The Teshuva of Rachav

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http://rebbetzinchanabracha.blogspot.co.il/2010/06/rachav-woman-of-ultimate-renewal.html

Rachav: Woman of Ultimate Renewal
Haftorat Parashat Shelach Lecha

Yehoshua 2:24

This week’s haftorah about Rachav the convert, teaches us about the ability of a person to completely turn her life around from being on the lowest spiritual rung (Rachav was a harlot) to raise herself up to the highest spiritual level of closeness to Hashem. (Rachav merited becoming the wife of Yehoshua the leader of the Jewish people). It is also interesting that Rachav’s declaration of conversion includes recognizing the right of the Jewish people to conquer the Land of Israel.

Rachav the Harlot

“Yehoshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying go view the land, and Yericho. They went, and came to the house of a woman harlot named Rachav, and lodged there...” (Yehoshua 2:1). Most commentaries agree that Rachav was a harlot, and although the word zonah can also be translated as inn-keeper (from the same root as the word mazon), she was only called thus as clean language – to diminish her disgrace. Possibly the “inn” served as both a place for lodging and meals, where even her body became food for the lodgers. Rachav, the harlot was a “loose” woman. Just as she lacked the boundary of morality, her home, rather than being inside of the boundary of the city, was strategically built into the city-wall. Rachav became well-known in the world, since important officials visited her “inn” and confided in her. The spies of Israel went to Rachav, because top secrets were revealed to her through her important connections.

Rachav: Woman of Ultimate Renewal

Upon meeting the Jewish spies, a spark was ignited in Rachav’s soul. She was inspired to turn her life completely around and perform the highest teshuva possible. She risked her life to save the Jews from the king of Yericho, as she explained the reason for her heroic action: “I know that Hashem has given you the Land, and that dread of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of you. For we have heard how Hashem dried up the waters of the Sea of Suf before you, when you came out of Egypt…” (Yehoshua 2: 9-10). The midrash explains how there was no ruler or noble-man who had not come to Rachav, the harlot. She was ten years old when Israel left Egypt, and she was involved in an immoral way of life during all the forty years when Israel was in the wilderness, but in the end of her fiftieth year she converted. (Yalkut Shimoni, Yehoshua 1:9). What motivated Rachav the harlot to do this intense teshuva? It was what she heard about the miracles Hashem performed for Israel that inspired her, as she stated, “For we have heard…” There are many different levels of hearing. The rest of the Canaanites also heard. They became afraid and were trembling, but their hearing did not motivate them to any personal commitment or action. Only Rachav responded to the truth that she heard – about Hashem’s miraculous salvation of the children of Israel, and she processed what she had heard for forty years. Despite all of these years, none of the original excitement of the event had faded in her memory. At the age of fifty, she was finally moved to act upon what had made such an impression upon her as a little girl. Her recognition of Hashem being the Master of the Universe moved her greatly. However, it was only by meeting the righteous Israelites that she received the impetus to change her life around completely. In response to Rachav’s intense teshuvah, the Jewish spies promised her that they would save the lives of her and her family, at the time of the Jewish conquest of the city.

Elevating the Tools of Immorality

The highest form of repentance is through using and elevating the identical tools employed for the previous sin. This kind of teshuva is called teshuvat hamiskal. For example, if someone used to cook milk and meat together daily, for a decadent non-Jewish restaurant, then the highest form of repentance would be elevating his cooking skills by cooking for a holy Jewish event, such as a wedding or sheva bracha. This kind of teshuva transforms the previous sins into merits. Perhaps the reason why Scripture mentions Rachav’s previous occupation, calling her “the harlot” even after her conversion (Yehoshua 6:22), is to emphasize the greatness of her teshuva. Davka (specifically) from the lowest place of being a harlot, a person can seek refuge under the wing of Hashem and be saved from both physical and spiritual death. It was actually the extent of her prior sins that eventually brought her to convert and seek closeness with Hashem. Rachav saved the Jewish spies by “letting them down by the rope through the window” (Yehoshua 2:15) Rashi explains that by means of this same rope and window the adulterers used to come up to her. She said, “Master of the Universe! Through these I sinned, through these please forgive me! Through these I had my escapades so to speak. With these very tools of sin, I'm going to risk my life and let down these two Jewish spies.” Rachav teaches us that human beings can use the exact tools of their failure to anchor themselves closer to the Ribono shel Olam, and merit to be accepted into the elite of Klal Yisrael. Rachav merited to become the wife of Yeshoshua, and have eight prophets and Kohanim descend from her. They were: Yermiahu, Chilkiah, Shariah, Ma’aseha, Baruch ben Niriah, Chanmael and Shalom.... Rabbi Yehudah says even Chuldah the prophetess was descended from Rachav. If someone who came from a people [the Canaanites] about whom it states, “Don't keep any soul alive,” could bring herself so close to Hashem, how much more so concerning the Jews when we keep the Torah. There are several pious female converts: Hagar, Osnat, Tziporah, Shifra, Puah, Bat Pharaoh, Rachav, Ruth and Yael the wife of Chaver the Keni (Yalkut Shimoni Yehoshua 1:9).

The Wall, the Rope and the Window

There are different opinions as to which tools of sin Rachav elevated through her teshuva. According to Yalkut Shimoni they were the wall, rope and window. These three things can be compared to the three main mitzvoth of women: Chalah, Family Purity and Candlelight. The wall protects the home and teaches us proper boundaries, this corresponds to the mitzvah of chalah. Taking a piece of our bread and giving to the Kohen teaches us the proper boundary of holding ourselves back from grabbing everything for ourselves. Like the wall, the gift of chalah protects and blesses the rest of the fruits in our orchard. It is interesting that only after her realization of Hashem’s oneness does Scripture emphasize that Rachav lived in the wall (Yehoshua 2:15). Now she has learned to place the proper wall around her being, which used to be open for all to take. However, she keeps a window open in order to interact with the outside world. She is learning when to open herself to others and how to raise up her vulnerable spot. Instead of being taken advantage of by men, now, with full consciousness, she allows herself be vulnerable, by risking her life for the sake of saving these holy men of Israel. From the window light emanates into the home. This corresponds to the mitzvah of candlelight, which enlightens the home. With the rope you connect. This corresponds to the mitzvah of family purity through which a woman connects herself to her husband. Possibly, the rope can also symbolize how Rachav elevated her past sins and thus connected her past and her future.

The Flax and the Rope

Becoming White as Snow

“She bound the scarlet cord in the window” (Yehoshua 2:21). The red thread of our haftorah ties together with the blue thread of this week’s parasha reading, where we read about the mitzvah of the techelet string in the tzitzit. Why was Rachav instructed specifically to hang a red thread of scarlet from her window as a sign to Yehoshua’s men that her family was to be saved? The color scarlet, in Hebrew is usually referred to as tola’at shani. The word “tola’at” means “worm” and “shani” refers to the dye (or the dyed material) obtained from the eggs of the insects which attach themselves to the kermes oak. The red color carries associations to Rachav’s previous occupation, such as the “red light” district. However, just as the red color of fire turns in to white ashes, the red string is a vivid symbol of no matter how immoral and wormy anyone has become, there is always hope of returning. Actually, the Hebrew word used for cord in our verse, is the very unusual “tikva,” which means hope, like in Israel’s anthem “Hatikva.” The exquisite Torah verse that we read in Shabbat hachazon eternally reminds us that “Although your sins be like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be like wool” (Yeshauyahu 1:18). Even if our sins are as striking as a red dye, through teshuvah we can rise above them, like Rachav, the harlot, who became the wife of the leader of Israel.

Transforming the Fire of Lust into Passion for Holiness

While the color scarlet contrasted with white usually is a negative color symbolizing sin, The Eishet Chail uses the color of scarlet in the reverse way, to protect her household against the cold of snow. “She does not fear the snow for all of her household are clothed with scarlet” (Mishlei 31:21).The color of scarlet – deep red – is the color of fire. Perhaps we can say that the Eishet Chail has her own and her family’s fire in control. She protects her family by channeling the very same fire which usually causes people to sin, into fire and passion for Hashem’s mitzvoth. One of the problems of our time is that even when a person is able to overcome his passion for sin; he sometimes forgets to remain hot for holiness. This makes him susceptible to Amalek’s influence, which cooled down Israel’s desire and yearning for holiness. Pursuit of holiness such as Torah learning, tefilah, yearning for the Temple and for Mashiach requires deed, initiative and warmth. The scarlet string may symbolize how Rachav transformed her fire for immorality into the greatest passion for holiness. This also fits in with the name Rachav which means broad.

As Rav Tzadok of Lublin explains, the advantage of the ba’al tshuva over the tzaddik is that when a crocked line is made into a straight line, the line becomes broader (Sefer Chesbonot Charutz, Chapter 6). I’d like to call on the readers to give examples of the broadness of the ba’al teshuva/convert.

 

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Chashukei Chemed to Bechorot 30b
Is a convert obligated to repent over what he sinned about while he was a gentile?
A question was raised about an incident of a female convert that came to ask, does she need to repent over the sexual sins during her time as a gentile?
Answer: Behold it was stated in Zevachim 116b: They said she (Rachav the harlot) was ten years old when Israel left Egypt, and she was involved in harlotry for the entire 40 years that Israel was in the desert. After she was 50 she converted. She said let it be forgiven to me in merit of the rope, the window and the flax. Rashi commented in the name of the Mechilta: It was taught in a Braita, this is what she said, Master of the Universe, in 3 things I sinned, and by 3 things forgive. By the rope, by the flax, and by the window that the adulterers would come up to her by ropes via the window and they would descend and I also hid them in the flax of the tree and with these 3 same things I merited to save the messengers, see there. Behold before us that she has to repent over the transgressions that she did as a gentile.
However, seemingly this needs investigation for on the simple level, Rachav was single and we don't find that Noachides are commanded on singles (an unmarried woman), and if so why did she have to repent? And in particular one should ask based on what Maharasha wrote in the name of the Yalkut:
By 3 did I sin, by Nida, Chala, and the lighting of Candle(s), and by 3 forgive me, by the rope, by the window and by the wall, etc., see there. Behold by these commandments she was certainly not obligated in, when she was a Gentile.
And see the Eitz Yosef that he brought the words of Hagevul Binyamin that explained this matter based on what was clarified in Yevamot 48b, It was taught in a Braita, Rabbi Chananya the son of Rabban Gamliel says, "For what reason are converts at this time afflicted and sufferings come upon them… Others say because they delayed bringing themselves under the "wings of the Divine presence" (ie. they delayed their conversion), see there. And therefore when Rachav delayed many years before she converted, the matter was considered to her as a sin that she did not observe the commandments of Nida, Chala, and the lighting of the candle, for if she was under the wings of the Divine presence, she would immediately be fulfilling these commandments, therefore she requested forgiveness over this, see there. And the later scholars already wrote that the intent of the Gemara is not that converts are punished over the fact that they did not convert immediately upon becoming adults, for behold they are not commanded on this. Rather the intent is that they delayed after they already considered converting; and therefore Rachav needed an atonement because she had heard about the splitting of the Red (or Reed) Sea and nevertheless delayed her conversion 40 years.
And now regarding our matter, it is possible that a female convert does not have to repent over what she sinned in her status as a gentile, if she sinned with sins that a Noachide is not commanded about, and Rachav was different that she atoned over her not converting after the splitting of the Red (or Reed) Sea, but not over the sins themselves.

הגר שקיבל עליו דברי תורה
האם גר חייב לחזור בתשובה על מה שחטא בגיותו
שאלה מעשה בגיורת שבאה לשאול האם היא צריכה לחזור בתשובה על מה שחטאה בעריות בגיותה?
תשובה והנה נאמר בזבחים (דף קטז ע"ב): אמרו בת י' שנים היתה [רחב הזונה] כשיצאו ישראל ממצרים, וזנתה כל מ' שנה שהיו ישראל במדבר, אחר נ' שנה נתגיירה אמרה יהא מחול לי בשכר חבל חלון ופשתים. ופרש"י בשם המכילתא: תניא, הכי אמרה, רבש"ע בג' דברים חטאתי, בג' ימחל, בחבל ופשתים וחלון שהיו מנאפים עולין אליה בחבלים דרך החלון ויורדים וגם טמנתם בפשתי העץ, ובאותן שלשה דברים עצמן זכתה להציל השלוחים, יעו"ש. הרי לפנינו שצריך לחזור בתשובה גם על עבירות שנעשו בגיות.
אלא דלכאורה צ"ע הרי בפשטות רחב היתה פנויה, ולא מצינו שבני נח מצווים על הפנויה, ואם כן מדוע היתה חייבת לחזור בתשובה. וביותר יש להקשות על מה שכתב המהרש"א בשם הילקוט וז"ל: בג' חטאתי, בנדה ובחלה ובהדלקה, בג' מחול לי בחבל בחלון ובחומה וכו', יעו"ש. והרי במצוות אלו ודאי שלא היתה חייבת בהן בגיותה.
ויעוין בעץ יוסף שהביא את דברי הגבול בנימין שביאר ענין זה, על פי המבואר ביבמות (דף מח ע"ב) תניא רבי חנניא בנו של רבן גמליאל אומר מפני מה גרים בזמן הזה מעונין ויסורין באין עליהן... אחרים אומרים מפני ששהו עצמם להכנס תחת כנפי השכינה, יעו"ש, ולכן כשראתה רחב ששהתה הרבה שנים קודם שנתגיירה, והדבר נחשב לה לחטא מה שלא שמרה מצוות נדה חלה והדלקת הנר, מפני שאילו היתה תחת כנפי השכינה מיד היתה מקיימת מצוות אלו, לכן ביקשה מחילה על כך, יעו"ש. וכבר כתבו האחרונים שאין הכוונה של הגמרא שגרים נענשים על זה שלא התגיירו מיד כשגדלו, שהרי אין מצווים על כך, אלא הכוונה היא ששהו גם אחרי שחשבו להתגייר, ולכן רחב היתה צריכה כפרה מפני ששמעה על קריעת ים סוף ובכל זאת שהתה מלהתגייר ארבעים שנה.
ומעתה בעניננו, יתכן שהגיורת אינה צריכה לשוב בתשובה על מה שחטאה בגיותה, אם חטאה בחטאים שבני נח אינם מצווים עליה, ושאני רחב שכיפרה על כך ששהתה מלהתגייר אחרי קריעת ים סוף, אבל לא על עצם החטאים

[edu]

This is the Biography of the Bar Ilan responsa program concerning the author of Chashukei Chemed (They spell the name of the Hebrew work Hashukei Hemed, because some transliterate the Hebrew letter ח as H and some as Ch - since the letter has no exact English letter equivalent that mimics its pronunciation entirely)

Rav Yitzchak Zylberstein was born in Poland in 1934 and emigrated to the Holy Land while a child. He studied in Yeshivat Slobadka in Bnei Brak, and was a disciple of R. Yechezkel Abramsky and R. Shmuel Wozner. He married R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv's daughter and is quite close to his father-in-law, as well as his brother-in-law, R Hayyim Kanyavsky, and often cites their rulings. He is Rosh Kollel of Beit David in Hollon, and the rabbi of the Ramat Elchanan neighborhood of Bnei Brak. He extensively deals with issues of Jewish Law and medicine and gives lectures in various forums. He authored a number of book, some from his lectures by various editors. Famous is his Torat haYoledet written together with Dr. Moshe Rothchild, founder of the Ma'ayanei haYeshua hospital in Bnei Brak. Another important volume is Shabbat Shabbaton, laws of the sick person on Yom Kippur. Another volume is Hashukei Hemed edited from his lectures on the Talmud, with practical laws, arranged according to the Talmud folios and in his unique style

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As quoted above Rachav felt she needed to do Teshuva over the lack of fulfillment of Nida, Chala and the lighting of candles (to honor the Sabbath and certain Holidays).
To help Rachav gain even more merit and atonement, I am posting a link to an article giving a basic introduction to the commandment of Nida in honor of Rachav.
http://www.shemayisrael.com/edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Family_Purity_Sample_Lesson.pdf

And so too, a basic introduction to the laws of chalah in her honor
https://artscroll.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/weekly-download-the-aura-of-shabbos.pdf

And so too, a basic intro to the laws of lighting candles to honor the Sabbath
http://www.bknw.org/uploads/5/9/9/5/5995719/shabbos_candles_1.pdf

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The Bible testifies that Rachav who based on tradition married Yehoshua{Joshua} remained loyal to Hashem.
Yehoshua/Joshua 24 verse 15 although I will start as an introduction by first quoting verse 14 as translated
by http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/15808#showrashi=true

14 And now fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; and remove the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

15 And if it displeases you to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell, but as for me and my household, we shall serve the Lord."