The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand in his annual Teshuva Derasha which was broadcast live from Baltimore on the TCN network this evening. I have attempted to summarize the first part of the derasha in this post and iyh will do an additional post over the weekend. This was a very powerful derasha and my attempt to summarize should not be viewed as an exact transcript as it is based on my notes. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
R' Frand began the derasha by noting that the parshios of Netzavim, Vayelech and Ha'azinu speak to us about how to approach teshuva. He began by noting that in Netzavim (Devarim 30:11), Moshe tells the Jews "כִּ֚י הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָֽנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לֹֽא־נִפְלֵ֥את הִוא֙ מִמְּךָ֔ וְלֹֽא־רְחֹקָ֖ה הִֽוא" - This Mitzva I am commanding you today (teshuva) is not concealed from you, nor is it far away. Moshe then tells the Jews in the next pesukim - " לֹ֥א בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם הִ֑וא" - its not in the Heavens and "וְלֹֽא־מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיָּ֖ם הִ֑וא" - its not over the seas. Moshe then states in 30:14 - "כִּֽי־קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִלְבָֽבְךָ֖ לַֽעֲשׂתֽוֹ" - Because this thing (teshuva) is very close to you, its in your mouth and in your heart to do it.
Moshe also tells the Jews in Parshas Netzavim not to worship idols, stating in 29:17 = "פֶּן־יֵ֣שׁ בָּ֠כֶ֠ם אִ֣ישׁ אֽוֹ־אִשָּׁ֞ה א֧וֹ מִשְׁפָּחָ֣ה אוֹ־שֵׁ֗בֶט אֲשֶׁר֩ לְבָב֨וֹ פֹנֶ֤ה הַיּוֹם֙ מֵעִם֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֔ינוּ לָלֶ֣כֶת לַֽעֲבֹ֔ד אֶת־אֱלֹהֵ֖י הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָהֵ֑ם פֶּן־יֵ֣שׁ בָּכֶ֗ם שֹׁ֛רֶשׁ פֹּרֶ֥ה רֹ֖אשׁ וְלַֽעֲנָֽה:" - which (in summary) warns that there might be a man or woman or family or tribe whose heart will turn from Hashem to worship other gods. Moshe follows this with a statement "וְהָיָ֡ה בְּשָׁמְעוֹ֩ אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֨י הָֽאָלָ֜ה הַזֹּ֗את וְהִתְבָּרֵ֨ךְ בִּלְבָב֤וֹ לֵאמֹר֙ שָׁל֣וֹם יִֽהְיֶה־לִּ֔י כִּ֛י בִּשְׁרִר֥וּת לִבִּ֖י אֵלֵ֑ך " - And it will be when he hears the words of this oath and he will bless himself and say that peace will be with me and I will follow my heart's desires...
R' Frand then asked, how can a person who has heard Moshe for 40 years in the desert and knows that Moshe is truthful, how can that person ignore Moshe's statements and think that its OK to follow his heart's desire and worship false gods?
R' Frand answered that this person is suffering from cognitive dissonance (CD for short). He defines this as the mental discomfort held by a person who believes two different things at the same time. To relieve this discomfort, a person will try to justify both beliefs or acts in order to feel better about himself.
R' Frand gave an example of CD as a person who is a smoker - people knew that it was unhealthy, but rationalized that it was not so bad because the person was not smoking so much, or because he is an active person and takes care of himself some other way, or even that if he quit smoking he would gain weight and that was more unhealthy. R' Frand even quoted some people from years ago who theorized that the studies on the damage of smoking were not applicable to Sabbath observers since the study group smoked 7 days a week and the frum people had a 25 hour window when they did not smoke. R' Frand said that this is a prime example of the Shalom Yihiyeh Li person.
R' Frand then gave an example from Nach in the persona of Shaul HaMelech. He was told by Shmuel when he went to conquer Amalek that he should not let any person or livestock survive. Yet, Shaul broke both rules as he brought back Aggag as well as livestock. And then, when confronted by Shmuel - he had the temerity to say to him - I have kept Hashem's word. Shmuel then said how? And only after 4x back and forth did he admit that he had not done what he was commanded to do. Why did he do this? Because he thought the Jews wanted to have the livestock for themselves and justified in his own mind (through CD) that he was doing the right thing by letting the animals live.
R' Frand observed that people don't want to admit that they are wrong - this is the meaning of the Al Cheit of Imutz HaLev - that a person does not want to admit to being mistaken and this is a barrier to Teshuva.
There was much more to the derasha, but I will close with the following story that he told at this point. R' Bentzion Kook was approached about a shiduch for his daughter. The potential suitor was a top bochur and learned constantly. He was erudite and could deliver his learning with great analysis. But he also used to routinely skip the daily 15 minute mussar seder as well as the shmoozes from the Rebbeim. R' Kook asked R' Elyashiv - should they pursue this boy? He was told - absolutely not - if he does not learn mussar he cannot be introspective and will not admit when he is wrong. This is not a good quality to bring into a marriage.
As I mentioned above, I hope iyh to do a second post later this weekend which will contain the rest of the derasha.
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