אָמַר לִיהּ. דַּייֶךָ מֵאִיר. עַד כָּאן תְּחוּם שַׁבָּת. אֲמַר לֵיהּ. מִן הֵן אַתְּ יְדַע. אֲמַר לֵיהּ. מִן טַלְפֵּי דְּסוּסַיי דַהֲוִינָא מַנִּי וְהוֹלֵךְ אַלְפַּיִים אַמָּה. אֲמַר לֵיהּ. וְכָל־הָדָא חָכְמְתָא אִית בָּךְ וְלֵית אַתְּ חֲזַר בָּךְ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ. לֵית אֲנָא יְכִיל. אֲמַר לֵיהּ. לָמָּה. אֲמַר לֵיהּ. שֶׁפַּעַם אַחַת הָיִיתִי עוֹבֵר לִפְנֵי בֵית קוֹדֶשׁ הַקָּדָשִׁים רָכוּב עַל סוּסִי בְיוֹם הַכִּיפּוּרִים שֶׁחָל לִהְיוֹת בַּשַּׁבָּת וְשָׁמַעְתִּי בַּת קוֹל יוֹצֵאת מִבֵּית קוֹדֶשׁ הַקָּדָשִׁים וְאוֹמֶרֶת. שׁוּבוּ בָּנִים שׁוֹבָבִים. חוּץ מֵאֱלִישָׁע בֵּן אֲבוּיָה. שְׁיָּדַע כוֹחִי וּמָרַד בִּי. וְכָל־דָּא מִן הֵן אֲתַת לֵיהּ.
He [Elisha ben Abuya] said to him [Rabbi Meir], this is enough, Meïr, up to here is the Sabbath domain. He asked him, how do you know? He told him, from the horse’s hooves which I continuously counted for 2’000 cubits. He said to him, all that wisdom is in you and you do not repent? He told him, I cannot. He asked him, why? He told him, once I was passing by the Holiest of Holies riding on a horse on the Day of Atonement which fell on a Sabbath and I heard an unembodied voice coming from the Holiest of Holies, saying, return, erring children, except for Elisha ben Abuya who knew My power and rebelled against Me.
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The Rav Speaks: Five Addresses on Israel, History, and the Jewish People, pg. 194-197
Do you really think that Aher actually heard what he heard and understood the heavenly voice correctly? Can then a heavenly voice decide against one of the fundamentals of Jewish faith, against the halachah which declares that "even if he denied the Divine Presence throughout his life but repented at the end, he is accepted, as it is written: 'Thou bringest man to contrition' (Ps. 90,3) -- the crushing of his soul"? How could the heavenly voice thrust aside the great Tanna who "glimpsed and was harmed"? But he heard the heavenly voice, and so he told his favorite disciple R. Meir. He would not have lied to him. If so, what did the heavenly voice want of him, of the deeply torn Tanna, straying tragically?
And there is something more that we must ask. If the heavenly voice did not want Aher to repent, why did it bother with him at all?
...It seems to me that the real intent of the heavenly voice can be found in the different readings of the Talmud Babli and Talmud Yerushalmi. How did the heavenly voice turn to the sinner? By what name did the voice call to him? By Elisha b. Abuya, his proper name, or by Aher, his pseudonym? The answer is plain. The soft lovingly spoken words "return O backsliding children" were certainly directed to Elisha b. Abuya. The heavenly voice called him, pleaded with him, drew him to itself; the Divine presence pampered him like a mother who in all circumstances has only good to say of her child. The sharp "except for" was to Aher, but not to Elisha b. Abuya...[...T]he real Elisha b. Abuya, hidden deep within the personality, was never treacherous towards God or towards Knesset Yisrael. He was merely captive within his pseudo personality, in "Aher"....
Why should he suddenly pass by the Holy of Holies riding his horse on Yom Kippur which he was publicly desecrating? Aher himself was surprised to be drawn there, just on the day which is so bound up with the sacred site....
[The voice from the Holy of Holies:] Elisha, it is Yom Kippur today, God waits for each one to come to Him. Elisha, do you not hear the heavenly voice pleading for you to repent?
...He [Elisha b. Abuya] thought that he and Aher were one, and that he, Elisha b. Abuya, could not leave Aher behind, alone. He whipped up his horse and was gone, and at that moment the pure personality of the great Tanna was lost, for he no longer recognized himself.
- What is Rav Soloveitchik saying was Elisha ben Abuya's mistake in understanding the heavenly voice?
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Hashem Knocks on our Door - the Mitzvah of Yom Kippur is Hacnosas Orchim, trans. R. Yehudah DovBer Zirkind
The return of the sinner to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. "Return O Israel to Hashem your God," (Hoshea 14:1) as we will read this Shabbos....Teshuvah means that the sinner goes to the Ribono Shel Olam...On Yom Kippur, Teshuvah means the opposite. The returnee is the Ribono Shel Olam to Israel: the Ribono Shel Olam comes to us, not us to Him...It was the first Yom Kippur for the Jews. What happened? What was so remarkable about that Yom Kippur? The Ribono Shel Olam waited for Moshe. "And Moshe climbed Mount Sinai...and Hashem descended in a cloud" (Shemot 34:4-5). The Ribono Shel Olam waited for Moshe as he climbed. Hashem came first. He had a rendezvous, an appointment, a date with Moshe. The Ribono Shel Olam was there first. "Hashem descended in a cloud and stood with him there".
On Yom Kippur the Ribono Shel Olam knocks on every Jewish door...The theme of Shir Hashirim: "Open [the door] for me, my sister, my beloved, my dove, for my head is full of dew, my locks with the drops of the night." (5:2). Hashem knocks on the door of Knesset Yisrael every Yom Kippur....
If you ask, what really is the Mitzvah of Yom Kippur? We call it Teshuvah, but I would say that it is not Teshuvah that is the mitzvah, because we do not have to go to the Ribono Shel Olam. One must take the first step to receive him. Simply, what is the greatest mitzvah of Yom Kippur? Hachnosas Orchim [trans. welcoming guests], plain and simple. But the guest is the Ribono Shel Olam. A Jew must welcome the Shechinah, and then he will merit pardon, forgiveness and atonement.
- What is the connection between Teshuvah and welcoming God?
- How can we welcome God into our lives?