Teshuvah awakens Hashem's unconditional love

כתיב כאשר ירד הגשם כו' כן יהי' דברי כו'.

It is written: "Just as the rain comes down… so shall be My word…" (Yeshayahu 55:10-11).

Just as rain never returns to the heavens without accomplishing its task of watering the earth, so too Hashem's word does not return empty — it inevitably achieves its purpose.

א"כ בודאי ישובו בנ"י אל ה' ותורתו.

If so, Bnei Yisrael will certainly return to Hashem and to His Torah.

Since Hashem's word must be fulfilled, the promise that Israel will do teshuvah is guaranteed to come true.

וכמ"ש הרמב"ן בפרשת התשובה ושבת עד ה' אלקיך שהוא הבטחה כי לבסוף ישובו.

And as the Ramban writes in the section dealing with teshuvah, "and you shall return unto Hashem your God" — that this is a promise that in the end they will return.

The Ramban understands the verse not merely as a command but as a guarantee: ultimately Bnei Yisrael are assured of returning to Hashem.

ולכן לא למדו חז"ל שתשובה מגעת עד כסה"כ מפסוק זה שבתורה שהוא הבטחה שיחזור הקב"ה אותנו בתשובה.

Therefore Chazal did not derive that teshuvah reaches up to the Throne of Glory (Kisei HaKavod) from this verse in the Torah, since it is [only] a promise that the Holy One will bring us back in teshuvah.

Because this Torah verse describes teshuvah that Hashem arouses from above, it does not teach how powerful our own teshuvah can be; so Chazal looked elsewhere to show how far our repentance can reach.

ולמדו מפסוק שובה ישראל עד ה' אלקיך שהוא תשובתינו מלמטה למעלה שגם בזו התשובה יכולין לגעת עד כסה"כ.

Rather, they derived it from the verse "Return, O Israel, unto Hashem your God" — which is our teshuvah from below to above — that even this kind of teshuvah can reach up to the Throne of Glory.

The verse "Shuvah Yisrael" speaks of repentance we initiate ourselves, from the bottom up. From here Chazal teach that even our own, self-generated teshuvah is great enough to ascend all the way to the Kisei HaKavod.

וז"ש הכתוב כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם.

And this is what the verse means: "For My thoughts are not your thoughts."

The Sefas Emes now explains the deeper meaning of this familiar verse from the same chapter in Yeshayahu.

כי באותה הבחירה שבחר בנו הקב"ה ונתן לנו התורה דברי אשר שמתי בפיך הוא בחירה עולמית.

For with that choice by which the Holy One chose us and gave us the Torah — "My words which I have placed in your mouth" — it is an eternal choice.

When Hashem chose Bnei Yisrael and gave us the Torah, that was a choice that never changes; His selection of us is permanent and unconditional.

והנה גם בנ"י בחרו בהקב"ה כמ"ש את ה' האמרת אבל בזה נעשה שינוים ע"י החטא.

Now, Bnei Yisrael also chose the Holy One, as it is written "you have proclaimed Hashem [as your God]" — but in this [choice] changes occur through sin.

Israel reciprocated by choosing Hashem, but our choice is not as steady: through chet (sin) it can waver and change.

אבל אני ה' לא שניתי כתיב וזהו לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם שאין בי שינוי רצון.

But "I, Hashem, have not changed" is written; and this is "My thoughts are not your thoughts" — that in Me there is no change of will.

Hashem's choice of us, unlike ours of Him, is utterly unchanging. "My thoughts are not your thoughts" means: My ratzon (will) toward you never shifts, even when yours does.

ולכן בש"ק שהוא מעין עוה"ב ולבסוף ישובו בנ"י בודאי זה היום מסייע לתשובה.

Therefore, on the holy Shabbos, which is a foretaste of the World to Come and [a time when] in the end Bnei Yisrael will surely return, certainly this day assists teshuvah.

Since Shabbos is a taste of Olam Haba — the future in which Israel's return is guaranteed — the day of Shabbos itself lends strength to the work of teshuvah.

ואיתא אהבה שאינה תלוי' בדבר אינה בטילה עולמית ולכן מים רבים לא יוכלו לכבות האהבה.

And it is taught: a love that does not depend on any [external] thing never ceases, and therefore "many waters cannot extinguish the love" (Shir HaShirim 8:7).

An ahavah that is unconditional — not based on any particular cause — can never be nullified. Such is the love between Hashem and Israel, which no flood of trouble can put out.

כי הגם שאהבת בנ"י אל ה' ע"י תורה ומצות.

For although the love of Bnei Yisrael toward Hashem is through Torah and mitzvos —

Our love for Hashem is, in a sense, "dependent": it is expressed and built through keeping Torah and mitzvos, and so it could be vulnerable to lapse.

אבל אהבת הקב"ה לבנ"י קודמת שהרי בשביל אהבה זו רצה לזכות את ישראל והרבה להם תורה ומצות.

But the love of the Holy One for Bnei Yisrael precedes [it], for it was on account of this love that He wished to grant merit to Israel and gave them abundant Torah and mitzvos.

Hashem's love came first and is not contingent on our mitzvos — on the contrary, the very reason He gave us so many Torah and mitzvos was out of that prior, unconditional love.

נמצא רצונו ית' ואהבתו לבנ"י אינה תלוי' בדבר.

It follows that His blessed will and His love for Bnei Yisrael does not depend on any [external] thing.

Hashem's love is therefore the kind that "does not depend on a thing" — unconditional, and so it can never be extinguished.

ולכן אפילו שחטאנו לפניו בתורה ומצות בתשובה יכולין לעורר האהבה הישינה שקודמת לתורה ומצות.

Therefore, even though we have sinned before Him regarding Torah and mitzvos, through teshuvah we can awaken the "sleeping love" that precedes Torah and mitzvos.

Even when our sins have damaged the love built through Torah and mitzvos, teshuvah reaches deeper — it reawakens the older, primal love of Hashem that existed before any mitzvos and is therefore never lost.

והנה בתחילת השנה יש עשרת ימי תשובה ושבת תשובה.

Now, at the beginning of the year there are the Ten Days of Teshuvah and Shabbos Teshuvah.

The Sefas Emes turns to the structure of the days of repentance that open the year, which include this Shabbos.

דכ' והחיות רצוא ושוב כי הבריאה היא התפשטות החיות והעשרה מאמרות בתוך הנבראים וצריך להיות חזרת החיות תמיד אל השורש כמ"ש רצוא ושוב.

For it is written "and the chayos run and return (ratzo va'shov)" — for creation is the spreading-out of the life-force and the Ten Utterances within the created beings, and there must always be a returning of the life-force to its root, as it says "running and returning."

Yechezkel's vision of the angels "running and returning" describes all of existence: the Divine chiyus and the Ten Maamaros spread outward into creation, but that life-force must constantly cycle back to its Source. Creation is not static — it pulses out and back.

וזהו בחי' השבת בכלל כמ"ש וישבות ביום השביעי.

And this is the aspect of Shabbos in general, as it says "and He rested (vayishbos) on the seventh day."

Shabbos is the "return" half of this rhythm: after the week of creation flowing outward, Shabbos draws all the life-force back to its root, which is the meaning of Hashem's "resting."

וכן הי' מוכן אדה"ר קודם החטא לעלות למעלה ולירד למטה בלי השתנות.

And so too Adam HaRishon, before the sin, was prepared to ascend above and descend below without [any] change.

Before the chet, Adam could move freely between the upper and lower worlds — fully embodying "ratzo va'shov" — without losing himself or being changed in the process.

וכמו אליהו הנביא ע"ה עלה שמים וירד.

Just like Eliyahu HaNavi, of blessed memory, who ascended to heaven and descended.

Eliyahu is the model of one who could ascend to heaven and come back down intact — the restored ideal of "running and returning" that Adam had before the sin.

ואחר החטא נתן לנו הקב"ה תורה ומצות שעל ידיהן נוכל לעלות ולהתדבק בו והחטאים מעכבין עלי' זו.

And after the sin the Holy One gave us Torah and mitzvos, by means of which we can ascend and cleave to Him; and the sins impede this ascent.

Once Adam sinned, free ascent was lost, so Hashem provided Torah and mitzvos as the new means to climb upward and attain deveikus. Sins, however, block this rising.

וע"י התשובה יכולים לתקן הכל:

And through teshuvah we are able to repair everything.

Teshuvah is the remedy that removes the obstruction of sin, restoring our ability to ascend and cleave to Hashem — repairing everything.

Summary: Hashem's word, like rain, must be fulfilled, so Israel's return is guaranteed; while our own teshuvah ("Shuvah Yisrael") rises from below all the way to the Throne of Glory. The key is that Hashem's love and choice of us are unchanging and unconditional — preceding Torah and mitzvos — so even when sin damages the love built through mitzvos, teshuvah reawakens that deeper "sleeping love" that can never be extinguished. Shabbos, the return-point of creation's "running and returning," is a foretaste of the future redemption and powerfully aids the teshuvah that repairs everything.