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Discover a joyful and uplifting path to Repentance!
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The Joy of Repentance\Guilt-Free
Based on Tomer Devorah by the Holy Ramak
Authored and Published by the Salant Foundation
Distributed by Feldheim
Incremental and Steady Wins the Race
וְזוֹ הִיא מַעֲלַת הַתְּשׁוּבָה, שֶׁהָאָדָם הַמִתְנַהֵג בָּהּ, צָרִיךְ שֶׁבְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם יְהַרְהֵר בָּהּ וַיַּעֲשֶׂה תְּשׁוּבָה בְּצַד מַה, כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּהְיוּ כָּל יָמָיו בִּתְשׁוּבָה.
(22) And this is the virtue of Teshuvah (Repentance), for one who engages in it must contemplate it every day and perform some manner of Teshuvah, so that all of his days will be spent in Teshuvah.
Incremental and Steady Wins the Race
When the Children of Israel departed from Egypt, they were on the forty-ninth level of impurity. Had they slipped to the fiftieth level of defilement they would have been irredeemable. As they journeyed through the Wilderness, the Creator compassionately elevated them from the forty nine gradations of defilement to the fiftieth level of Sanctity. After fifty days, they were elevated to the lofty Fiftieth Realm of Holiness. They arrived at Mount Sinai and the Almighty gave them the Torah, the very Divine Wisdom.
Just as the Children of Israel ascended to the ultimate heights of holiness and purity during the fifty days prior to receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, so too, in the time of our final redemption, we will ascend to the ultimate heights of holiness, purity, and Divine Knowledge by virtue of the exalted formula of Teshuvah Elyonah (Exalted Repentance).
The Convergence Between Teshuvah Elyonah and the Fifty Gates of Binah
Teshuvah Elyonah, converges with Binah (Divine Enlightenment), where Judgment is inoperative. Therefore, it reaches a higher level than the “Awe of the Divine Majesty,” because it leads to the realm where only the Creator’s pure Love and unconditional Compassion are operative. Of course, this pure Love of God merges with the Awe of the Divine Majesty.
In light of this, there are three levels of Teshuvah:
(1) Teshuvah motivated from the Fear of God, this Fear relates to the Fear of Punishment.
(2) Teshuvah inspired by the Love of God, which also has aspects of the Awe of the Divine Majesty.
(3) Teshuvah Elyonah which is rooted purely in the Light of Binah’s unbounded Love and Compassion of God, which also has aspects of the Awe of the Divine Majesty.
Once a person attains Teshuvah Elyonah, he is surrounded with the Creator’s absolute Love and Compassion. Binah is synonymous with The World to Come, and one who attains Teshuvah Elyonah merges with the holy root of his Soul. He reaches and experiences an aspect of the exalted spiritual heights of Joy, Holiness, and Compassion that comprise the World to Come.
Moshe Our Master
As we noted in Day Eleven, Moshe attained the sublime level of the Fifty Gates of Binah. Even so, he was well aware of his shortcomings, as the Torah states (Bamidbar 12:3), “The man Moshe was exceedingly humble,more than any other person on the face of the earth!” The merit of his extreme humility granted him access to the holiness of the Fifty Gates of Binah. (Based on the Bas Ayin, Essay on Chanukah).
Yoseph’s Striving for Inner Refinement
Similarly, “The house of Yoseph shall be a flame, and the house of Esav shall become stubble” (Ovadiya 1:18). Yoseph’s name signifies “increase.” Yoseph continuously refined his character so that he increased in holiness each day. On the other hand, Esav’s name connotes “finished.” Esav saw himself as perfect and had no reason to strive for inner improvement. The key to Yoseph’s power was realizing there was no end to spiritual growth. Ultimately, Yoseph emerged as a flame of goodness that defeated and overcame the evil quest of Esav (Based on the Shem M’Shmuel as explained by Rabbi Dov Yaffe31).
Emulate God’s Holiness
As we mentioned in the Introduction, one aspect of emulating the Creator is to strive to be holy and pure, untainted by even a trace of sin. The quintessential merit of engaging in Teshuvah every day awakens Binah to illuminate “all the days of a person’s life.” This incremental and steady practice leads to the perfect fulfillment of the Mitzvah of Teshuvah Elyonah, the very revelation of the Fifty Gates of Binah.
״ברוך השם לעולם אמן ואמן״
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