Teshuva

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Yom Kippur: The Holy King

What is the significance of the changes at the end of two blessings in the Silent Prayer during the 10 Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur?

Signposts on the road to repentance

Each Mitzvah forges a bond between a finite human being and an infinite G-d. No small feat. But teshuvah reconnects us after that bond has been severed through sin.

Why can’t we enter?

It can be easier to stand in shul, say Vidui and ask Hashem to forgive us than to pick up the phone and say to someone, "I was wrong. I hurt you. Please forgive me."

Rav Soloveitchik's insight:

A strategy for Teshuva

Based on an insight by Rav Soloveitchik on the avodah of Yom Kippur, a strategy for tesuvah emerges. Rav Dovid Hirsch makes this inference.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Teshuva and Shalom

Teshuva comes to us through manifestations that can be divided into four eternal, absolute values which appear in a cognizant step-by-step fashion. These values are honor, love, knowledge, and life.

Dvar Haftorah - Shabbat Shuva

Teshuvah begins with a verb

Words matter enormously. Yom Kippur is filled with them. We confess, pray, plead and ask to be forgiven. But our words have to result in something.

Not every change begins with a revolution

A spiritual decline does not necessarily begin with a major decision or a dramatic break with the past. Sometimes it begins with something small, almost too small to notice. Only later do we see where that change has led.

A good judgment

G-d is not here to catch us but to help us reach our tikkun, rectification. Each failure is merely a test that we were unable to overcome, but G-d is not done. Another similar test will come our way to see if we can overcome it.

Nitzavim-VaYeilech:

The Torah is a song - Are we listening?

Have we really been listening to the song? Have we allowed the Torah to speak to us again?

Nitzavim-VaYeilech:

Never lose hope

“Even if a person has been a sinner all his life and does Teshuva at the end, it is effective." (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 2:1)

For Elul:

Hashivenu

It is Elul. And the voice of prayer merges with the early morning sound of a shofar, echoes in the sound of the bird singing on my porch rail this morning.

Personal and national teshuva

While Rabbi Kook emphasizes that the teshuva of the Jewish People and a return to the Torah go hand-in-hand, he indicates that a preliminary stage of national revival will begin this spiritual awakening.

Teshuvah and improving the world

The power of teshuvah is not limited, it encompasses every domain of life, that of the individual and that of civilization as a whole.

A Messianic Fantasy:

Don’t forget to laugh

Today when Israel is troubled on all sides, from without and within, here’s a short story to help cheer up our spirits. Fantasy.

Why harp on the Return to Zion?

To fully grasp the concept of the Return, one must consider it in all its dimensions and at all of its levels.

Self-sacrifice and teshuva

This generation connects spiritually to the Land of Israel. That is the source of its willingness for self sacrifice in times of war.

Complete tzaddikim

“And I Will Remove the Sin of That Land in One Day”

Parashat Breishit:

Restart Nation

The point of a Jew's yearly restart is not to wallow in feelings of guilt but to convert inner accusation into constructive return and renewal.

Yom Kippur Essay:

A small step for man; A giant step for G-d

It's never all or nothing. G-d is the ultimate loving parent. When he sees that a Jew makes even the slightest movement of Teshuva, regardless of how much he has left to go, G-d immediately embraces this movement.

Yom Kippur:

A call to keep one's eyes on the Heavens

On a day that we're purified before G-d (Vayikra 16:30) and thrust into the holy of holies, we must contemplate our overall duty of devotion, because “in the times of Mashiach, there is only One to rely on, our G-d in Heavens.”

Teshuva the right way

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov said, “If you believe that it is possible to make mistakes, then you can believe that it is also possible to make amends.”

Teshuva:

If not now, when?

It is the last night of the Ten Days of Repentance - use the time well.

Shabbat Shuva:

Extracting sparks from stones

Does your soul dance with love and passion since the holy days of Rosh Hashanah? If not, Yom Kippur is another chance.

Rabbi Chaim Drukman

How can sins be transformed into merits?

The Talmud teaches us that repentance (teshuvah) transforms deliberate sins into either mistakes or merits. Based on the teachings of Reish Lakish, the Maharsha, and Rav Kook, we show how repentance from love elevates wrongdoing into a catalyst for growth, deepening love of good, hatred of evil, and spiritual transformation.

'Lomir zich iberbeten'-

'Let us be reconciled, our Heavenly Father'

Reliving he moment when Rav Soloveitchik's face became a living commentary on the verse his son was chanting, and a living embodiment of a plea to Hashem sung by legendary Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt.

An interview with Rabbi Yosef Mendelevich:

The power of Teshuva

The most famous "seruvnik" - fighter for freedom for Soviet Jews - spent 11 years imprisoned in Siberia for his Zionism. He stayed true to his beliefs and his people. Lessons for today.

Teshuva workshop:

A call to higher vision

May you ascend, step by step, from one level of Teshuva to the next.

Teshuva:

When G-d wants you to compliment yourself

Before I Confess My Sins, I Must Confess My Greatness.

Teshuva Workshop

Only in our connection to the light of the national soul can we begin to examine our own lives and our connection to Hashem.

For the month of Elul:

National teshuva

People who seek God without anchoring themselves to His people are lost at sea. The way home is through the nation, through its covenant, its language, its pain, and its resilience.

Rosh Chodesh Elul:

Happy Elul - Happy Teshuva!

A new way to approach Teshuva through Rabbi Kook's original teachings guiding us on the path to achieve it.

The battle of the soul

For the past several years, I’ve observed that the most difficult struggles in life are the ones we talk least about. There is the battle of truly conquering oneself. The battle of refinement. The struggle through daily tests and challenges.

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

Vayeishev: The special teshuvah of Reuben

After repairing his soul, Reuben returned and looked at the pit.

Chicken soup for the aliyah snob's soul

I listen to the tourists planning their departures, and I wonder: Don't they understand the historical context of having the ability to return to our Holy Land after a long and bitter exile of 2,000 years? Why is going back to the US such an easy choice?

Israel's 1st Chief Rabbi:

The Teshuva of Rosh Hashanah

When we examine the Rosh Hashanah prayers, there is no mention of sin or penitence. How can that be?

Rabbi Kook on Teshuva: The path to happiness

“There is another type of T’shuva, not the penitence over specific sins, but a T’shuva aroused by a vague inner anxiety."

National teshuva - part I

Rabbi Kook teaches that penitence which relates only to personal wrongdoing is incomplete because the Teshuva of each individual Jew is actually only a part of a much greater National Teshuva of Am Yisrael. What does that signify?

If AI were to run the government...

The State of Israel and all of its government ministers and all of its citizens must do serious heartfelt Teshuva. This is what October 7th is telling us.

Teshuva:

A powerful body and a powerful soul

In the generation of National Revival, as the revitalized Jewish Nation returns to its Homeland, a new type of religious Jew must appear to take up the challenge, wrote Rabbi Kook.

The perils of politeness

What about brainstorming some new outreach ideas? LIke - Why don’t teams of people man tables on or near the university lawns to answer questions about Judaism?

The month of Elul

G-d treats His creatures mercifully, i.e., patiently, allowing them an opportunity to make amends, and going beyond the letter of the law.

Personal Growth series:

We got it

We possess all the resources we truly need within ourselves. Our growth and our mission in this world are squarely within our grasp.

Re’eh:

How we can guide ‘off the derech’ children – and nations

We need G-d’s blessing to continue to ensure that we and our children remain on the right path – and we need His mercy to bring us back from the curse of ongoing alienation from Him.

This Yom Kippur: A triumverate of three Shabbatot

Is teshuva a prerequisite for Redemption?

Personal Growth series:

Falls and failures

Everyone makes mistakes. The difference between the Tzaddik and the Rasha lies in their response.

Why? Why? Why?

Rambam: If a great tribulation comes upon the nation, trumpets must be blasted and people must examine their ill deeds A call for teshuva.

The meaning of the flood of Noach

Torah observant Jews have a vital opportunity now.

War is not new to Israel

Every decade since 1948 a new episode of violence erupts and Israel wins, with G-d's help. Here is how Israel can keep on winning.

5 pertinent matters for the Ten Days of Teshuva

Thoughts for the days between Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur.

A small step for Man; A giant step for G-d

It's never all or nothing.

The cantor's prayer

The moving cantor's prayer, the doubter's prayer. And the call to teshuva.

New video:Why a baal teshuva is on a higher level than a tzaddik

In a newly published video, the Rav delves into the secret of the baal teshuva's elevated status before God.

Rosh Hashannah: Two steps to achievable teshuva

There are two great barriers to teshuva. They are surmountable.

Nitzavim: You shall choose life

As we read our Parasha approaching the Day of Judgement, it guides us as to the ‘life’ for which we should fervently plead, on that Day.

OTD challenges can study the Baal Teshuva Movement

Where is the new outreach/inreach initiative by Belz heading?

Incredible Jewish Orthodox women prove that Kiruv is alive

There is no greater work of Kiruv than the inspired work of two self-made women who did not have an Orthodox upbringing.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch on the parasha: Don't be an angel

Man is called on to sanctify the material world, not shun it, writes Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch.  So why do we fast?

Combing for sins

Being clear of sin is the goal for both the guf and neshamah in anticipation of the final resurrection.

The Parsha and Current Events: A spirit of teshuva

My feelings towards Jews who have thrown off the mantle of Torah observance.

Rabbi Simcha Cohen z"l:

Veteran educator has passed away at the age of 80

Rabbi Cohen's book 'What Did You Say?' remains one of the most popular works on shalom bayit.