*** Tonight—Wednesday night at 8:00 PM sharp, there is a speaking event entilted ' Avinu Malkenu- A Night of Awakeing', for women only at the Brooklyn College Walt Whitman Auditorium. Featured speakers are; Rabbi Eli Mansour, Rabbi Zechariah Wallerstein, and Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser. The event is for the benefit of Ohr Naava Womens Torah Center. Tickets are avilable at Eichler's and Mekor Sefarim. For more information, visit www.ohrnaava.com. ***
*** Tonight-- Wednesday night at 8:30 pm, men and women are invited to Shaare Zion in Brooklyn to hear words of inspiration before Yom Kippur. The speakers tonight are; Rabbi Meyer Yedid, Rabbi Raymond Beyda, and Rabbi David Ozeri. Come, and tell your friends about this special event. ***
Today’s Halacha…
In the "Avinu Malkenu" prayer that we recite each day during the Ten Days of Repentance, we ask, "Our Father, our King, erase in Your abundant compassion all our documents of debts" ("Avinu Malkenu Mechok Be'rachamecha Ha'rabim Kol Shitrei Chovotenu"). We beseech the Almighty to erase any "debts" in our account that we would normally have to pay through punishment.
At first glance, this request appears to unnecessarily repeat an earlier passage in "Avinu Malkenu," where we ask, "Erase and eliminate our iniquity from before Your eyes" ("Mechei Ve'ha'aver Pesha'enu Mi'neged Einecha"). Why do we add a separate request to God that He "erase…all our documents of debt"?
Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (Rabbi of Kovna, Lithuania, late 19th century) explained that in this passage we ask God to erase our debts that we incurred as a result of other Jews' shortcomings. The Jewish people not only accepted upon themselves personal responsibility towards Torah observance, but also assumed responsibility for one another, to ensure that all other Jews also remain faithful to the Torah. This concept is called "Arvut," and it obligates each Jew to not only personally observe the Torah, but also help see to it that other Jews do the same. When we ask God to "erase and eliminate our iniquity from before Your eyes," we refer to our personal failures, the sins we ourselves committed. But when we pray that He "erase our debts," we speak of the negative impact we had on other Jews, causing them to act wrongly or to neglect Mitzvot. If a person comes to the synagogue late, others may become more lax in their punctuality; if somebody is inconsistent in his participation in Torah classes, this weakens the general level of commitment in the group. We therefore beseech the Almighty to forgive us for not only our personal sins, but also for the failings of others that we may have facilitated.
Why do we emphasize in this passage that God should erase our debts "with Your abundant compassion"?
One Rabbi explained that words on a page can be erased in two ways: by pouring water or some other liquid over them, or by cutting that part of the page. The difference, of course, is that when implementing the first method, one erases the words but spares the paper. The second method, by contrast, destroys both the words and the paper. In this passage, we ask God to erase our debts the first way, without having to "tear the page," without having to bring upon us punishments. We plead that He erases our debts "with Your abundant compassion," mercifully, without forcing us to endure harsh decrees. We thus express here our desire that God waive our debts and allow them to go entirely unpaid, rather than making us pay them in the form of punishment.
