Humbling Pride Erases Sin

ברש"י ז"ל גבוה שנתגאה וחטא ישפיל עצמו כו'

In Rashi, of blessed memory: a lofty one who became haughty and sinned should humble himself, etc.

Rashi teaches that the remedy for one who sinned through haughtiness is for him to humble himself, just as the lofty cedar is brought low in the procedure of the parah adumah, and the Sfas Emes now unpacks this.

ולמה יתכפר החטא ע"י שמשפיל עצמו בלבד

But why should the sin be atoned for merely through his humbling himself?

The Sfas Emes raises the difficulty: humbling oneself seems too small an act on its own, so how can that alone wipe away the sin?

אך כי ודאי עיקר החטא מגיאות שמסלק מלכות שמים ממנו שאם הי' ברור לאדם שכל החיות מהשי"ת וכגרזן ביד החוצב לא הי' מציאות לחטוא ולכך המתגאה כעע"ז

Rather, surely the essence of every sin stems from haughtiness, through which a person removes the sovereignty of Heaven from upon himself; for were it perfectly clear to a person that all his life-force is from Hashem Yisbarach, and that he is like an axe in the hand of the one who chops with it, there would be no possibility of sinning at all. It is for this reason that one who is haughty is comparable to one who serves avodah zarah (idolatry).

He answers that haughtiness is the root of all sin, because it casts off the yoke of Heaven; were a person truly conscious that every bit of his vitality flows from Hashem and that he is merely a tool in Hashem's hand, he could never bring himself to sin, which is why the haughty person is likened to one who serves avodah zarah.

וע"י שבא לבחי' השפלות כנ"ל שמכיר האמת ממילא נמחק החטא כי בלי תשובה כראוי לא יוכל להשפיל עצמו כנ"ל

And through his coming to the quality of lowliness, as mentioned above, whereby he recognizes the truth, the sin is thereby automatically erased; for without proper teshuvah he would not be able to humble himself, as mentioned above.

Therefore, once a person attains true lowliness and recognizes this truth, the sin dissolves on its own, since genuine humility can come only through real teshuvah.

והכנעה זו היא היראה שקודמת לכל

And this submission is the yirah (awe of Heaven) that precedes everything.

This humbling submission to Hashem is itself the foundational yirah, the awe of Heaven that must come before all else in one's avodah.

ובגמ' יראת ה' כו' אוצרו אין כו'

And in the Gemara: "Yiras Hashem (the awe of Hashem) is His treasure," and without it there is no [treasure], etc.

The Gemara teaches that yiras Hashem is Hashem's true treasure, and without that yirah a person has no real treasure to show for his Torah and mitzvos.

משל העלה חיטים ולא עירב קב חומטין מוטב שלא העלה כו' מערב אדם קב חומטין ואינו חושש ע"ש שבת פ"ב

By way of a parable: one who brought up wheat into his storehouse but did not mix in a kav of chumtin (a preservative that guards the grain from spoiling) -- it would have been better that he had not brought it up at all, etc.; [yet] a person mixes in a kav of chumtin and need not be concerned about it. See there, Shabbos, chapter 2.

He cites the Gemara's parable: storing wheat without mixing in a kav of chumtin (a preservative) is worthless, for the grain will rot, so it is better not stored at all -- yet one always adds the preservative without any concern for the small space it takes.

כי קיום כל דבר מצוה צריך להיות ע"י יראה שיהי' מעורב חיות השי"ת במעשה המצוה ועי"ז יעשנו כראוי

For the fulfillment of every matter of mitzvah must come about through yirah, so that the life-force of Hashem Yisbarach be intermingled within the performance of the mitzvah, and through this he will perform it as is fitting.

So too, every mitzvah must be infused with yirah, so that the living presence of Hashem Yisbarach is woven into the deed, and only then is the mitzvah truly performed as is fitting.

וכמו שאינו אונאה מה שחסר תבואה במקום הקב ע"י שעי"ז מעמיד החיטים כן בכל מצוה אף שע"י הישוב הדעת תוך המעשה ממש שיהי' ביראה אף שיתבטל מעט מגוף המעשה אינו חשש כי היראה מקיים כל המעשה כנ"ל

And just as it is no fraud that the produce is diminished in the place taken up by the kav, since through it [the chumtin] he sustains and preserves the wheat, so too with every mitzvah: even though, by means of the settling of the mind within the very act itself -- so that it be done with yirah -- a small part of the body of the act is set aside, there is no concern; for the yirah sustains the entire act, as mentioned above.

Just as no one calls the chumtin a loss even though it takes the place of some grain -- because it is what keeps the whole crop intact -- so too pausing within a mitzvah to settle one's mind in yirah is no loss, even if it slightly diminishes the action, since the yirah is precisely what gives the entire act its lasting worth.

וזה נצרך לידע

And this one needs to know.

The Sfas Emes stresses that this principle is essential knowledge for one's avodah.

וז"ש א' הממעיט כו' שיכוון לשמים כנ"ל:

And this is what they said: "one who does less, etc.," so long as he directs his heart toward Heaven, as mentioned above.

This is the meaning of the teaching that whether one does much or little it is equal, so long as he directs his heart to Heaven -- for that directing of the heart is the yirah that sustains the deed.

Summary: In this piece the Sfas Emes explains, on Rashi's teaching that the haughty sinner must humble himself, that haughtiness is the very root of all sin, since through it a person removes the sovereignty of Heaven from upon himself; were a person fully aware that all his life-force is from Hashem Yisbarach and that he is but an axe in the Chopper's hand, he could not sin at all, and so the haughty one is likened to one who serves avodah zarah. Therefore true lowliness, born of genuine teshuvah, automatically erases the sin, and this submission is the foundational yirah that must precede everything. He then ties this to the Gemara that yiras Hashem is Hashem's treasure, and to the parable of the kav of chumtin: just as the preservative is no loss even though it displaces some grain, because it keeps the whole crop from spoiling, so the yirah woven into a mitzvah is what sustains the entire act. Thus even if pausing to settle one's mind in yirah slightly diminishes the deed, it is no concern, for the yirah is what makes the mitzvah endure. This is the meaning of "one who does less, so long as he directs his heart toward Heaven" -- it is the yirah, not the quantity, that gives the avodah its true worth.