[A great-grandson of the Ba’al Shem Tov and the
author of Likutey Moharan]
CONTINUOUS CONFESSION
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught that you must hold on
to the attribute of teshuvah at all times. Even when a person is
reciting the vidui, confession, and saying, “I have sinned, I have
transgressed,” even then it’s not possible that he said it sincerely the first
time. Therefore he must repent for the first time that he did teshuvah,
which was not completely sincere. He even has to repent for the confession he
said.
Even if he is certain that he did fully and sincerely
repent, he must still repent the first teshuvah that he ever did. That
first teshuvah that he did was based on his previous level of
understanding. Later, when he repented again, there is no doubt that his
understanding of Hashem’s greatness (and of the magnitude of his misdeeds) has
changed. Now that he has greater clarity and a better understanding than he did
previously, he must do teshuvah for the way he did teshuvah
previously. Happy is he who merits to do such teshuvah! LIKUTEI EITZOS
MESHIVAS NEFESH – RESTORING
THE SOIL
If you wish to repent and return to Hashem, you must
be well versed in walking down the path of Jewish law – “halachah” (which
literally means “walkway” or “path”). This will prevent anything in this world
from distancing you from Hashem or from causing you to stray, whether you are
on your way up or down the path to spirituality.
No matter what happens to you and no matter what you
experience, still you must strengthen yourself and “hold yourself up” (in
Yiddish, “der halten zich”) by adhering to the halachah. Then you can fulfill
the words of Tehillim (139:8): “If I travel to the heavens You [Hashem]
are there, and if I make my bed in the pits of Gehinnom, You are there beside
me as well.”
Even in the deepest darkest recesses of Gehinnom, you
can come close to Hashem because He is found also there, for “if I make by bed
in the pits of Gehinnom, You are there beside me.” LIKUTEI MOHARAN
HISHTAPCHUS HANEFESH – AN
OUTPOURING OF THE SOUL
If you want to merit to do teshuvah, take on
the habit of reciting Tehillim, which is a segulah for teshuvah,
Why?
There rea fifty gates of repentance; forty-nine of
them we are capable of opening and entering. These forty-nine gates of teshuvah
correspond to the forty-nine letters that spell out the names of the twelve
tribes of Israel – each and every gate corresponds to one letter from the names
of the tribes. But the fiftieth gate belongs to Hashem’s own teshuvah,
so to speak, because even regarding Hashem we find the concept of teshuvah,
as it says, “Return to Me [says Hashem] and I will return to you” (Malachi
3:7).
Everyone wants to be on the level where he fears
Hashem, but not everyone merits to do teshuvah. Perhaps, some people
lack the awakening to do teshuvah; others, though they have been
awakened to repent, fail to reach their personal gate to teshuvah and complete
the process. Even those who manage to reach the gate may find it shut and
locked due to their sins and they may need to redouble their effort of teshuvah.This
is why they fail in their efforts to do teshuvah fully.
By reciting Tehillim, however, even those who
initially lacked any enthusiasm to repent are moved to do so, and they begin to
feel an awakening to repent and return. This awakening is enough for them to
reach the gate that corresponds to their letter and to open that gate.
This is the concept conveyed by the verse “These are
the last words of David…the words of the man [i.e., King David] who was
established of High…” (Shmuel II 23:1). Our Sages explain, “This teaches that
King David established the yoke of teshuvah [that is, he showed us the
way to repent after he repented of his sin with Batsheva]” (Mo’ed Katan 16b).
In the same verse, King David is called the “sweet singer of Israel”, alluding
to fact that he composed the book of Tehillim. Since he merited to
“establish the yoke of teshuvah,” he infused this power of teshuvah
into his Tehillim. This is why we are awakened to repent through Tehillim.
This is also what our Sages (Avodah Zarah 4b) meant
when they said that King David was much greater and worthier than that action
that is ascribed to him (the sin with Batsheva) – it only happened to him to
teach individuals about the power of repentance. Thus we find that King David
was the prime example of a ba’al teshuvah, and his book of Psalms is a
path to teshuvah. He sang his psalms with such a great feeling of
awakening and ruach hakodesh (divine intuition) that each and every
individual can find their personal circumstances in the book of Tehillim
on their own personal level, and through its power merit to repent.
The primary refinement of the twelve tribes, whose
names comprise the forty-nine letters that correspond to the forty-nine gates
of teshuvah, occurred in Egypt…Therefore, after the tribes were refined
through their experience in Egypt and merited to leave, they counted forty-nine
days of the Omer, which correspond to the aforementioned forty-nine letters
that represent the forty-nine gates of repentance. On the fiftieth day, Hashem
descended to Har Sinai (Shemos 19:20). This is what is meant by the idea we
explained above, that Hashem’s teshuvah of “I will return to you,” is
the fiftieth gate, since that is the day Hashem, so to speak, “returned” or
came close to us.
Therefore the final letters of the verse “V’eileh
shemos Bnei Yisrael haba’im – These are the names of the children of Israel
who were coming” (Shemos 1:1) spell the word tehillim, and the final
letters of the second part of this verse, “Mitzraymah eis Yaakov ish u’veiso
– to Egypt with Yaakov, each man and his household” spell the word teshuvah.
This is because through saying Tehillim, we merit to do teshuvah.
This, too, is the concept behind the verse listing the
names of Yaakov’s children who entered Egypt. The forty-nine letters that spell
their names correspond to the forty-nine gates of repentance, showing that they
went down into Egypt to be refined there, as just mentioned.
We can see for ourselves that during days of
repentance – the month of Elul and the ensuing Ten Days of Repentance between
Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur – all of Bnei Yisrael take upon themselves
to recite Tehillim, because saying Tehillim is a segulah for teshuvah.
Saying Tehillim is a great and important thing, a way to rouse feelings
of awakening toward Hashem. Happy is he who grasps this! LIKUTEI MOHARAN
THE BLESSINGS THAT TESHUVAH BRINGS
When a person does teshuvah and repents
wholeheartedly, Hashem grants him a heart that can know Him. SEFER HAMIDDOS,
TESHUVAH
The moment that a person decides to repent and do teshuvah,
his prayers are immediately accepted even before he has done teshuvah.
SEFER HAMIDDOS, TESHUVAH
Teshuvah heals the world: when one does teshuvah
out of fear, his intentional sins are transformed into mistakes; when he
repents out of love they are transformed into merits. Thus teshuvah
brings redemption closer and lengthens a man’s days and the years of his life.
Through teshuvah, however, not only he but also the entire world is
forgiven. SEFER HAMIDDOS, TESHUVAH
Through teshuvah, the spirit of Mashiach blows
and whispers like the wind over any harsh governmental decrees and cancels
them. SEFER HAMIDDOS, TESHUVAH
Through teshuvah, a person’s livelihood comes
more easily. SEFER HAMIDDOS, TESHUVAH
Through Shabbos and teshuvah, one draws down
upon himself the light of Mashiach. SEFER HAMIDDOS, TESHUVAH
BRINGING THE WICKED BACK TO THE FOLD
When a Jew is moved and awakened to do teshuvah
because of a feeling of impurity he experiences when attempting to pray and
serve Hashem, then by repenting he affects not only himself but even those who
are truly wicked and left the fold of Klal Yisrael because of their
wicked misdeeds. He causes them to repent and return, and they themselves are
transformed into a vehicle for sanctity, even aiding those who serve Hashem to
build holy edifies. LIKUTEI EITZOS, TESHUVAH
THREE CONDITIONS
There are three conditions to teshuvah: the
eyes must see, the heart must understand, and the ears must hear. A person must
look for and understand his ultimate purpose in life, and he must
be prepared to fulfill it. He must also listen and pay close attention
to the words of our Sages – then he will merit to really succeed in doing teshuvah
fully. LIKUTEI EITZOS
BARRIERS AND OBSTACLES AT THE BEGINNING OF
A BA’AL TESHUVAH’S JOURNEY
When the light of teshuvah begins to shine
within and awaken the penitent who is distant from anything that is holy, he
may find that his way is impeded by various obstacles. He must exert great
effort to overcome these obstacles and divest himself of his soiled garments.
These garments that have been soiled with previous sins and misdeeds act as a
barrier, like a river intersecting a road so that one cannot cross.
Do not allow your thoughts to confuse you or frighten
you away from drawing close to Hashem. If you see that seemingly insurmountable
obstacles present you from returning to Him, know that these are formed from
your garments soiled by sin. You must suffer this exertion and some bitterness
until you can divest yourself of these garments. Then these obstacles will
vanish, and any barriers between you and holiness will cease to be. LIKUTEI
EITZOS
GUARDING YOUR THOUGHTS FOR REPENTANCE
The meaning of teshuvah is to return something
to its origin. The origin, or beginning, of all things is wisdom. For this
reason, everyone must guard their wisdom and intellect from foreign, external
influences, and especially from negative, impure thoughts, because all sins are
rooted in a blemished wisdom that is left unguarded. This is the primary form
of teshuvah. LIKUTEI EITZOS
True teshuvah is dependent on your heart,
especially those thoughts that lie deep within your heart. Therefore strengthen
yourself to flee from negative thoughts and to always think positively. Focus
on the goal of returning to Hashem and use your imagination to think up
strategies and ways to help you repent. This will aid you in acquiring the
secrets of Torah wisdom, and the Torah wisdom that you have acquired will be
the primary delight that you will experience in the next world. LIKUTEI EITZOS
TESHUVAH THROUGH TORAH
Teshuvah is primarily
dependent on Torah. If you study Torah and exert yourself in your studies, you
will come to understand how one concept is derived from another. Then you will
merit to originate novel ideas and new interpretations for the sake of Heaven.
This is a form of true and complete teshuvah, because creating chiddushim
means creating new ideas and teshuvah is a form of rebirth and renewal.
LIKUTEI EITZOS
THE JOURNEY OF TESHUVAH
Each person has unique experiences based on whatever
came to pass on the stations along his life’s journey. A truly complete teshuvah
is defined by returning to the same places you previously traveled to and
making different choices this time around. When you go through these situations
again, and now you turn your back on them and prevail over your inclination –
this is true teshuvah. LIKUTEI EITZOS
TESHUVAH ABOVE ALL
Teshuvah succeeds against
any and all sins. Even the grave offense of intentionally wasting seed and any
other forms of blemishes made on the bris – even these sins one can overcome
with teshuvah.
Thus our Sages said, “There is truly nothing that
stands in the way of teshuvah” (Yerushalmi, Pe’ah 1:1; Sanhedrin 103a).
LIKUTEI EITZOS
EVEN JUST ONE DAY OF REPENTANCE IS VERY
PRECIOUS
Once, Reb Noson of Nemirov overheard Rebbe Nachman
reciting the Mishnah “Repent one day before your death” (Avos 2:10).
When he said the words and repeated them. Rebbe Nachman kept stressing “one
day”.
What Rebbe Nachman meant to convey, taught Reb Noson,
is the idea that repenting even one day during your lifetime before you leave
this world is of the utmost significance.
So many people, Reb Noson explains, give up and are
lost because although they awaken themselves to repent and return to Hashem,
they are prevented from doing so by the day before and the day after – by their
past and their future. The past holds them back because of the misdeeds it
contains, and their future is impeded by similar personal obstacles.
Rebbe Nachman tells us, “Seize the moment and repent
even just ‘one day’ before you die.” Repent even just one day of your life on
this world, and don’t let yourself be discouraged, for this one day is as
precious as any treasure. Seize the moment, because if you do not seize this
day, you might miss the opportunity. SICHOS HARAN
Returnity – The Way Back To Eternity
[Selected Teachings From The Chassidic Masters On Teshuvah] by Rabbi Tal
Moshe Zwecker.
Rabbi Tal Moshe Zwecker is a Chassid and
teacher in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Translator of Noam Elimelech and
other classics of Chassidus in English.
R’ Tal Moshe Zwecker
Director Machon Be’er Mayim Chaim Publishing
Chassidic Classics in the English Language
