Parshas Shoftim (5779)
By Rabbi David Zauderer (Toronto, Canada)
In the beginning of his classic work, Shaarei Teshuvah (“Gateways of Repentanceâ€), Rabbeinu Yonah of Gerona (1200-1263) introduces the concept of teshuvah and discusses why it is important for a person who sinned to repent as soon as possible. He begins by establishing that the opportunity of teshuvah is truly a gift from G-d, and he then discusses various aspects of that gift:
Rabbeinu Yonah writes: [English translation courtesy of Shaarei Teshuvah; Gateways of Teshuvah, Artscroll Mesorah Publications]
“One of the great favors that G-d granted His creations is that He prepared for them the path of teshuvah, by which they are able to rise up from within the ‘pit’ of their deeds, and to escape from the ‘trap’ of their sins; to save their souls from destruction, and to turn back His anger from upon them.
Furthermore, G-d, in His Torah, taught and urged [His creations] to return to Him in teshuvah when they have sinned against Him; He did so out of His abundant Goodness and Uprightness, because He knows their inclination to sin, and He recognizes that they need help to repent, as it says in Psalms (25:8): ‘G-d is Good and Upright, therefore He guides sinners on the way.’
Moreover, G-d makes teshuvah available even to the worst sinners: And even if peopled sinned and rebelled excessively against Him and were absolutely treacherous, He still did not shut the doors of teshuvah upon them, and indeed, He still encourages them to repent, as it is stated (Isaiah 31:6): ‘Return to the One from Whom you have profoundly turned away, O Israel! And it is further stated (Jeremiah 3:22): ‘Return, O rebellious sons, and I will heal your rebelliousness!’
Furthermore, G-d accepts teshuvah even when it is brought about by suffering: We have been urged about the need to repent in many places in the Torah (see, for example, Deuteronomy 30:1-2); and it is clearly set out in the Torah that teshuvah is accepted by G-d even if the sinner repents as a result of his having been beset by many troubles, and certainly, if he repents out of fear of G-d or out of love of Him. For it is stated (Deuteronomy 4:30): ‘When you are in distress and all these things have befallen you, at the end of days, you will return unto the L-ord, your G-d, and hearken to His voice.’ And the verse continues: ‘For the L-ord, your G-d, is a merciful G-d, He will not abandon you nor destroy you, and He will not forget the covenant of your forefathers that He swore to them.’
Aside from accepting teshuvah, G-d elevates a person who repents: It is clearly set out in the Torah that G-d will assist those who repent, raising them to elevated spiritual levels even when they are not naturally capable of reaching such heights, and He will renew within them a pure spirit that enables them to attain the noble trait of loving Him….†[Ed. Note: This means that once a person invests his best effort into teshuvah, G-d provides assistance that raises him beyond his natural means.]
If you read the words of Rabbeinu Yonah above and you’re not (literally) jumping up and down with joy and elation, then you obviously missed the point and you should read it again. Or maybe I should just spell out for you in plain English the essence of what he is saying.
Rabbeinu Yonah is telling us five reasons why G-d is so amazing, especially when it comes to the creation of teshuvah:
1) G-d, in His infinite kindness, created teshuvah as a way of giving all of us, His creations, a chance to fix up the messes we have created and to start again anew. For this gift alone – the ability to repent and to save our souls from destruction - we are forever indebted to G-d.
2) G-d didn’t just offer us the gift of teshuvah. He commanded us and urged us to do teshuvah for our sins because He loves us so much and because He knows how hard our temptations can be.
3) No matter how bad we might be, G-d never shuts the door of teshuvah. Even the worst and most treacherous sinner can always find his way back to G-d through teshuvah.
4) Even if we only do teshuvah because of our suffering – a “low-level†teshuvah motivated by distress and not out of love or awe of G-d - He will still accept it.
5) Aside from accepting teshuvah, G-d elevates a person who repents, raising him to elevated spiritual levels even when he is not naturally capable of reaching such heights. This does not mean only that G-d helps a penitent person overcome obstacles to teshuvah. It means that He actually grants the person a degree of purity that he could not have attained through his own efforts.
The Hebrew month of Elul is traditionally the time to do teshuvah and repent for all our sins so that we merit a good judgment on Rosh Hashanah.
Let us remember how fortunate we are to have such a Loving and Benevolent G-d Who has given us the amazing gift called teshuvah!
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