Teshuvah Heals the Worlds

א"נ היום כולכם כו'

In the verse, "You are standing this day, all of you" (Devarim 29:9).

The Sfas Emes opens with the verse describing Bnei Yisrael standing before Hashem, which he will read as an ongoing reality rather than a one-time event.

כי הכלל ישראל לעולם עומדין לפני הקב"ה והעבודה רק לכל פרט לבטל עצמו אל הכלל

For the collective entirety of Bnei Yisrael forever stand before the Holy One, Blessed is He, and the only avodah is for each individual to nullify himself to the collective whole.

The whole nation perpetually stands before Hashem, and each person's task is simply to nullify himself into that collective whole.

וזה היום הוא בכל יום ויום

And this "day" is present in every single day.

This standing "this day" is not limited to one historic moment but is renewed every day.

וגם מאחר שכ' בתורה אתם נצבים

And furthermore, since it is written in the Torah, "You are standing," in the present tense,

The Torah's present-tense phrasing, "You are standing," indicates an ongoing state rather than a past occurrence.

ושפת אמת תכון לעד כי אם הי' הפסק לדבר לא הי' נאמר זאת בתורה

and "the lip of truth is established forever" (Mishlei 12:19) — for if there were ever an interruption to the matter, it would not have been stated thus in the Torah.

Since the Torah's words are eternal truth, the standing it describes can never be interrupted — otherwise the Torah would not have phrased it so.

ומצד זה יכולין כל הרשעים לחזור בתשובה כי החטא רק במקרה שנפרש מכללות ישראל ולכן יכול לחזור לשורשו כמאמר לירושת אבותי אני חוזר

And by virtue of this, all the wicked are able to return in teshuvah, for the sin is only a happenstance whereby one became separated from the collective entirety of Bnei Yisrael, and therefore he is able to return to his root, as in the expression, "I am returning to the inheritance of my fathers."

Because the bond is permanent, any sinner can do teshuvah, since sin is only an incidental separation from the nation, and one can always return to his root.

וכתיב והשבות אל לבבך כו' ושבת עד ה"א

And it is written, "And you shall return it to your heart... and you shall return until Hashem your God" (Devarim 30:1-2; 30:10).

He brings the verse instructing one to take the matter to heart and to return all the way to Hashem.

פי' שיש בכל איש ישראל נקודה מקודשת אליו ית' והיא נשמת חיים רק ע"י החטאים מתרבה משא החומר וגשמיות על אור הנשמה וא"י להאיר

The explanation is that there is within every man of Bnei Yisrael a point that is sanctified to Him, may He be blessed, and it is the soul of life; only through the sins the burden of the physical matter and corporeality multiplies upon the light of the neshamah, and it is unable to shine.

Every Jew has a sanctified point within him, his living neshamah; sin merely piles physical heaviness upon it so its light cannot shine through.

לכן בשבת זמן תשובה כי יש לכל א' נשמה יתירה והוא התרבות כח הנשמה להאיר בגוף

Therefore on Shabbos is a time for teshuvah, for each one has a neshamah yeseirah, an extra soul, and this is the increase of the power of the neshamah to shine within the body.

Shabbos is especially suited to teshuvah because the extra Shabbos soul amplifies the neshamah's power to shine within the body.

וז"ש והשבות זאת הנקודה אל לבבך והוא התפשטות החיות בגוף כמאמר לבבך ב' יצריך

And this is the meaning of "And you shall return" this point "to your heart," and this is the spreading of the life-force within the body, as in the teaching that "your heart" alludes to your two yetzarim, your two inclinations.

"Returning it to your heart" means drawing that point's life-force into the body, hinted by "your heart" alluding to both inclinations that reside there.

וכפי מה שמחזיר כח הנשמה להיות מיושבת בגופו כמו כן מאיר כח הנשמה בשורשו למעלה

And to the same measure that one restores the power of the neshamah to be settled within his body, so too does the power of the neshamah shine within its root Above.

However much a person resettles the neshamah's power within his body, that same power correspondingly shines at its root Above.

וכ' ושבת עד ה"א דרשו חז"ל שמגעת עד כה"כ

And it is written, "and you shall return until Hashem your God"; our Sages of blessed memory expounded that it reaches all the way to the Throne of Glory.

The Sages read "return until Hashem" as teshuvah reaching all the way up to the Throne of Glory.

וכמה רחוק זה החוטא מכסה"כ

And how far removed is this sinner from the Throne of Glory!

He raises the difficulty: how can a lowly sinner's teshuvah reach so exalted a place as the Throne of Glory?

ופ' הדברים כי הקב"ה ברא מקומות מעוקמים גם בעולמות עליונים שיצטרכו תיקון ע"י עבודת האדם

And the explanation of the matter is that the Holy One, Blessed is He, created crooked places even in the upper worlds, which would require rectification through the avodah of man.

The answer: Hashem deliberately created flawed, "crooked" places even in the upper worlds, needing man's avodah to fix them.

ובל"ז לא הי' שייכות חטא בעולם וכמו כן ע"י התשובה מתישבין אותן המקומות ליישר העקמימות וזה זכותו של בע"ת

And were it not for this, there would be no relevance of sin in the world; and likewise, through teshuvah those places are settled, to straighten the crookedness, and this is the merit of the baal teshuvah.

Without such places sin would have no foothold; and through teshuvah those very places are repaired and straightened, which is the baal teshuvah's merit.

וכל דבר תלוי במה שלמטה ממנו

And every thing depends upon that which is below it.

He states a principle: every level depends on and is affected by the level beneath it.

נמצא זה השב מעורר חזרת כל המקומות להשיבם לדרך הישר

It emerges that this one who returns awakens the restoration of all those places, to return them to the straight path.

Therefore the person who returns sets off a chain that restores all those crooked places back to the straight path.

ועי"ז מתעוררין עולמות העליונים יותר ויותר עד שנאמר שמגעת עד כה"כ מגעת דייקא

And through this the upper worlds are awakened more and more, until it is said that it reaches all the way to the Throne of Glory — "reaches" precisely.

Through this the upper worlds are progressively awakened, so that the teshuvah literally reaches all the way to the Throne of Glory.

לכן אחז"ל שכל יחיד ששב מביא רפואה לעולם:

Therefore our Sages of blessed memory said that every individual who returns in teshuvah brings healing to the world.

This is why the Sages taught that every single individual who does teshuvah brings healing to the entire world.

Summary: The Sfas Emes reads "You are standing this day, all of you" as an eternal, ever-present reality: the whole of Bnei Yisrael perpetually stands before the Holy One, Blessed is He, and each individual's avodah is to nullify himself into that collective. Because this bond is the eternal truth of the Torah and can never be severed, even the wicked can always return in teshuvah, for sin is merely an incidental separation from the nation, and a person can return to his root. Within every Jew is a sanctified point, the living neshamah, which sin obscures under physical heaviness; teshuvah — and especially the extra soul of Shabbos — restores its light within the body, and correspondingly causes it to shine at its root Above, reaching all the way to the Throne of Glory. The Sfas Emes explains that Hashem deliberately created "crooked" places even in the upper worlds requiring man's rectification, so that through teshuvah the baal teshuvah straightens those very places. Since every level is affected by the one beneath it, the single individual who returns awakens and restores all the worlds, which is why the Sages taught that every person who does teshuvah brings healing to the entire world.