קְרוֹבִים לְךָ וּרְחוֹקִים מִמְּךָ, רְחוֹקִים מִמְךָ וּקְרוֹבִים לְךָ. תְּשׁוּבָה קְרוֹבָה לְךָ וּרְחוֹקָה מִמְּךָ, רְחוֹקָה מִמְּךָ וּקְרוֹבָה לְךָ, מִיתָה קְרוֹבָה לְךָ וּרְחוֹקָה מִמְּךָ, רְחוֹקָה מִמְךָ וּקְרוֹבָה לְךָ.
Two things appear to be near you and yet are far from you, appear to be far from you and yet are near you. Repentance appears to be near you but is far from you, appears to be far from you but is near you. Death is near you but it can be far from you, appear to be far from you but is near you.
פִּתְחִי לִי, רַבִּי יַסָּא אָמַר, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, בָּנַי, פִּתְחוּ לִי פֶּתַח אֶחָד שֶׁל תְּשׁוּבָה כְּחֻדָּהּ שֶׁל מַחַט, וַאֲנִי פּוֹתֵחַ לָכֶם פְּתָחִים שֶׁיִּהְיוּ עֲגָלוֹת וּקְרוֹנִיּוֹת נִכְנָסוֹת בּוֹ.
"Open to Me, My sister" (Song of Songs 5:2). According to R. Yose, the Holy One said to Israel: My children, open to Me, in penitence an opening as small as the eye of a needle and I shall make an opening in Me for you so wide that through it wagons and coaches could enter.
The call to purify your character never ceases. You may have already purified it when you were on an intermediate spiritual level. But when you grow, you bring hidden treasures of life out of the depths of chaos. These portions come to you as a spiritual revelation. Because they have never been refined, they require constantly new purifying. There are holy people who never cease growing. They go from strength to strength, always engaged in actualized repentance. Purifying and refining character is a vital ingredient of that repentance.