Repentance: The Greatest Gift of All
Repentance: The Greatest Gift of All

The Days of Awe are upon us; during this special time, we just have to call out and we will be answered. The Torah tells us: "It is not in heaven nor is it on the other side of the sea, rather, it is close at hand."  The greatest of gifts which we received from G-d is the gift of repentance. Yesterday we were distanced from Him. Today we are close and loved by the Al-mighty, One may think that this is a very difficult road to take, but the opposite is correct. It is close at hand for repentance, and the Day of Atonement can clean a person's slate. Even a person who has sinned all his life can return in just a moment's time.  

Our Rabbis teach us that seven things were created even before Creation. One of them was repentance. Our Creator foresaw that man would sin, so He gave us a tool to come back into His good graces. During these precious days from Rosh Hashana to Yom Kippur, the gates of prayer are open 24 hours, day and night. One needs to just walk though the door.

Besides the personal repentance, there is also national repentance, which is incumbent upon the Jewish people as a whole to repent and return from their wrongful ways. The Tanach tell us that King Hezekiah of Judah became king at the tender age of twenty-five. His father, Ahaz, was an evil man who placed idols in the Holy Temple and eventually had the Temple complex closed down. Upon ascending the throne, Hezekiah immediately went to work to clean up and purify the Temple. His next step was to bring the Passover sacrifice, something which had not been done for many years. He called out to the Jewish people to arise and come up to Jerusalem, but they only laughed and stoned his messengers. But Hezekiah was not to be put off, and slowly, as Passover approached, more and more of the Jewish people returned until by the time Passover arrived, a very great celebration took place in Jerusalem, one that had not happened for many centuries.    

Today we have the responsibility not only to do our personal repentance - but also a national one:

1) It is incumbent upon the Jews in the Exile to realize they are living on borrowed time. The Exile will be eliminated. One does not have to be a rocket scientist to understand how history is unfolding before our very eyes. In just over six short decades, the Children of Israel have grown from some half a million Jews to over 6 million living in the Land of Israel today. Countries once populated by hundreds of thousands of Jews, filled with synagogues, are now down to their last few remaining Jews. It won't be long now before Europe will be empty of its Jews - and North America will follow. Today they can still leave with their heads held high, but who knows what tomorrow will bring?  What is required today is their national repentance and to return home now.

2) The Temple Mount must be open for all the Jewish people to be able to freely pray there whenever they want.  We must not let our policies be based on or influenced by the loud barks of the Arabs. We must have access to the Mount to pray, to worship as in the days of old. It is time to throw off this imaginary yoke of what the Arabs will do or say; their bark is worse than their bite. Our leaders must do national repentance, open the doors wide to the Temple Mount and return the Mount to the rightful people - the Jewish People.

3) National repentance also requires that we throw off the yoke of the nations off of us. It is way past time that Israel's decisions and security matters be based on what is good for the Jewish people, and not to take into account what the nations will say or do. We all know the nations will always condemn the Jewish people, no matter what. It is tragic that the blood of Jewish soldiers ran in the streets of Gaza, only because we worried more about what the nations would say. We must repent for this. In all our wars, we fight with one hand tied behind our back in order not to arouse the wrath of the nations of the world. This must stop immediately - the Redemption is waiting for us to grasp it. It is incumbent upon us to be a nation alone, trusting only in the Mighty One of Jacob.  This is our true test, and only this will bring Redemption swiftly, beautifully, miraculously - without pain and suffering.  

Yes, repentance is the greatest gift of them all. In one fell sweep, a person returns and has his prayers answered immediately.  This is what is needed now, at this hour:  To jump on the Redemption train. Don't miss it and be left standing at the empty station!