Steps To Return:
The Rambam writes (laws of Teshuvah 2:7)
“Yom Kippur is a time for Teshuvah (repentance) for all, and it is the culmination of forgiveness for [the people of] Israel. Therefore, everyone is required to do Teshuvah and to pronounce on Yom Kippur the mistakes which they have made.”
Teshuvah consists primarily of three steps: 1) admitting the mistake verbally 2) regretting the
action and 3) making a commitment to act properly in the future.
Many of us find the topic of Teshuvah to be rather challenging to implement for various reasons. Some of us feel overwhelmed with the task of correcting our ways and some find the guilt feelings involved to be discouraging. Some of us feel dishonest about repenting for something which we are likely to do again, while some of us feel plainly confused as the instructions for Teshuvah seem too easy.
Asking For Forgiveness
Perhaps, many of these difficulties come from viewing Teshuvah the way we understand the concept of one person asking forgiveness from another. When we feel we owe someone an apology, we feel guilty. We usually try to run away from these thoughts, and if we can’t run away, we ask for forgiveness to clear our conscience. We know that this is a one-time chance. If we do the same act against that person the next day, we feel hypocritical and that we blew it. Our apology will be viewed retroactively as insincere, and we have little hope of ever making up with that person again.
However, while there may be some resemblance between the two concepts, Teshuvah is fundamentally different from an ordinary reconciliation between two people. There is no such concept as “God’s feelings being hurt” by our actions, and Teshuvah is not about “appeasing God.” Rabeinu Yona (Sha’arei Teshuvah 1:9) describes Teshuvah as a cleansing process and writes as follows:
“There are many levels to Teshuvah, and in correspondence to each level of Teshuvah a person gets closer to God accordingly. For every Teshuvah there is atonement, but the level of purification of the soul depends on how much a person purifies himself… it is like a garment which requires cleaning. A little bit of cleaning will remove the repulsive substance, but the extent of how well the stain is removed depends on how hard it is washed out.”
The focus in Teshuvah is about ourselves. It’s a process of purification from the mistakes which we have done and a process of bringing ourselves closer to God.
Constantly Coming Closer
In truth, Teshuvah could be (and should be) a lifelong endeavor. God understands that we may fall again in the areas where we have erred in the past, and God is not interested in us feeling bad about ourselves. What God desires is that we constantly grow in our Teshuvah, that we steer away from our mistakes and come closer to Him. The way to do this is by regretting our actions, rather than degrading ourselves. To whatever degree we are involved in Teshuvah, we gain for ourselves incredible spiritual wealth. Even the smallest regret or will to work on improving ourselves is a milestone in the process of self-purification.
Yom Kippur is the day of the year which is highlighted for Teshuvah. God waits for us with open arms to purify us from our mistakes. The Teshuvah on Yom Kippur is more powerful than any other time, and every little bit of sincere Teshuvah can accomplish a tremendous amount on this day.
There is a local office-like setting that offers the use of computers with filtered Internet for a fee, for people like me who do not have their own internet access. One evening, as I went to attend to my emails, I noticed unusual excitement in the air. There is a group of people commonly found there seeking cheap deals online. They find lucrative deals and sell the merchandise at a profit. That night, there was a “sale of the century” going on. The guys could not control their laughter as they were buying hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise for pennies. Things were getting so exciting that the manager came to ask them to keep down the noise level. The only thing hampering their delight was the fact that items were speedily running out of stock.
Biggest Sale Ever!
Yom Kippur is “the sale of all sales.” While we do not have to worry about things running out of stock, the “sale” expires at the end of the day, and will not come back again for a whole year. This is our chance to pounce on the opportunity and give it all we got in our Teshuvah. For every bit of energy we put in to our Teshuvah on this day, we are sure to profit very handsomely.
by Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber
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