Hashem's Favor Inspires Teshuvah

במדרש ישא ה' פניו וכתיב אשר לא ישא פנים ומתרץ כשעושין רצונו של מקום.

In the Midrash: it is written "May Hashem lift His countenance toward you" (Bamidbar 6:26), yet elsewhere it is written "Who does not lift the countenance" (i.e., shows no favoritism, Devarim 10:17); and it resolves this — [Hashem shows favor] when they do the ratzon Hashem (will of the Omnipresent).

Two pesukim seem to contradict: one promises that Hashem will show favor, the other insists He shows no favoritism. The Midrash answers that He shows favor specifically to those who fulfill His will.

וקשה א"כ מה צורך לנשיאת פנים.

But this is difficult: if so, what need is there for "lifting of the countenance" (special favor) at all?

If a person has already done Hashem's will, then he is simply deserving — so why call it "favor"? Favor implies giving beyond what is strictly earned.

ונראה לפרש שהקב"ה רואה שע"י הנשיאת פנים והתקרבות נשיב אליו ית' לכן הוא מקרב אותנו הגם שאין ראוים.

It appears one may explain that the Holy One, Blessed is He, sees that through the lifting of the countenance and the drawing-near, we will return to Him, Yisbarach; therefore He draws us close even though we are not [yet] worthy.

Hashem looks ahead and sees that His showing favor will itself inspire us to do teshuvah. So He extends closeness in advance, even before we deserve it, because that very closeness will bring us back to Him.

וז"ש עושין ר"ל שעושין אח"כ והקב"ה עבר ועתיד הכל שוה לפניו ב"ה וכדדרשו במדרש אתם המעט כשהקב"ה מיטיב עמהם ממעטין עצמן.

And this is what is meant by "they do" — that is, they will do afterward; for to the Holy One, Blessed is He, past and future are all equal before Him, Blessed is He. And as they expounded in the Midrash on "You are the fewest (ha-me'at)" (Devarim 7:7) — when Hashem does good with them, they make themselves small (mema'atin atzman).

"When they do His will" can refer even to a future doing, since to Hashem time is no barrier. The Midrash on "ha-me'at" teaches that when Hashem is good to Bnei Yisrael, they respond not with pride but by humbling themselves — making themselves "small."

א"כ מכש"כ כשאין ראויין והקב"ה נושא להם פנים וודאי ממעטין עצמם לכן נושא להם פנים.

If so, then all the more so: when they are not worthy and the Holy One, Blessed is He, nevertheless shows them favor, they will certainly make themselves small — therefore He shows them favor.

If Bnei Yisrael humble themselves even when receiving deserved good, they will surely humble themselves all the more upon receiving undeserved favor. That resulting humility and teshuvah is exactly why Hashem extends the favor in the first place.

וכענין זה כתב במדרש על פסוק אשמעה מה ידבר כו' כי ידבר שלום כו'.

And in a similar vein the Midrash writes on the pasuk "I will hear what [the Almighty] will speak... for He will speak peace..." (Tehillim 85:9).

The Sefas Emes brings a parallel teaching: Hashem "speaks peace" to His people — extending reassurance and closeness.

ועי"ז אל ישיבו לכסלה ע"ש בפרשת הנשיאים.

And through this, "let them not return to folly" (Tehillim 85:9) — see there [in the Midrash] in the section of the Nesiim (the tribal princes).

The very peace and closeness Hashem extends is what guards a person from sliding back into foolishness and sin; the favor is itself a means of keeping us on the proper path.

וכ"כ שלום לרחוק ולקרוב כו'.

And so too it is written: "Peace, peace, to the far and to the near" (Yeshayahu 57:19).

Hashem offers peace and welcome both to one who is "near" (already close) and to one who is "far" (the distant sinner) — drawing in even those who have strayed.

שהקב"ה נותן יד למי שמוכן ע"י זה ההתקרבות לשוב אליו ית'.

That the Holy One, Blessed is He, extends a hand to whoever is ready, through this drawing-near, to return to Him, Yisbarach.

Hashem reaches out His hand to anyone prepared to use that closeness as a springboard back to Him — the outreach is offered precisely so that it can be taken up in teshuvah.

ואמחז"ל הוי מתלמידיו של אהרן כו'.

And Chazal said: "Be among the disciples of Aharon..." (Avos 1:12).

The mishnah teaches us to emulate Aharon, who loved peace and pursued it, drawing people close to the Torah.

וכ' שאהרן כשהי' רואה בעל עבירה הי' מקרבו כו' ועי"ז בוש ושב וע"ז כתיב בשלום ובמישור כו' ורבים השיב מעון.

And it is written that when Aharon would see a sinner, he would draw him close, etc., and through this the man would feel ashamed and repent; and concerning this it is written, "In peace and in uprightness... and he turned many away from iniquity" (Malachi 2:6).

Aharon never rebuked the sinner; he simply befriended him. The warmth of that closeness made the man ashamed of his sins on his own, and he did teshuvah. This is how Aharon "turned many away from iniquity" — through peace, not reproof.

ובלי ספק מדה זו היא ממדותיו של הבורא ית'.

And without doubt this trait is one of the traits of the Creator, Yisbarach.

Aharon's way of drawing people near with love is itself a reflection of Hashem's own conduct — for Hashem too draws close the undeserving in order to inspire their return.

כי האנוש מאלוה יצדק.

For "can a man be more righteous than his Maker?" (Iyov 4:17).

Surely Hashem possesses the very middah of drawing-near at least as much as a human tzaddik like Aharon — a person cannot be more virtuous than the One Who made him.

ובדרך הלצה הוי מתלמידיו של אהרן דייקא כי ודאי אותן שקירב אותם הי' להם מורך הלב ששבו עי"ז ההתקרבות ונקראו תלמידיו ויש לנו להיות כמו אותן התלמידים.

And by way of a clever reading: "Be among the disciples of Aharon" — precisely "disciples"; for surely those whom he drew close had a softness of heart, in that they returned through this drawing-near, and they were called his disciples — and we ought to be like those disciples.

The Sefas Emes reads "disciples of Aharon" with a twist: the "disciples" are the sinners Aharon drew near, whose hearts softened and who repented because of his closeness. We should aspire to be like them — people whose hearts melt and turn back to Hashem when shown undeserved love.

וכשהקב"ה מטיב עמנו יש לנו להשכיל להכניע אליו בתשובה שלימה כנ"ל:

And when the Holy One, Blessed is He, does good with us, we ought to be wise enough to submit ourselves before Him in complete teshuvah, as above.

The proper response to Hashem's favor is not entitlement but humility: we should let His kindness move us to surrender to Him in wholehearted teshuvah.

Summary: Hashem "lifts His countenance" — shows favor even to the undeserving — because He foresees that this very closeness will soften our hearts and draw us back in teshuvah. Far from contradicting His fairness, the favor is a redemptive strategy: kindness inspires humility and return. This is the middah of Aharon, who drew sinners close with peace until they repented on their own, and it is a reflection of Hashem's own conduct. When Hashem is good to us, our task is to respond with humility and complete teshuvah.