TESHUVAH OF THE HEART

Psalm chapter 27

Psalm chapter 51













Today we are walking in: Teshuvah of the Heart













Psalm 104:29




Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return H7725 to their dust.



















RETURN










Today we look to- RETURN -H7725 shuv--to turn back, return, to bring back, to be returned, be restored, be brought back
















The Torah testifies...............




Genesis 3:19




In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return H7725 unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. H7725






















The prophets proclaim..................




Hosea 5:15




I will go and return H7725 to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.






















The writings bear witness...........................




2 Chronicles 30:9




For if ye turn again H7725 unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again H7725 into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return H7725 unto him.









Be gracious unto me, O Yah , according to Thy mercy; according to the multitude of

Thy compassions blot out my transgressions. (Psalm 51:1)











HE THEME OF the Hebrew High Holidays is teshuvah, a word often translated as "repentance," though it's more accurately understood as turning back (shuv) to Yah. In Modern Hebrew teshuvah means an "answer" to a shelah, or a question.






Yah’s love for us is the question, and our teshuvah – our turning of the heart toward Him – is the answer. Teshuvah is one of the great gifts Yah gives each of us – the ability to turn back to Him and seek healing for our brokenness.




Psalm 51 is sometimes called "Perek Teshuvah" – the great Chapter of Repentance of the Scriptures. After King David was confronted with the truth of his crimes and the prospect of judgment, he returned to Yah for cleansing and forgiveness. David's teshuvah reveals that we also can return to Yah on the basis of His abundant compassion – His rachamim. Without Yah’s love we have no hope for the future.




After the Hebrews had committed the grievous sin with the golden calf, Moses despaired of ever being able to find favor in Yah’s eyes again. Yah, however, called Moses to return to the mountain to learn the meaning of the Name YHVH. While he waited in the cleft of the rock, Moses heard the Divine Voice saying, "The LORD, the LORD, Yah merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Exod. 34:6). This was David's experience of return, too. Given his great transgressions of the Torah, he was sure that he had lost Yah’s favor. David needed to rediscover Yah’s love despite his brokenness and sin.




The greatest demonstration of the compassion of Yah was given at Mount Moriah, the place of the sacrifice of YAHUSHA Just as Moses and David had to confront their own brokenness to hear the Divine Voice, so we need to turn to the stake to hear the cries of YHVH suffering for our own. At the stake we find compassion and healing for our brokenness and sin.




During this Season of Teshuvah may we once again respond to the Voice of Yah’s love. ALL PRAISES TO THE MOST HIGH YAH!!!!

TESHUVAH OF TRUTH AND THE TONGUE

Song of Solomon chapter 5

Psalms chapter 27

Today we are walking in: TESHUVAH OF TRUTH AND THE TONGUE

Today we look to the word-TONGUE- H3956 lashown--tongue (of men); tongue (literal); tongue (organ of speech)

The Torah testifies............…

Exodus 4:10

And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. H3956

The prophets proclaim..................

2 Samuel 23:2

The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. H3956

The writings bear witness............

Joshua 10:21

And all the people returned to the camp to Joshua at Makkedah in peace: none moved his tongue H3956 against any of the children of Israel.

TESHUVAH OF TRUTH AND THE TONGUE

"Many people love falsehood and only a few love truth. For it is possible to love falsehood truly, but it is impossible to love truth falsely" help us to love truth truly, then, with all our hearts, since love and truth characterize The Most High Yah's rule: As it is written, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and truth go before you" (Psalm 89:14).

Truth springs up everywhere; righteousness shines down over all the earth. This primarily concerns the sacrificial work of the Messiah, of which it is rightly said: "Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other" (Psalm 85:10). Because of the great reconciliation we have through Yahauah, the truth of The Most High Yah shall prevail among men. The "Seed" that was planted in Zion and becomes a Tree of Life throughout all the earth. "Deliverance goes before the LORD, and prepares a pathway for Him" (Psalm 85:13).

We have a moral imperative, given by The Most High Yah Himself, to receive the truth and to live according to the nature of spiritual reality. Those who reject or suppress the truth, however, are responsible for their actions, as it is written, "No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes" (Psalm 101:7).

"O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth within his heart." (Psalm 15:1-2)

Note that the word tamim, translated "blamelessly," might better be rendered "perfectly," that is, complete in all its parts; where no part is missing. The person who walks perfectly, then, means one who is wholehearted in their faith and trust.... Note that this person does what is right – that is, practices tzedakah and performs good deeds; he uses the "good eye" to bless others. Speaking truth "within the heart" is critical since it implies that the person is sincere, honest, without ulterior motives, and so on... He is a "true" person with a heart that can be trusted. The phrase also implies the person is free from self-deception or the need to pretend to be something he isn't.

The Hebrew word for truth is composed of the first, middle, and last letters of the alphabet, whereas the three letters that spell "falsehood" stand next to one another. Truth creates a firm foundation, secure, strong, and trustworthy, while falsehood is unstable... As it is written, "truth stands forever, falsehood has no legs."

We are commanded to keep distant from falsehood (Exod. 23:7; Prov. 4:24). People often lie when they want to manipulate reality to serve their desires. In that sense the lie is similar to lust, since lust seeks its own inner satisfaction regardless of the moral duty of the moment... Lying is also like stealing, since it reports reality to be something it isn't, and that difference robs another person of what is needed to navigate their lives properly... "A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech" (Prov. 6:12). Truth is the foundation of reality, and lying is therefore a form of denial of reality – a dangerous denial - since reality invariably proves self-authenticating (John 3:18). "The lip of truth will stand forever; but a lying tongue is but for a moment" (Prov. 12:19).

It requires moral courage to speak the truth to others... A hypocrite is one who wears a mask, who pretends to think or feel one thing when he really thinks or feels something else. The law, "you must not set a stumbling block before the blind" (Lev. 19:14) includes the implication that you must not hide part of your intention while giving someone advice or when offering someone a benefit. It is important to understand that a sin of omission regarding speaking the truth is as serious as practicing deceit itself. (On the other hand, every bride and newborn is beautiful, regardless of conventional perceptions, and there are times when we might be constrained to lie for the sake of preserving life; for example, responding "no" to the question, "are there any Hebews hiding in your house?" when indeed a Hebrew family was knowingly concealed in the attic during the time of WWII. In that sense we note the connection between the word "truth" and "trustworthiness").

The lie is a type of violence. Martin Buber once said, "What is accomplished through lies can assume the mask of truth; what is accomplished through violence can go in the guise of justice, and for a while the hoax may be successful. But soon people realize that lies are lies at bottom, that violence is violence - and that both lies and violence will suffer the destiny history has in store for all that is false."

"There are many ways to offend against the truth. One way is to deny it: the way of the liar. Another way is to keep silent when the truth should be spoken: the way of the coward. At the other end is the cruel use of the truth - pointing out failure when silence is the way of honor, or by distorting 'little truths' for the sake of a supposed capital "T" truth, that is, lying for the sake of an ideology or dogma: the way of the politician" (John Cogley).

Being honest with ourselves is absolutely essential for any sort of authentic spiritual life... "No person is saved except by grace; but there is one sin that makes grace impossible, and that is dishonesty; and there is one thing The Most High Yah must forever and unconditionally require, and that is honesty" (Kierkegaard). Confession means "saying the same thing" about ourselves that The Most High Yah says - and that means not only acknowledging our various sins, transgressions, and iniquities, but also affirming our new identity as the beloved children of The Most High Yah. Saying that The Most High Yah doesn't love you is a lie as damning as denying His very existence...

May The Most High Yah help us never to "trifle" with Him, to play "religious games," and thereby fool ourselves... "The Most High Yah chose you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth 2 Thess. 2:13. It is the truth that sets us free, and for the truth Yahauah gave Himself up for us: "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world -- to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37). May it please the LORD our The Most High Yah to fill us with the Spirit of Truth and to help us be honest with ourselves at all times. Amen.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD my Rock and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14)

Our words reveal what is hidden within our hearts, and therefore - because words and thoughts are intimately connected - we must be very careful about how we think, and especially about how we esteem others. The Chofetz Chaim wrote that the foundational principle of shemirat ha-lashon (guarding our speech) is to always judge others in the best possible light. This involves hakarat tovah, that is, recognizing the good in others, and choosing to see with ayin tovah, a "good eye." It is better to judge favorably - even if we are in error - than it is to judge critically -- even if we are telling the truth.

The Torah says that our judgments carry great weight in heaven. The words we say, whether good or bad, call for a response in the realm of spirit. This is hinted at by the Hebrew word for "thing," i.e., devar, which also means "word." When we defend someone and speak favorably of him or her, our words mean something and favorably dispose heaven itself; on the other hand, if we accuse them or are critical of them, we align our thoughts with Satan, and the opposite effect is produced. Moreover, there is great danger when we accuse others of wrongdoing, since we thereby open ourselves up to reciprocal judgment (Matt. 7:3-5). It takes great chokhmah (wisdom) and humility to offer godly correction to others, and it is vital that we approach this matter with fear and trepidation. Our motive always must be love for the other person, never vindictiveness or pride.

Listen to the words of your heart and understand that they are devarim, "things" that are defining the course of your life right now. Proverbs 4:24 says, "more than all else, guard your heart, because from it are the bounds of your life." Our thoughts and words are ultimately "prayers" we are constantly offering... How you think/pray determines the "bounds" or course of your life. As Yahauah said, "According to your faith be it done unto you" (Matt. 9:29).

Yahauah spoke of "good and evil treasures of the heart" that produce actions that are expressed in our words (Luke 6:45). The focus here is not so much on the externals (for example, the use of profanity), but rather on the underlying condition of the human heart. Our inward motive determines our thinking, which in turn affects the way we act and use words. We must be on guard to keep away from lashon hara (evil speech) by focusing on what is worthy, lovely, and of good report (Phil. 4:8).

May the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to the Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

DYNAMICS OF TESHUVAH

Psalm chapter 51

Today we are walking in: Dynamics Of Teshuvah!!!!

Today we look to- RETURN -H7725 shuv--to turn back, return, to bring back, to be returned, be restored, be brought back

The Torah testifies...............

Genesis 3:19

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return H7725 unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. H7725

The prophets proclaim..................

Hosea 5:15

I will go and return H7725 to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

The writings bear witness...........................

2 Chronicles 30:9

For if ye turn again H7725 unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again H7725 into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return H7725 unto him.

The Dynamics of Teshuva

"Most High, I am a sinner. I would like to return, to do teshuvah!" The Most High looked at the man before him. He did not understand what the man wanted. "So why don't you do teshuvah?" "Most High, I do not know how!" The Most High retorted. "How did you know to sin?" The remorseful sinner answered simply. "I acted, and then I realized that I had sinned." "Well," said the Most High, "the same applies to teshuvah, repent and the rest will follow of itself!"

Torah: The Ground Rules

Revelation is the foundation of a restored relationship.

Revelation constitutes the basic premises of the original relationship in the garden of Eden.

There is the Revealer. The Most High exists. He is real.

The Most High speaks to man. The Most High not only exists, He also cares. He is a personal, the Most High.

There is (Divine Providence).

Because The Most High cares, like a loving and concerned parent cares for his child, He reveals to us what we should know about reality. He guides us and teaches us the way wherein we are to walk and the acts that we must do.

This is Torah, the "Tree of Life to those who hold fast to it." The Most High's word, the Revelation, is called Torah. For Torah means instruction; It instructs and reveals that which was hidden, unknown. It teaches man to walk in the right path. It counsels him how to return to his Abba.

Revelation, the Torah in all its immensity of 248 commandments and 365 prohibitions, is realistic. It is not alien to man and physical reality. It is not overlapped from without. It is not hidden from you nor far off. It is not in the heavens that you should say: Who shall go up for us to the heavens?

Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, Who shall go over the sea for us? It is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it. Deuteronomy 30:12-13

Torah is not attached to the world. It precedes and transcends the world. It is the blueprint for Creation. The Holy One, The Most High, looked into the Torah and created the world.

The universe, man, all that exists, was created, fashioned and made on the basis of, and suited to, the contents and requirements of Torah. This allows for the possibility, and thus the demand, that man - every one of us - can live up to the obligations and ideals of Torah. ("The Most High does not impose burdensome precepts upon His creatures; He comes to man according to his own strength...according to the ability of each individual.")

We are bound up with Torah in a reciprocal relationship.

As Torah is the blueprint for the universe, the universe reflects all components of Torah. And as it is with the whole, so it is with the rest of creation, with man.

The human body and the human soul reflect the 613 precepts: 248 organs corresponding to the 248 commandments; 365 veins corresponding to the 365 prohibitions.

Observance of the positive precepts animates the relative organs, attaches them to Divinity and elicits for them Divine illumination, vitality and energy.

Observance of the prohibitions protects the relative veins and vessels against contamination, against influences alien to their nature and purpose.

The Nature of Sin

Revelation, Torah, the life based upon it, constitutes morality, virtue, goodness. What constitutes sin?

On the simple level, sin means breaking the law, violating the Torah by acts of omission or commission. Our duties are spelled out clearly. The law is defined. To ignore the letter or the spirit of the law, let alone to violate it, that is sin.

On a deeper level, the meaning of sin is indicated in its Hebrew terminology. The general term for it is aveirah. It is of the root avar - to pass or cross over, to pass beyond. Aveirah means a trespass, a transgression, a stepping across the limits and boundaries of propriety to the "other side."

More specific words are chet, aavon, pesha.

Chet is of a root meaning to miss, to bear a loss. Aavon is of a root meaning to bend, twist, pervert. Pesha is of a root meaning to rebel.

Technically, legalistically, chet refers to inadvertent sins; aavon to conscious misdeeds; and pesha to malicious acts of rebellion.

Sin, thus, is a move away from the Most High, away from truth.

"Your sins separate you from The Most High" who is truly "your life." It separates us from Torah, our lifeline, that which attaches us to the source of our life and all blessings.

To neglect the commandments is to deprive ourselves of the illumination and vitality which their observance draws upon us, to forfeit an opportunity, to render ourselves deficient: chata'im, at a loss. To violate the prohibitions is to defile the body, to blemish the soul, to cause evil to become attached.

Sin offers man temporary gains, but it is altogether irrational, self-defeating. Attractive and sweet at the outset, but bitter in the end. Thus, "The Most High, the Holy One, is stounded: How is it possible that a person will sin?!"

"No person will commit a sin unless a spirit of folly has entered into him." Sin is an act of ignorance or foolishness. Invariably it can be traced to lack of knowledge, to negligence or carelessness. If premeditated, let alone an act of willful rebellion, it is outright stupidity. Either way, it is rooted in carelessness, in shortsightedness, in failure to think. It follows upon a blinding obsession with the here and now, egocentricity, self-righteousness.

The Principle of Teshuvah

The folly of sin derives from man's physical nature.

What is man? A composite of body and soul. The soul is spiritual. By its very nature it reaches out to, and strives for, spirituality. The body is material, and thus attracted to the allurements of its own elements, of matter. Yet these two are combined. The soul is removed from its "supernal peak to be vested in the lowly body.

This "descent" is for the purpose of an "ascent": to elevate and sublimate the physicality of the body and the matter to which it is related in its lifetime.

There is tension between body and soul, between matter (and the natural or animalistic life-force that animates and sustains it), and the neshamah, the sublime soul and spirit of man. But they are not irreconcilable.

The body per se is neither evil nor impure. It is potentiality: not- yet-holy, even as it is not-yet-profane.

Man's actions, the actions and behavior of the body-soul compound, determine its fall into the chambers of defilement or its ascent to be absorbed in holiness.

To succeed in elevating and transfering the body and its share in this world is an elevation for the soul as well. It is precisely the exposure to temptation, the risks of worldliness, the possibility of alternatives and the incumbent free will of man, that allow for achievement, for ultimate self-realization.

"The body of man is a wick, and the light (soul) is kindled above it......"The light on a man's head must have oil, that is, good deeds." The wick by itself is useless if not lit. The flame cannot burn in a vacuum; it cannot produce light nor cling to the wick without oil.

Torah and mitzvot, good deeds, unite the wick and the flame, the body and the soul, to actualize inherent potentiality, to produce a meaningful entity.

The neshamah, the soul, a spark of The Most High within us, fills us with practically unlimited potential. Man is granted the power to make of himself whatever he likes, in effect to determine his destiny.

The veracity of mundane temptation, however, is no less real. Sin crouches at the door.

Torah confronts this fact: "There is no man so righteous on earth that he does good and never sins."

If sin was final, the history of mankind would have begun and ended with Adam. The Creator took this into account.

The original intent was to create the world on the basis of strict justice. As The Most High foresaw that such a world could not endure, He caused the attribute of mercy to precede the attribute of justice and allied them.

"When the Most High, created the world, He consulted the Torah about creating man. Who said to Him: `The man You want to create will sin before You, he will provoke You to anger. If you will deal with him commensurate to his deeds, neither the world nor man will be able to exist before you!' The Most High then replied to the Torah: `Is it for nothing that I am called the Compassionate and Gracious The Most High, long-suffering?'

Thus, before creating the world, the the Most High, created teshuvah (repentance), and said to it: "I am about to create man in the world, but on condition that when they turn to you because of their sins, you shall be ready to erase their sins and to atone for them!"

Teshuvah thus is forever close at hand, and when man returns from his sins, this teshuvah returns to the Most High, and he atones for all - all judgments are suppressed and sweetened, and man is purified from his sins.

How is he purified from his sins?

By ascending with this teshuvah in proper manner.

When he returns before the Supreme King and prays from the depths of his heart, as it is written: "From the depths I call unto You, oh The Most High!"

Torah, the rules and regulations for life, preceded the world and served as its blueprint. These rules demand strict adherence. "But for the Torah, heaven and earth cannot endure, as it is said: `If not for My covenant by day and by night, I had not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth.'"

Sin means to defeat the purpose of Creation, to deprive creation of all meaning. This must result in the world's reversion to nothingness. Thus the need for the attribute of mercy, of compassion.

Mercy means to recognize the legitimacy of justice, yet to show compassion, to forgive nonetheless.

Mercy means to recognize the valid demands of the law, but also to temper these demands by considering the fact that "the drive of man's heart is evil yet from his youth." It offers another chance. This is the principle of teshuvah.

The Power of Teshuvah

As for the wicked man, if he should return from all his sins that he committed and guard all my decrees, and do justice and righteousness, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions which he committed will not be remembered against him....Do I then desire the death of the wicked, says The Most High, the Eternal One, is it not rather his return from his ways, that he may live? (Ezekiel 18)

Teshuvah is a principle indispensable to relationships, indispensable to the existence of individuals living in the Torah. For it is impossible for man not to sin and err - either by erroneously adopting an opinion or moral quality which in truth is not commendable, or else by being overcome by passion and anger.

If man were to believe that this fracture can never be remedied, he would persist in his error and perhaps even add to his disobedience.

The belief in teshuvah, however, leads him to improvement, to come to a state that is better, nearer to perfection, than that which obtained before he sinned. That is why the Torah prescribes many actions that are meant to establish this correct and very useful principle of teshuvah."

Without teshuvah the world could not endure. Without teshuvah man could not but despair, crushed by the burden of his errors. Torah is the foundation of the universe, it assures and sustains its existence. Teshuvah insures its survival.

The power of teshuvah is overawing.

There is absolutely nothing that stands in the way of teshuvah. The thread of teshuvah is woven throughout the whole tapestry of Torah, of our tradition. It is not simply a mitzvah, one of 613 channels to tie us to The Most High. It is a general, all-comprehensive principle, the backbone of relationship with the King of kings!

There is no sin that cannot be mended and remedied by teshuvah.

Teshuvah removes a burdensome past and opens the door to a new future. It means renewal, rebirth.

The ba'al teshuvah becomes a different, a new, person.

It is much more than correction, more than modification.

Teshuvah elevates to a status even higher than the one prior to all sin. Even the perfectly righteous are surpassed by the ba'al teshuvah.

Sin is time-consuming.

It is an evolutionary process. Man does not fall at once, suddenly. He is trapped by one wrong act or attitude, often seemingly innocuous, which leads to another. When failing to recognize and stop this process, a chain reaction is set into motion and leads to the mire of evil.

Teshuvah, however, even in the worst of cases, is immediate.

"Ba'alai teshuvah are explamentory. For in the span of one instant they draw close to the Most High, more so than the perfectly righteous who draw near, over the span of many years!"

As teshuvah is not part of a gradual process and development, it is not subject to any order, to the "bureaucracy" of a normative procedure.

It is a jump, a leap. A momentary decision to tear oneself away. One turn. One thought.

And thus it affects even law, justice: When someone betrothes a woman on condition that "I am a tzaddik, a righteous person without sin," the betrothal is valid and binding even if he was known to be absolutely wicked. How so? Because at that very moment of proposal he may have meditated teshuvah in his mind!

The single thought, the momentary meditation of teshuvah, is sufficient to move man from the greatest depths to the greatest heights.

Just one thought, indeed; for the essence of teshuvah is in the mind, in the heart. It is a mental decision, an act of consciousness, awareness, commitment.

The Nature of Teshuvah

Where does the enormous potency of teshuvah come from? How can it erase the past, change the present, mold the future-recreate, as it were?

The power of teshuvah derives from its transcendent nature.

Like Torah, teshuvah preceded the Creation. It is not part of the world, of Creation, of a creative process. It is beyond time, beyond space, rooted in infinity. In the sphere of infinity, past and present fade into oblivion.

Teshuvah is in the heart, in the mind. One thought of teshuvah is enough. For thought, the mind, is not restricted by the limitations of the body.

The mind can traverse the universe in seconds. And the mind-machshavah, thought-is man, the essence of man. Man is where his thoughts are.

Fasting, self-mortification, may be means through which man expresses remorse. They may be acts of purification, of self-cleansing. But they do not constitute teshuvah. Teshuvat hamishkal, penance commensurate to the sin, "to balance the scales," is important. So is teshuvat hageder, the voluntary erection of protective "fences" to avoid trespassing.

Empirical reality may dictate such modes of behavior corresponding to certain forms of weakness. However, these deal with symptoms only.

They relate to specific acts that constitute the external manifestation of sin. They do not touch sin itself. They do not tackle the root and source from which sin grows. That root and source is in the mind, in the heart: ignorance, carelessness, neglect, wrong attitudes, egocentricity, self-justification.

Just as sin is rooted in man's will and mind, so must teshuvah be rooted in man's will and mind.

"He who sets his heart on becoming purified (from ritual defilement) becomes pure as soon as he has immersed himself (in the waters of a mikveh), though nothing new has befallen his body. So, too, it is with one who sets his heart on cleansing himself from the impurities that beset man's soul - namely, wrongful thoughts and false convictions: as soon as he consents in his heart to withdraw from those counsels and brings his soul into the waters of reason, he is pure."

(Note the analogy between teshuvah and the purifying waters of a mikveh).

teshuvah is more than a mikveh; it is like the sea, immersion in which also effects purification. A mikveh is subject to limitations of time and space. It is limited to a distinct location (a building), and is not always accessible or available. The sea, however, transcends these limitations: it is always accessible and available, if not in one particular spot then in another.

"Teshuvah is like the sea which is never barred, so that whoever desires to bathe in it can do so whenever he desires."

The tragedy of sin is not so much the transgression itself, to succumb to temptation, for "there is no man on earth..... that he never sins."

The real tragedy, the ultimate sin, is the failure to judge oneself, the failure to do teshuvah, "he has left off to contemplate to do good....does not abhor evil."

Better one self-reproach in the heart of man than numerous lashings.

As the bacteria, poisonous and infectious, are eliminated, their symptoms and outgrowths will disappear as well. And as sins cease, sinners will be no more. Thus teshuvah, the teshuvah that deals with the essence of sin, brings healing into the world.

This is not to understate the external symptoms of sin. For with every transgression "man acquires a kateigar, a prosecutor, against himself." The act of sin assumes reality. It clings to man, it attaches itself to him - leading him further astray in this world only to accuse him later in the hereafter.

On the other hand, everything in Creation is categorized in terms of matter and form (body and soul). The act of sin, its external manifestation, is the matter (the body) of sin, which creates the kateigar. The underlying thought, the intent, the will or passion that generated the transgression, is the form (the soul) that animates and sustains that body.

Self-mortification attacks that body and may destroy that matter. But only a change of heart, conscious remorse, is able to confront its form, its soul.

Only the elimination of the thought, intent and desire that caused the sin, will eliminate the soul of the kateigar. And when deprived of its soul, the kateigar ceases to exist.

Thus "rend your heart and not your garments, and return unto The Most High, The Most High, for He is gracious and compassionate, long-suffering and abounding in kindness....." When rending the heart in teshuvah there is no need to rend one's garments

The Disposition of the Ba'al Teshuvah

Teshuvah is essentially in the heart, in the mind. It is related to the faculty of binah, understanding.

There cannot be teshuvah without a consciousness of reality: understanding what is required. Recognition of one's status. Introspection. Searing soul-searching. Honest self-evaluation that opens the eyes of the mind and causes a profound sense of embarrassment: How could I have acted so foolishly? How could I have been so blind and dumb in the face of the Most High, the Omnipresent "Who in His goodness renews each day, continuously, the work of Creation?" How could I forsake the Ultimate, the Absolute, for some transient illusion? As the prophet laments: "My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of Living Waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that hold no water!"

Teshuvah is directly related to bushah-shame, embarrassment.

The Hebrew word teshuvah contains the letters of boshet; transposing the letters of shuvah (return), offers the word busha (shame). For bushah is an indication of teshuva.

Bushah, a sense of shame, flows from an illuminating grasp of reality. It is the proof of true regret over, and of a break with, the past. It is identical with teshuvah. To achieve that level is assurance of forgiveness: He who commits a sin and is ashamed of it, all his sins are forgiven him!

It takes understanding to do teshuvah:

"His heart shall understand, and he will return, and it shall be healed for him." That is why first we pray: "...bestow upon us wisdom, understanding and knowledge," and only then: "bring us back to You in complete teshuvah."

Wisdom, understanding, knowledge, are prerequisites for teshuvah.

It takes knowledge to separate right from wrong. Only the wise know to distinguish between holy and profane, between pure and impure. Thus teshuvah is identical with binah.

The ba'al teshuvah becomes aware that sin is a partition between The Most High and man. Sin disturbs the balance of the universe, sundering its unity. "He who transgresses the precepts of the Torah causes a defect, as it were, above; a defect below; a defect in himself; a defect to all worlds."

The word teshuvah can be read as tashuv-hey - returning, restoring the hey.....for when man sins he causes the letter hey to be removed from the Divine Name.

The Divine Name, the manifestation of The Most High-likeness, is no longer whole. The hey has been severed, leaving the other three letters to spell hoy, the Biblical exclamation for woe.

(The word teshuvah is divisible into these two components: tashuv-hey. Note that the letter hey represents the physical world: this world was created with the hey, because it is like an exedra (closed on three sides and open on the fourth), and whosoever wishes to go astray may do so (has the choice to let himself fall through the open bottom of the hey).

And why is the `leg' of the hey suspended (leaving an opening at the side, from above)? To indicate that whosoever repents is permitted to re-enter.)

"Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil.... woe to them that they are wise in their own eyes....." In turn, "he who does teshuvah causes the hey to be restored...and the redemption depends on this."

Teshuvah restores the hey, which to makes complete again the Holy Name, re-establishes unity, frees the soul.

"Teshuvah corrects everything - it rectifies above, rectifies below, rectifies the penitent, rectifies the whole universe."

The bushah of teshuvah relates only initially to the past. It develops further into an awareness of personal insignificance in the presence of Divine Majesty. On this higher level it signifies bitul ha-yesh (total self-negation). It diverts one's sights from concern with self to concern with the Ultimate. Thus it ignites a consuming desire to be restored to and absorbed in the Divine Presence: "My soul thirsts for The Most High, for the living The Most High - when shall I come and be seen in the Presence of The Most High...."

"Oh The Most High, You are The Most High, I seek You earnestly. My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You, in a dry and weary land without water.... or Your loving-kindness is better than life......"

This longing of the ba'al teshuvah is more intense than that of the tzaddik, the saint who never sinned. Having been removed from The Most High-likeliness, the ba'al teshuvah wants to make up for lost time, for lost opportunities.

The energy and passion once expended on nonsense and improprieties are now directed, in ever-increasing measure, towards good. He reaches out with all strength, and thus prompted, leaps to levels unattainable by the tzaddik.

His former transgressions, now responsible for his efforts and achievements, are thus sublimated. His descent, in effect, generated his ascent. The former sins are thus converted into veritable merits.

The status requiring teshuvah is coupled with grief, heart-breaking remorse. The possibility of teshuvah generates hope, faith, confidence: "The heart being firm and certain in The Most High that He desires to show kindness, and is gracious and compassionate, generously forgiving the instant one pleads for His forgiveness and atonement. Not the faintest vestige of doubt dilutes this absolute conviction." Teshuvah is thus marked by great joy as well.

Joy is not only a motivating force for the act of teshuvah, but also a necessary result of it.

For every step away from sin is a step closer to virtue.

Every move away from the darkness of evil is a move closer to the light of goodness, coming ever closer to The Most High.

This fact must fill the heart with joy, a true and encompassing joy and happiness, even as the lost child rejoices in having found the way home.

Indeed, this deep sense of joy, filling one's whole being, is the very test and proof of sincere teshuvah.

The Universality of Teshuvah

The conventional translation for teshuvah is repentance. This, however, is but one aspect, the aspect related to error, to sins of omission or commission.

The literal and real translation is "return." Return implies a two-fold movement. There is a source of origin from which one moved away and to which one wants to return.

The descent of the soul into this world is a move away.

Regardless of the lofty purposes to be achieved, the sublime goals to be attained, the fact remains that it is an exile. For the soul in its pristine state is bound up and absorbed in its source, in the very "bond of life with The Most High."

From this Place of Glory, the manifest Presence of The Most High, the soul is vested in a physical body, related to matter, exposed to and involved with the very converse of spirituality, of holiness.

To retain that original identity, to regain that original bond, that is the ultimate meaning of teshuvah. "And the spirit returns unto The Most High who gave it."

Teshuvah tata'a, the lower level of teshuvah, is rectification, an erasure of the past.

On a higher level, teshuvah is "coming home," a reunion. The child separated and lost, driven to return with a consuming passion, pleads: "It is Your countenance, The Most High, that I seek! Do not conceal Your countenance from me!"

The innermost point of the heart longs for Divinity so intensely that "his soul is bonded to the love of The Most High, continuously enraptured by it like the love-sick whose mind is never free from his passion.... and as Solomon expressed allegorically: `For I am sick with love.'

This higher sense of teshuvah - teshuvah ila'a, supreme teshuvah - relates to the tzaddik, the faultless, as well.

The Torah is given to all of Israel, to every Hebrew. Nothing in Torah is unnecessary. Nothing in Torah is the exclusive heritage of some only. Everything in Torah speaks to every individual, relates to every one. It is only by way of the whole Torah that anyone can become a whole person. Every mitzvah serves its purpose. Every instruction is directly relevant to the macrocosm of the universe and the microcosm of every man.

Teshuvah is an integral part of Torah.

It manifests itself in numerous precepts and instructions.

"Every one of the prophets charged the people concerning teshuvah." Teshuvah thus must relate to the righteous, to the saint, no less than to the sinner. Alternatively, the righteous would be missing out on a significant part of Torah. Teshuvah ila'a thus relates to the tzaddik as well.

Teshuvah ila'a reaches where a normative ascent, a behavior that is faultless yet gradual and normative, cannot reach. It moves man to jump, to leap, blinding him to everything but his objective, disregarding all and any obstacles in the pursuit and attainment of the ultimate goal. In this context the tzaddik, too, becomes a ba'al teshuvah, "one possessed of teshuvah," a personification of teshuvah.

Teshuvah ila'a does not mean a withdrawal of man from the world.

It reveals The Most High *IN* the world: omnipresence in the most literal sense, an encompassing awareness and a penetrating consciousness of the reality and presence of The Most High.

"To cleave unto Him, for He is your life;" ..."there is nothing else beside Him."

There is a total negation of ego, a total submersion of personal will in the Supreme Will. Not two entities brought together, but absorption and union to the point of unity.

"This mitzvah which I command you this day is not beyond your reach nor is it far off...." Generally, this verse refers to the entire Torah.

In context with the preceding passage it is also interpreted to refer specifically to the principle of teshuvah. "Even if your outcasts be in the outermost parts of Heaven"... and you are under the power of the nations, you can yet return unto The Most High and do "according to all that I command you this day." For teshuvah "is not beyond reach nor is it far off," but "it is exceedingly near to you, in your mouth and in your heart to do it."

"One hour of bliss in the World to Come is better than all the life of this world." Yet "one hour of teshuvah and good deeds in *THIS* world is better than all the life in the World to Come!"

"Well," said the Most High says, "do teshuvah, and the rest will follow of itself!"