There are many different levels of repentance. There is repentance out of fear, which constitutes a return up to [ad] G-d; and there is repentance out of love, which constitutes a return all the way to [el] G-d.
The first is mentioned in Deuteronomy 30:2: "You will return to [ad] the L-rd your G-d, and you will obey Him, doing everything that I am commanding you today." Repentance out of fear is appropriate for the Diaspora.
Yet, when we return to the Land of Israel, we merit repentance out of love: "The L-rd your G-d will then bring you to the land that your ancestors occupied, and you too will occupy it. The L-rd will be good to you and make you flourish even more than your ancestors. He will remove the barriers from your hearts and from the hearts of your descendants, so that you will love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and soul. Thus you will survive?. You will return to [el] the L-rd your G-d will all your heart and soul." (30:5,6,10)
Today, our generation is in great need of love and repentance out of love. Of this it says, "Great is repentance out of love, for with it, intentional sins are transformed to merits." (Yoma 86b)
As Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook explains, regarding repentance out of love: "Infinite bliss transforms all of one's sins to merit. From all of one's mistakes, repentance out of love produces lofty lessons, and from all of one's falls it produces majestic ascent. This is the repentance that all are waiting for, that has to come and that will eventually come." (Orot HaTeshuva, Ch. 1)
"In repentance out of love, a person merits that the sheen of the general good, of the divine good resting upon all realms of the universe? is spelled out for us in all its holiness and glory. To the extent that one's heart can absorb it, a person merits to see via his spiritual intuition that really everything is so good and upright, and the goodness and integrity within us comes about through our fitting in with everything else. How can we be torn apart from everything, set apart and different and out of the picture? Through this recognition, which is truly divine, comes repentance out of love for the individual and the community." (Ibid., Ch. 2)
I hereby recommend wholeheartedly to whomever wishes to get a taste of repentance out of love that he participate in the national convention of "Repentance Out of Love," which will be held at the Binyanei HaUma (National Convention Center) in Jerusalem on Tuesday, September 21.
Through your participation, you will become stronger in Torah and repentance, and will bring merit to the whole nation, who in these times have such a great need to connect and unite together in love. Through this, G-d's name will be sanctified in public, and we will merit complete redemption and repentance, and a good and sweet year.
The first is mentioned in Deuteronomy 30:2: "You will return to [ad] the L-rd your G-d, and you will obey Him, doing everything that I am commanding you today." Repentance out of fear is appropriate for the Diaspora.
Yet, when we return to the Land of Israel, we merit repentance out of love: "The L-rd your G-d will then bring you to the land that your ancestors occupied, and you too will occupy it. The L-rd will be good to you and make you flourish even more than your ancestors. He will remove the barriers from your hearts and from the hearts of your descendants, so that you will love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and soul. Thus you will survive?. You will return to [el] the L-rd your G-d will all your heart and soul." (30:5,6,10)
Today, our generation is in great need of love and repentance out of love. Of this it says, "Great is repentance out of love, for with it, intentional sins are transformed to merits." (Yoma 86b)
As Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaKohen Kook explains, regarding repentance out of love: "Infinite bliss transforms all of one's sins to merit. From all of one's mistakes, repentance out of love produces lofty lessons, and from all of one's falls it produces majestic ascent. This is the repentance that all are waiting for, that has to come and that will eventually come." (Orot HaTeshuva, Ch. 1)
"In repentance out of love, a person merits that the sheen of the general good, of the divine good resting upon all realms of the universe? is spelled out for us in all its holiness and glory. To the extent that one's heart can absorb it, a person merits to see via his spiritual intuition that really everything is so good and upright, and the goodness and integrity within us comes about through our fitting in with everything else. How can we be torn apart from everything, set apart and different and out of the picture? Through this recognition, which is truly divine, comes repentance out of love for the individual and the community." (Ibid., Ch. 2)
I hereby recommend wholeheartedly to whomever wishes to get a taste of repentance out of love that he participate in the national convention of "Repentance Out of Love," which will be held at the Binyanei HaUma (National Convention Center) in Jerusalem on Tuesday, September 21.
Through your participation, you will become stronger in Torah and repentance, and will bring merit to the whole nation, who in these times have such a great need to connect and unite together in love. Through this, G-d's name will be sanctified in public, and we will merit complete redemption and repentance, and a good and sweet year.