Hashem’s Call to Teshuva
by Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah
The Shabbos between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called “Shabbos Shuva” (the Shabbos of Return). This is because the haftara read on this Shabbos begins with the prophet’s command: Return, Yisrael, to Hashem! Also, this Shabbos falls during the Ten Days of Repentance, about which the prophet Yishaya (55:6) states: “Seek out Hashem when He is found.” The Sages (Rosh Hashanah 18a) state that this refers to the Ten Days of Repentance, in which Hashem anticipates our teshuva and calls upon us to do it.
Teshuva at this time is not only proper or a wise move, but rather a spiritual imperative. The Rambam (Laws of Teshuva 3:3) states that “Just as a person’s merits and sins are weighed at the time of his death, so too every year, all who walk the earth — their sins are weighed with their merits on Rosh Hashana. One who is found to be a tzaddik is sealed for life. One who is found to be a rasha is sealed for death. The [fate of the] beinonim (average people, neither tzaddikim nor resha’im) is suspended until Yom Kippur. If they do teshuva, they are sealed for life, and if not, they are sealed for death.”
We are certainly not greater than beinonim. Rava, one of the holy sages of the Talmud, once commented that he “hopes that he is considered a beinoni” (Brachos 61b). It should be clear from this how necessary it is for us to do teshuva. Our lives literally depend on it.
Still, Rav Itzele Blazer asks, it seems from the Rambam that doing teshuva is the only thing that can save the beinoni. Is there no other mitzvah that can save him? If he is neither tzaddik nor rasha (i.e. his merits do not outweigh his sins), why can’t he do other mitzvos to tip the scale in his favor? Why is teshuva singled out?
Rav Blazer answers that since the Ten Days of Repentance are a time in which Hashem calls upon us to do teshuva, there is no substitute. Failing to do teshuva now is such a grave omission that it cannot be compensated for by other mitzvos.
On a deeper level, when Hashem calls upon us to do teshuva and rid ourselves of our sins, His message is that we rebuild our relationship with Him. This is because any sin distances us from Hashem (Shaarei Teshuva 1:10). Teshuva enables us to become close to Him again. If we engage in other mitzvos but leave our sins intact, we are ignoring the purpose of these days.
The Rambam (ibid. 7:6-7) expresses that the main point of teshuva is rebuilding our relationship with Hashem: “Teshuva is great because it brings a man closer to the Shechina…. Yesterday he was loathsome, distanced from Hashem and an abomination, but today he is beloved, a delight, close and a friend… Before, when he davened, Hashem did not listen, and when he did mitzvos, they were torn up before Him… Today, he clings to the Shechina… he calls out to Hashem and is answered… and he does mitzvos which are received with joy.”
Since teshuva is about building a relationship, every little detail counts. Even if a misdeed or imperfection in a midda seems insignificant to us, when we realize that it is harming our relationship with Hashem, then we have to do teshuva even for the smallest details.
The Shulchan Aruch (604:4) states that it is worthy for a Jew to live according to a higher halachic standard during these ten days, even if he knows that he will not be able to maintain this high level. This parallels what happens in most healthy marriages — at the beginning, husband and wife will make special efforts to form a bond, more than they will after getting settled down. The average husband cannot afford to buy his wife a new diamond ring each week, but at the beginning of their marriage, he’ll make that extra effort, in order to lay the proper groundwork for a solid relationship.
Rav Chizkayhu Mishkovsky recalls that years ago, when he was a bachur learning in the Ponovezh Yeshiva, there was another bachur there who began slipping into depression. He felt that he could not learn, and at one point he got up, left the building, headed to the IDF draft office and enlisted in the army.
This bachur now found himself in a new environment, one where keeping mitzvos was a challenge. This made him unpopular in his unit, to say the least. As for his friends in yeshiva, they felt obligated to cut off ties with him. His family became distant as well. He felt lonelier now than ever before in his life.
One day, as he was lying, depressed, in his bed in the army barracks, a letter arrived for him. It was from the yeshiva.
Excited, he grabbed hold of the envelope. Who had written to him?
The words “Your friend, Shmuel” appeared on the back of the envelope.
Shmuel? I have a friend named Shmuel? the bachur wondered.
The bachur quickly opened the letter and began reading. The author was clearly very sad that he had left the yeshiva, and concerned about what had happened to him.
“Wherever you are, please be in touch with me,” he wrote, and concluded with the words: “Sincerely, Shmuel Rozovsky.”
Harav Shmuel Rozovsky! The bachur was stunned. The Rosh Yeshiva of Ponovezh wrote me a letter?
The bachur’s heart raced as he re-read the Rosh Yeshiva’s brief but heartfelt words. He resolved to return that very day to Ponovezh. His unit commander would surely not allow this, but the bachur was determined. Late at night, he snuck out of the base and returned to the yeshiva, where Rav Rozovsky greeted him warmly. They spoke for over an hour, and in the end, the bachur managed to return to Ponovezh, where he slowly but steadily returned to Torah study.
When telling this story, Rav Mishkovsky notes: “Look what one letter can do! And during the Ten Days of Repentance, Hashem is not just sending us letters, He’s calling upon us each day: Please, make a connection with Me!”
May we do teshuva and re-build our relationship with Hashem!