Hashem as witness to hidden teshuvah

במדרש פסיקתא עד ה' אלקיך השי"ת עד בדבר כו'. שהוא מפרש עד לשון עדות ע"ש.

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 verse "Return until Hashem your God" as related to "eid," a witness — meaning Hashem Himself testifies regarding a person's teshuvah.

וביאור הענין שוודאי יש הרהורי תשובה בכל איש ישראל והשי"ת בוחן לבות וכליות ואיתא עד שלא נוצרה המחשבה בלב השי"ת מכיר בה כו'.

And the explanation of the matter is that certainly there are stirrings of teshuvah (hirhurei teshuvah) in every Jew, and Hashem examines hearts and minds, and it is taught: even before the thought is formed in the heart, Hashem already recognizes it, etc.

Every Jew has flickers of a desire to return to Hashem. Since Hashem searches the innermost heart and knows a thought even before it fully takes shape, He perceives these hidden stirrings of teshuvah.

וזהו נאמר ג"כ על מחשבה טובה שאעפ"י שאין אדם יכול להטות עצמו לגמרי לתשובה. אעפ"כ מועיל היגיעה להטות הלב במה שאין ניכר לאדם עצמו.

And this is said also regarding a good thought: that even though a person is not able to turn himself completely to teshuvah, nevertheless the exertion (yegiah) to incline the heart is effective in a way that is not even discernible to the person himself.

Even when one cannot fully achieve teshuvah, the very effort to bend one's heart toward Hashem accomplishes something real — an inner movement that the person himself may not even notice.

והשי"ת עד על תשובה זו.

And Hashem is a witness to this teshuvah.

Hashem testifies to this hidden, partial teshuvah that lies beneath a person's own awareness — it does not go unrecorded.

וזהו ג"כ לשון הרמב"ם שיעיד עליו יודע תעלומות.

And this is also the language of the Rambam: that "the Knower of hidden things will testify (ya'id) concerning him."

The Rambam's formulation in Hilchos Teshuvah — that the One who knows all secrets bears witness about the penitent — fits this same idea of Hashem as the witness to teshuvah.

פי' יודע תעלומות אף מה שנעלם מעיני האדם עצמו כמ"ש:

Meaning: the "Knower of hidden things" — even that which is concealed from the eyes of the person himself, as has been said.

"Knower of hidden things" refers precisely to those inner stirrings of teshuvah hidden even from the penitent's own perception — yet fully known to Hashem.

גם יש לפרש מאמרם ז"ל עד ה' אלקיך כי וודאי כפי מה שאדם שב בתשובה כראוי זוכה אח"כ לקבל מלכות שמים כראוי.

One may also explain the saying of Chazal "until Hashem your God": for certainly, in accordance with how a person does teshuvah properly, he afterward merits to accept the yoke of Heaven (malchus Shomayim) properly.

A second reading: the depth of one's teshuvah determines the degree to which one can afterward truly accept Hashem's sovereignty upon oneself.

וזהו עד ה' אלקיך שצריך האדם לשוב עד שיוכל לקבל אלקותו ית' כראוי ואז קבלת אלקותו ית' הוא עדות על התשובה כנ"ל:

And this is "return until Hashem your God" — that a person must return until he is able to accept His Godliness, blessed be He, properly; and then the acceptance of His Godliness, blessed be He, is itself testimony to the teshuvah, as above.

One must return "until" reaching the point of properly accepting Hashem as one's God. That genuine acceptance of His sovereignty becomes the living proof — the "eidus" — that authentic teshuvah has truly occurred.

Summary: The Sefas Emes reads "Return until (ad) Hashem your God" through the word "eid," witness. First: every Jew has hidden stirrings of teshuvah, and even when one cannot fully return, the effort to incline the heart works beneath one's own awareness — and Hashem, Knower of hidden things, testifies to it. Second: one must return until able to genuinely accept Hashem's sovereignty, and that acceptance of malchus Shomayim is itself the testimony confirming that real teshuvah has taken place.