By now, we’re all thinking of teshuva. And, maybe, we’re overthinking it, and might be getting in our own way, so to speak. We might be held up by a quiet, subtle voice of doubt, asking: Does teshuva really work? How can it? After all, I really botched things up. It seems I’m doomed forever after all the things I did.
Maybe we’ll fight back against that voice, and re-affirm our belief in the power of teshuva. After all, there are many sources throughout the Torah that talk about it, and even whole seforim that talk about the greatness of the ba’al teshuva! But still, we may still view it as some type of loophole in the system. We may see it as a “b’dieved,” as if we’ve somehow managed to sidestep the reality of the consequences of our actions.
This, my friends, is a plain out lie that the yeitzer hara has convinced us to be true. It’s time the truth got out!
Teshuva is l’chatchila. It doesn’t just “work.” Rather, it is an inseparable part of the very makeup of creation. Without teshuva, Hashem would never have created the world or human beings in the first place. As the Gemara tells us (Pesachim 54a), teshuva was one of the seven things created before the world came into being. Let’s try to understand what this means.
Hashem created the world for a purpose: so that the Yid will serve Him to the best of his capabilities, overcome temptation, learn Torah, and do mitzvos.
All of this is so that we may merit the ultimate pleasure in the World to Come — to bask in the light of Hashem for all eternity. This is the reason for creation, and this is man’s mission on this earth. Hashem is the ultimate good, and His desire is to bestow good upon His creations. This is Hashem’s Divine plan for all of mankind, with each individual having his unique mission to accomplish in this world and, through that, earning his share in that ultimate reward.
The pasuk tells us (Bamidbar 23:19), “Hashem is not like a human who deceives, or like a man who retracts his plans.” Meaning, if Hashem has a plan, it must ultimately come to fruition. When our plans fall through, that’s because we have human shortcomings. But when Hashem plans, as it were, there’s no stopping Him. That plan will come together, exactly as it was in the blueprint.
And Hashem doesn’t just have a “grand” plan for creation. He has a plan for each person, for each Yid to reach his or her destined tikkun. And, if Hashem’s plans always work out, then this plan will happen. Every Yid will get to that tikkun, and receive the ultimate reward.
Let’s imagine there was no such thing as teshuva, no way to fix the past, no way to undo our mistakes. What’s done is done. That would mean that Hashem would have created a person for a specific purpose, and then, by making a few irresponsible mistakes, that person would have successfully undermined Hashem’s entire plan!
Clearly, that is unthinkable. Hashem’s plan cannot be dependent on a human being’s perfect cooperation. Therefore, Hashem implanted into the very essence of the original plan the ability to amend any wrong done along the journey.
Teshuva is not a loophole in the original system. It is the original system! It’s lechatchila, not bedieved.
That is the meaning of what we say in Selichos: “Haneshama lach vehaguf pa’alach, chusah al amalach” – “The soul is Yours and the body is Your creation; have mercy on Your handiwork.”
We approach Hashem with the power of teshuva and say: You, Hashem, created us with a plan and for a purpose, and that plan must ultimately prevail. So, chusah al amalach — have mercy on Your handiwork. Accept our teshuva so that Your Divine plan will be realized despite our misdeeds and mistakes.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 99.
