Q: First of all, I want to begin with thanking the Rav for this wonderful, eye-opening column and extend my best wishes for a gut gebencht yor.
My question touches on the mitzvah of this time, Ymei Harachamim V’haselichos, the mitzvah of teshuvah:
Since the beginning of Elul, I’ve been learning the Ramban’s Hilchos Teshuvah, and I’m feeling so distraught. When the Rambam portrays the mitzvah of teshuvah he writes: “The sinner should abandon his sin and remove it from his thoughts and determine in his heart that he will not repeat it, as written, ‘A rasha should abandon his way…’ and he should regret the past as written, ‘For after I returned, I changed my mind,’ and the One Who knows all secrets shall attest upon him that he will never repeat this sin again.”
I ask myself, is such a thing possible for people in our generation? Who can attest such a thing of himself, let alone expect that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will attest this about him…
A: Hagaon Harav Dovid Levy shlit”a responds: In Selichos, we find several references to yeridas hadoros, but perhaps this is actually a way to be melamed zechus and defend our generation.
אֵין מִי יִקְרָא בְצֶדֶק. אִישׁ טוֹב נִמְשַׁל כְּחֶדֶק. בַּקֵּשׁ רַחֲמִים בְּעַד שְׁחוּקֵי הָדֵק. בְּשׁוּם פָּנִים אֵין בֶּדֶק: גֶּבֶר תָּמִים וְנָבָר אָפַס. גָּמַר חָסִיד וְצַדִּיק נִרְפַּס. דּוֹר עָנִי בַּעֲוֹנוֹ נִתְפַּס. דְּרָכָיו לְהַגִּיד מִי יְחֻפָּשֹ:
Regarding your question, I want to first repeat something that I once heard from the Rosh Yeshivah of Tchebin Hagaon Harav Baruch Shimon Schneerson zt”l:
The Rambam refers to Hakadosh Baruch Hu as “Yodeah Ta’alumos—He Who knows all that is hidden” not “Yodeah Asidos—One Who knows the future”. This means that a person isn’t judged upon his teshuvah with the future in mind, but rather, “ba’asher hu sham”—as he is right now. If, at the time of teshuvah, his thoughts are pure and he is sincere about his intention never to sin again, then this is teshuvah shleimah, complete repentance.
Another thought to bear in mind is that these Days of Awe are a time to stop and introspect both about our thoughts and actions.
On Rosh Hashanah, we recite:
וּבְרִיּות בּו יִפָּקֵדוּ לְהַזְכִּירָם לְחַיִּים וְלַמָּוֶת. מִי לא נִפְקַד כְּהַיּום הַזֶּה. כִּי זֵכֶר כָּל הַיְצוּר לְפָנֶיךָ בָּא. מַעֲשֵׂה אִישׁ וּפְקֻדָּתו וַעֲלִילות מִצְעֲדֵי גָבֶר. מַחְשְׁבות אָדָם וְתַחְבּוּלותָיו וְיִצְרֵי מַעַלְלֵי אִישׁ.
Without introspection, we cannot serve Hashem properly. Most people do experience spiritual growth during the Yomim Noraim in some form, and some people even maintain it in the long term. Upon the latter, it is clear that Hashem—Who Knows all secrets—will attest that they will not repeat their aveirah. However, even for those who don’t reach that level, the very act of stopping, introspecting and striving to improve instead of having a yeridah, the spiritual downfall that is the natural progression of life, is also an element of teshuvah shleimah.
The core of teshuvah is returning to Hashem, and as long as we’re heading in the right direction, no matter how far we’ve come, we are doing teshuvah.
I’ll conclude with the words of Chazal in Pirkei Avos, “Lo alecha hamelachah ligmor, velo ata ben chorin l’hibatel mimena. The work is not yours to complete, but you are not free to stop.” Truly, it is difficult, if not impossible, to perform a complete act of teshuvah. Yet Hashem does not command us to complete it, only to work on it and continue striving for greatness, instead of resorting to the excuse of yeridas hadoros.
With best wishes for a ksivah vachasimah tovah in the Book of Tzaddikim!
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