Shabbat Shuva

The pure inner point and Shabbos teshuvah· Essay 2

"For you have stumbled in your sin." (Hoshea 14:2) The navi opens the call to teshuvah by acknowledging that the person has fallen — yet a "stumble" is not a permanent fall, but a slip from which one can rise. This was said to every single …

Teshuvah from fear versus love· Essay 3

It is brought in the Gemara that intentional sins (zedonos) become merits (zechuyos)... here it speaks of teshuvah from fear (yirah), and there of teshuvah from love (ahavah). Chazal (Yoma 86b) teach that teshuvah from yirah turns deliberat…

Trusting that Hashem dwells within· Essay 4

My grandfather, my teacher and master of blessed memory, said in the name of the Rav of Pshischa, on that which is written, "And he will say, etc., 'Because my God is not in my midst, these evils have found me, etc.'" The Sefas Emes brings …

Teshuvah as new creation through bittul· Essay 2

"He opens a gate for those who knock in teshuvah." Citing the liturgical phrase, the Sefas Emes notes that Hashem opens a gate specifically for those who "knock" — who strive to return. For the essence of teshuvah is to draw down fresh life…

Awe and love leave an imprint that awakens teshuvah· Essay 1

In the name of my grandfather, my master and teacher, of blessed memory, who said regarding the words "He opens a gate for those who knock in teshuvah" — that they are the Avos, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, who are called "those who knock…

Shabbos opens the gate weekday knocking seeks· Essay 2

"He who opens a gate for those who knock in teshuvah." Citing the Selichos phrase, the Sefas Emes focuses on the image of Hashem opening a gate to those who "knock" through teshuvah. Surely this is what is written, "to wait diligently at My…

Yisrael's testimony reveals creation's glory· Essay 3

On the verse "And I call as witnesses against them the heavens and the earth..." — my master, my grandfather (Adoni Mori v'Zekeini, the Chiddushei HaRim) explained that through Bnei Yisrael the glory of Heaven is made clear in the work of c…

Teshuvah from fear leading to love· Essay 4

In the Gemara: "Great is teshuvah, for it turns intentional sins into unintentional ones, as it is written 'Return, Yisrael... for you have stumbled' (Hoshea 14:2)"; and "they become merits"; "this is no contradiction — one is teshuvah out …

Matter and form: repairing creation through Shabbos· Essay 2

We have already explained the pasuk: "He found him in a desert land." (Devarim 32:10) The Sefas Emes refers back to his explanation of the pasuk describing how Hashem found Bnei Yisrael "in a desert land." If it is "land," why "desert," and…

The two teshuvos of fear and love· Essay 3

"Return, Yisrael, until Hashem your God." (Hoshea 14:2) The Sefas Emes reads the word "until" (עד) precisely: teshuvah is not merely turning away from sin but coming all the way "until Hashem" — a continual drawing closer that has no fixed …

Hashem as witness to hidden teshuvah· Essay 4

In the Midrash Pesikta on "Return until (ad) Hashem your God" — Hashem is a witness (eid) in the matter, etc. — for it expounds the word "ad" in the sense of testimony (eidus), see there. The Midrash reads the word "ad" ("until") in the ver…

Teshuvah measured against intent· Essay 5

It is taught: One who says, "I will sin and then do teshuvah," they do not grant him the opportunity to do teshuvah. Chazal (Yoma 85b) teach that a person who plans to sin while relying on teshuvah afterward is not given Heavenly help to re…

The unquenchable inner point and teshuvah· Essay 2

In the Gemara: "One who does teshuvah out of love — his intentional sins (zedonos) become merits (zechuyos)" (Yoma 86b). The Sefas Emes begins with the well-known teaching that teshuvah motivated by love for Hashem is so powerful that it co…

Teshuvah for future pure service· Essay 3

In the haftarah: "Forgive all iniquity and accept the good" (Hoshea 14:3). The Sefas Emes opens with the pasuk from the Shabbos Shuva haftarah, in which we ask Hashem both to remove our sins and to receive the good in us. One may explain th…

Teshuvah reawakens innate Divine love· Essay 4

"I will love them freely" (Hoshea 14:5) — Rashi explains: I will volunteer of My own will to love them. Hashem's love for those who return is not owed or compelled; it is given as a freewill offering, a pure nedavah. This is wondrous and ha…

Teshuvah as ascent to one's root· Essay 2

On the pasuk, "Return, Yisrael, unto Hashem your God" (Hoshea 14:2). The Sefas Emes builds his discussion of teshuvah on the prophet's call to return all the way "unto Hashem." For the essence of teshuvah is when a person becomes elevated a…

Two modes of teshuvah, fear and love· Essay 1

On the verse, "Bring us back to You, Hashem, and we shall return." The Sefas Emes examines the seeming redundancy: we ask Hashem to return us, and then we say "and we shall return." And these are two kinds of teshuvah: out of fear (yirah) a…

Teshuvah reveals the hidden good above nature· Essay 2

On the pasuk, "Return, O Yisrael… take all sin away and accept the good" (Hoshea 14:2-3) — Rashi explains: "Teach us a good way"; see there for further explanations. The Sefas Emes opens with the haftarah of Shabbos Shuvah, focusing on the …