Yom Kippur unity and ahavas Yisrael

איתא במשנה עבירות שבין אדם לחבירו אין יוהכ"פ מכפר עד שירצה את חבירו כו'.

The Mishnah teaches: "For transgressions between a person and his fellow, Yom Kippur does not atone until he appeases his fellow…" (Yoma 8:9).

The Sefas Emes begins from the well-known Mishnah that Yom Kippur cannot atone for wrongs between people until the offended party is appeased.

דהנה ביוכ"פ נעשין בנ"י אחדות אחד כדאיתא ולו אחד בהם זה יוהכ"פ.

For on Yom Kippur, Bnei Yisrael become a single unity, as it is taught: "and one of them (ulo echad bahem)" — this refers to Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur is the day on which the Jewish people are bound together into one; the Sages connect the verse "and one of them" to this day of oneness.

וכמו שיום זה מאחד כל הימים כן מתאחדין בו כל הנפשות.

And just as this day unifies all the days, so too all souls are unified on it.

Yom Kippur gathers all the days of the year into one, and in parallel it draws all Jewish souls together into a single unity.

כי באמת הנפשות קרובין.

For in truth the souls are close to one another.

At their root, all Jewish souls are intimately connected; their separateness is only on the surface.

רק ע"י החטאים בא הריחוק ופירוד.

It is only through sins that distance and separation come about.

What drives souls apart is not their nature but the divisions created by sin.

כמ"ש עונותיכם היו מבדילין ביניכם לבין אלקיכם.

As it is written: "Your sins have been separating between you and your God" (Yeshayahu 59:2).

The verse states that sin is what creates a barrier; the Sefas Emes will read it as describing two kinds of separation.

ויש עבירות שגורמין פירוד בין אדם למקום ויש שגורמין פירוד בין אדם לחבירו.

There are transgressions that cause separation between a person and the Omnipresent, and there are those that cause separation between a person and his fellow.

Sin produces two distinct rifts — one between a person and Hashem, and one between a person and his fellow.

ויתכן לפרש מבדילין ביניכם ממש.

One may explain "separating between you" quite literally — among yourselves.

The phrase "between you" can be read as the separation sins create among people themselves, not only between people and Hashem.

וגם בין אלקיכם כנ"ל.

And also "between… your God," as above.

The verse hints at both rifts at once: between person and person, and between person and Hashem.

וצריכין לתקן ב' מיני פירוד אלו.

And one must repair both of these kinds of separation.

True teshuvah on Yom Kippur requires mending both rifts — with one's fellow and with Hashem.

וז"ש עבירות שבין אדם לחבירו אינו דוקא גזילה וכדומה.

This is the meaning of "transgressions between a person and his fellow" — it does not refer specifically to theft and the like.

The Mishnah's category is broader than concrete crimes like robbery; the Sefas Emes redefines what "between a person and his fellow" includes.

רק עבירות שגרמו פירוד בין אדם לחבירו כמו לא תשנא כו' אחיך כו' וכדומה.

Rather, it refers to transgressions that caused separation between a person and his fellow, such as "Do not hate your brother…" (Vayikra 19:17) and the like.

It includes any sin that creates distance between people — even one of the heart, like harboring hatred for a fellow Jew.

ועד שירצה את חבירו פי' שיחזור להיות רוצה ואוהב את חבירו כמ"ש חז"ל ואהבת לרעך כמוך זהו כלל גדול בתורה.

And "until he appeases (yeratzeh) his fellow" means that he must return to desiring and loving (rotzeh) his fellow, as Chazal said: "'And you shall love your fellow as yourself' (Vayikra 19:18) — this is a great principle of the Torah."

Reading "yeratzeh" as related to "ratzon" (desire), the Sefas Emes explains that appeasement means genuinely restoring one's love and goodwill toward one's fellow — fulfilling the great principle of ahavas Yisrael.

וביוהכ"פ שמתכפרין העבירות נעשין בנ"י אחד.

And on Yom Kippur, when the transgressions are atoned, Bnei Yisrael become one.

As the sins that caused division are wiped away, the underlying closeness of souls is restored and the people become unified.

ולכן זכו ללוחות אחרונות ביוה"כ שמקודם ע"י החטא כ' כי פרוע הוא ונתפרד האחדות.

This is why they merited the second Luchos on Yom Kippur, for beforehand, through the sin [of the golden calf], it is written "for it was unrestrained (parua)" — and the unity had been broken apart.

The sin of the calf shattered the people's unity, but the second Luchos were given on Yom Kippur precisely when that unity was restored.

ואח"כ כשירד משה מן ההר כ' ויקהל משה כו' שנחזרו להאחדות והתורה תלוי' בזה האחדות כמ"ש מורשה קהלת יעקב.

And afterward, when Moshe came down from the mountain, it is written "And Moshe gathered (vayakhel)…" (Shemos 35:1) — that they returned to unity; and the Torah depends on this unity, as it is written: "an inheritance for the congregation (kehillas) of Yaakov" (Devarim 33:4).

Moshe "gathered" the people back into one before giving over the Torah, for the Torah is the inheritance of the unified "congregation" of Yaakov — it can only be received by a people that is one.

וז"ש כלל גדול בתורה:

And this is the meaning of "a great principle (klal gadol) of the Torah."

Loving one's fellow is a "klal" — a unifying principle — for the Torah itself rests upon the unity of Bnei Yisrael; the word klal hints that this mitzvah is what makes the people into one whole capable of receiving the Torah.

Summary: The Sefas Emes explains the Mishnah that Yom Kippur does not atone for wrongs between people until one appeases his fellow. On Yom Kippur, Bnei Yisrael become one, for souls are inherently close and only sin creates separation — both between a person and Hashem and between a person and his fellow. "Transgressions between a person and his fellow" therefore includes even sins of the heart like hatred, and "appeasing" means truly restoring one's love for one's fellow. As these divisions are atoned, the people are reunited — which is why the second Luchos were given on Yom Kippur, after Moshe "gathered" the people back into unity, since the Torah is the inheritance of the unified congregation of Yaakov. Thus "love your fellow" is the great klal upon which the whole Torah depends.