The Secret of the Jewish Spark: When the Greatest Sinners Shine Like the Midday Sun

Lesson No. 244 | Cassette No. 244, Tuesday, Parashat Nasso, the eve of the 3rd of Sivan 5760 - Matan Torah (Giving of the Torah) gathering at Yad Eliyahu, Tel Aviv.

Even within the transgressors of Israel hides a holy, indestructible spark. Through the chilling stories of Yakum Ish Tzrorot and Yosi Meshita, it is revealed how a single word of truth can shatter all the kelipos (spiritual husks of impurity), leading a person to mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice) and complete teshuvah (repentance) until they shine like the midday sun.

A Single Word of Truth

The Gemara tells of two great sinners who returned in teshuvah and reached tremendous spiritual levels. The first is Yakum Ish Tzrorot, the nephew of the Tanna (Mishnaic sage) Yosi ben Yoezer. As Yosi ben Yoezer was being led to his execution—a death of terrible torture—Yakum was riding his horse and mocking his uncle. He said to him, "Look what a beautiful horse I have," while pointing at the crucifixion beam.

Yosi ben Yoezer answered him with a single sentence:

"If this is what happens to those who do His will, how much more so for those who transgress His will."

These words entered him like a blazing fire. A single word of truth spoken to the greatest sinner can shatter all the *kelipos* and detonate all the impurity. Yakum immediately understood that everything in this world is nothing but an illusion. He ran to his home seized with terror, thinking, "If such a tzaddik receives such an unnatural death of crucifixion on the gallows, what will become of me? What unnatural deaths await me?"

Bypassing the Tzaddikim on the Way to Gan Eden

Out of deep shock, Yakum Ish Tzrorot decided to inflict upon himself the four capital punishments of the Beis Din (Jewish court): stoning, burning, decapitation, and strangulation. He set up a special contraption—he tied a rope to a beam, planted a sword beneath the rope, lit a fire, and built a wall of stones. He hung himself with the rope, the fire burned him, the rope snapped, he fell upon the sword, and the wall collapsed upon him. In this way, he gave over his soul with complete teshuvah.

Meanwhile, those cruel wicked men were prolonging the time of Yosi ben Yoezer's hanging. They dug the pit slowly and drove the beam in slowly. In those moments, Yosi ben Yoezer saw a wondrous vision: a pure white bed made of precious stones and pearls hovering in the air, shining like the midday sun, accompanied by convoys of angels. Inside the bed sat a tzaddik shining like a candle.

Yosi ben Yoezer looked and was astounded—who did he see? Yakum Ish Tzrorot! This wicked man was shining like the midday sun. Regarding this, Yosi ben Yoezer said, "He managed to enter Gan Eden (the Garden of Eden) before me! He managed to bypass me with his righteousness." These are the transgressors of Israel, who will yet overtake us all and illuminate the entire world.

The Mesiras Nefesh of Yosi Meshita

The second story takes place during the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash (the Holy Temple). The Beis HaMikdash was going up in flames, and the Romans were destroying it. However, they were afraid to enter the Heichal (the inner Sanctuary). They knew that a Kohen Gadol (High Priest) who entered the Heichal improperly would be burned, so how could they enter?

There was an apostate Jew there named Yosi Meshita, the most wicked of the wicked, who had joined the Romans and even participated in the murder of Jews. The Romans said to him, "You will enter the Heichal first. If you come out alive, we will enter too. And as a reward, you can take for yourself whatever you want."

Yosi Meshita entered and brought out the golden Menorah. When the Romans saw this, they said to him, "Give this Menorah to us; go in again and take something else for yourself." At that moment, the Jewish spark awakened within him and he declared:

"No further! Up until this moment I was wicked, but I will be wicked no more. I am doing teshuvah. This is the Menorah of the Beis HaMikdash, and I will not hand it over to you, you murderous Romans!"

Atonement Through Joy and Dveikus

The Romans tried to tempt him, promising to exempt him from taxes and tolls, but he refused. They threatened him, "If you do not give us the Menorah, we will cut you into pieces." But Yosi Meshita stood his ground, sacrificing his life for the Menorah of the Beis HaMikdash and doing teshuvah at the very gates of Gehennom (Hell).

They took him, placed him in a carpenter's vise, and sawed him alive. But he did not feel any pain. He was in so much joy and such *dveikus* (deep attachment to Hashem) that during the two hours they were sawing him, he only recited *Vidui* (the confession prayer) and cried out, "Master of the Universe, forgive me for this sin!" He asked that the suffering serve as an atonement for all his iniquities, and thus he died in complete teshuvah, shining like the midday sun.

So it will be with the entire Nation of Israel. In two days, we will all hear the Ten Commandments, everyone will receive the Torah, and everyone will return in complete teshuvah. And may we yet merit that the Beis HaMikdash be built in our generation, speedily in our days, in the blink of an eye, Amen!

Lesson No. 244