Wednesday 28 October 2009

P. Noah: Cappara vs. Teshuva

See R.S.R. Hirsch P. Noah

6:15 S.V. "v'chafarta"

New edition p. 182



The basic meaning of CPR is a protective or restrictive covering

In a sense then Copher = Cover! [More or less]

Cappara is a covering.

V'al kol pesha-im techashe b'ahava...

IOW praying for Cappara is to pray that the sins - or better that the negative impact of sins - will be covered up.


Teshuva is Returning to the State Before Sin. It is a retroactive process undoing a sin.


Here is a mashal

A man gains weight and as a result his blood pressure rises

A Cappara would be to take blood pressure medication. The excess weight remains but he is shielded from its deleterious effects.

Doing Teshuva would entail dieting in such a way as to lose the weight and to reduce the hypertension. IOW to restore the body back to the healthy way it was before the weight gain altered its body chemistry.


Of course Teshuva is a more complete process.


Yom Kippur is more of a quick fix. Perhaps since a complete Teshuva might take years, it is necessary to take the palliative of Cappara before the cure of Teshuva is available.

KT
RRW

No comments: