say the Chafetz Chaim asked him: How long is the drashah? He replied: An hour. The Chafetz Chaim said to him: What are you talking about! Do you know what a great merit that is? For an entire hour people did not speak lashon hara; while sleeping, one does not speak lashon hara!
There was a speaker whose audience fell fast asleep, and afterward he said to them: I demand a substantial fee from each of you. They asked him: For what? He said to them: My father underwent surgery two weeks ago, and we paid fifteen hundred dollars to the anesthesiologist alone. Do you think putting people to sleep is a simple task? Here, I put not one person to sleep, but fifty! Another person came to a rabbi after a lecture and said: Honored Rabbi, following yesterday's lecture, I did not sleep the entire night. The rabbi was impressed and asked: Really? To that extent? He replied: Yes, when you sleep all day, it is hard to sleep at night...
In any case, it is told that the Chafetz Chaim answered that speaker: I do not know how many take it to heart and how many are influenced, but even if one person changes and is inspired - that is enormous. And even if that one person is you. That is to say, even if you yourself, as a result of the fiery words you spoke, begin to be more meticulous about something - know that this is already a great achievement, this is already an enormous amount. And this is why a person should include himself in his rebuke: "Let us search our ways and examine them," and if only he himself is influenced by his words, there is already so much value in that.
In Summary:
"נַחְפְּשָׂה דְרָכֵינוּ וְנַחְקֹרָה וְנָשׁוּבָה עַד־יְהֹוָה" - "Let us search our ways and examine them, and return unto Hashem" - the verse encapsulates the entire order of teshuvah: to repent not only for our own sins but also for what we caused others, and to pray for them to repent; to scrutinize bad deeds and examine even good deeds to ensure they were performed with the proper intention; to inspect ourselves not only through our own eyes but also from the words of others, accepting criticism with joy just as the Gedolei Yisrael did in their books; to return "unto Hashem" - until the Holy One, Blessed is He, Himself testifies that our repentance is complete; and to remember that one who rebukes must always include himself in the admonition, for even if only a single person is influenced - and even if that person is himself - that is already an immense accomplishment.