The haftara for Shabbos Shuvah is the Navi Hoshea’s eternal call to teshuva: “Return, Yisrael unto Hashem Your G-d, for you have erred in sin.”
About this prophecy, Medrash Rabba 84:19 states that Hoshea was “the first to make an opening for teshuva,” meaning he (as it were) introduced the concept of teshuva. The Medrash adds that Hoshea was able to accomplish this in the merit of his grandfather, Reuven, whose teshuva is recorded by Rashi in Bereishis 37:29.
Only, we should ask: Was Hoshea really the first one to introduce the idea of teshuva? Didn’t Kayin do teshuva, and Adam Harishon, and Yehuda? Hadn’t the entire Jewish Nation done teshuva after the chet ha’egel? All the nevi’im tried to call upon the Jewish Nation to do teshuva, and the Rambam lists teshuva as a mitvzas asseh d’Oraisa, so it obviously wasn’t Hoshea’s invention. What does the Medrash mean that Hoshea was “the first to make an opening for teshuva?”
In Yoma 86, from the words “return unto Hashem,” Chazal explain that “great is teshuva, in that it reaches all the way to Hashem’s kisei hakavod (Throne of Glory).” The meforshim say this means that a person who does teshuva has to make himself so pure and free of sin that he can now cling to Hashem entirely. The Zohar states that the kisei hakavod is made up of Klal Yisrael’s neshamos. One’s teshuva must purify him so much that his neshama can be part of the kisei hakavod.
Rav Chaim Friedlander explains: Certainly, one does not have to reach a level of complete purification from his sin right away. He must start changing his misdeeds, but together with this he needs a strong ratzon to reach a level of complete purification, to the extent that he can cling to Hashem’s kisei hakavod. For example, a person resolves to do teshuva for speaking lashon hara. Of course he must resolve to refrain from forbidden speech, but moreover, he must have an aspiration to reach the level of an oheiv Yisrael, a person who would never even think of speaking against any Jew.
This was Hoshea’s chiddush, this was the “opening” he made in understanding the nature of teshuva: a prerequisite for teshuva is a desire to reach Hashem’s kisei hakavod. In other words, we are expected to develop the ratzon to do teshuva sheleima, complete repentance, in which nothing remains of the root of the sin and one can cling to Hashem entirely.
The Rambam (in Laws of Teshuva 2:2) seems to support this idea in paskening that complete teshuva is only attained when Hashem Himself can testify that the returner will never revert back to his sin, even if all the prior conditions recur. The Sefas Emes and others explain that what the Rambam requires is that a person make a kabala to work continuously on his negative middah, little by little, until he uproots it completely. Apparently, since the Rambam bases his psak on the verses of Hoshea cited above [that speak about ratzon], he means that one’s ratzon must be so powerful that it comes to the fore and he makes a kabala that eventually brings him all the way to uprooting his bad middah entirely.
Of course, all of a person’s sins need to be addressed, and each partial accomplishment in teshuva is desired by Hashem, but Rav Yisrael Salanter would suggest that a person put in particular efforts to address one specific sin, with a goal of uprooting it entirely, and thus achieving teshuva sheleima vis-à-vis this sin.
In Kelm, bachurim would form a chabura and spend hours together analyzing a specific sin and its apparitions, learning mussar and the halachos related to it and working to uproot it; each encouraging the other. We surely must accept on ourselves to work with a sefer and perhaps a chavrusa, and make a realistic plan to rid ourselves of a specific sin. If a person does this, in that specific area he has truly fulfilled the mitvzas asseh of teshuva in its entirety.
The Chazon Ish (Igros 44) once wrote to a bachur who had a strong pull toward olam hazeh: “Really, I understand you. Your pull to olam hazeh is very strong, but you have to know, ‘a wise man’s eyes are in his head’ and he has the foresight to see clearly and not get tricked. Don’t be fooled, these forms of gratification may be good for a moment but offer only pain in the end, whereas Torah brings joy. While it may be hard at the beginning, Torah brings happiness, and you should know that everything depends on your ratzon and kabala. If you have a strong ratzon, even though at the beginning you might go through some nisayonos, but in the end you will be zocheh to become a great talmid chacham and oved Hashem.” He then added that many people found it very hard to learn Torah when they were young, but when they matured they developed a strong will to grow and with this they went on to become gedolei Yisrael.
We’re now holding at the spiritual peak of the year, the time that Hashem is closest to us, and we’re praying that He reveal His glory to all mankind. This is a time of longing to see Hashem’s kavod and be a part of it. Now is the time to build up our ratzon to purify ourselves and through this to be able to connect to Hashem entirely. Let’s recall that teshuva is a mitvzas asseh d’Oraisa that can only be achieved with a powerful ratzon and a kabala to keep at it until we uproot our bad middos entirely.
May we be zocheh to do teshuvah sheleimah!