Day Forty
(טז) ולזה הפעלות עצמן מיטיב האדם. וזדונות נעשו לו כזכיות.
(16) Through this, Man transforms the past [negative] actions into Goodness, and the intentional transgressions become like merits to him!
The Reality is in Our Hands
The Ramak reveals that when a person desires to engage in Teshuvah Elyonah (Supernal Repentance), the Merciful One grants him Divine powers: “Through this,” meaning, through the process of Teshuvah Elyonah that man himself performs, his misdeeds are miraculously transformed into good. Truly an exquisite ability bestowed upon us by the Almighty!
The investiture of such a wondrous capability is analogous to the Torah’s teaching that HaShem revealed the entire Torah to Moshe Rabeinu, as the Mishnah teaches, “Moshe received the Torah from Sinai.” Moshe conferred holiness and wisdom upon his student and successor, Yehoshuah (cf. Devarim 34:9); and the Almighty bequeathed extraordinary wisdom upon King Solomon.
So too, when a person engages in Teshuvah Elyonah, HaShem imbues him with such holiness that he acquires the ability to transform his past transgressions into merits. If only we could keep this staggering idea in mind: the Merciful Creator has endowed us with the ability to alter reality! Just as HaShem performs miracles through the actions of men, as when Avraham Avinu vanquished the four powerful kings (Bereisheis 14), and Moshe Rabeinu caused the plagues to happen, so does HaShem perform miracles through a person who engages in Teshuvah Elyonah.
State of Flux
Keeping in mind that the Ramak is very precise in his wording reveals a beautiful idea: He writes that a person transforms his previous actions into goodness. Why didn’t he state that the person transforms his previous misdeeds into goodness? The Ramak reveals a unique insight: when a person commits a sin, Heaven does not regard it as a completed action. Rather, as a work in progress, like clay on a potter’s wheel, which can be shaped and reshaped countless times before its final form is set by the heat of the kiln. So it is with our deeds. A negative action is always considered as being in formation, and is never irrevocably stamped and sealed as “negative.” Only in this world do we have the opportunity to rectify our misdeeds. Therefore, it is still possible — and highly recommended — to reverse it to goodness. Teshuvah Elyonah (Supernal Repentance) gives us the opportunity to rectify the “action” and ensure it’s not marked as a transgression.
