Lessons of Rebbe Nachman about Teshuva

(4) The LORD will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites, and to their countries, when He wiped them out.

(2) Each person is required to minimize his own kavod (honor) and maximize the honor of the Omnipresent One. For anyone who pursues honor does not attain kavod Elohim (God’s glory), but kavod melakhim (glory of kings), of which it is said (Proverbs 25:2), “but the glory of kings is an investigated matter.” Everyone inquires about him <to see if he is deserving of such honor, asking,> “Who is he and what is he?” (Esther 7:5) that he is afforded such honor. And they oppose him, saying that he is not deserving of such kavod. (3) However, the person who flees from glory—minimizing his own glory while maximizing the glory of God—attains kavod Elohim. Then, <they> do not investigate whether he is deserving of his glory or not. Of him it is said (Proverbs, ibid.), “The glory of the Lord is a concealed matter.” For it is forbidden to inquire into <this type of> glory.

(1) 2. Now, it is impossible to attain this kavod [Elohim] except by means of teshuvah (repentance). And the essence of repentance is that when a person hears himself being insulted, he remains quiet and silent. (2) For there can be no Kavod without a Kaf, and the Kaf <is an aspect of> Keter (Crown) (Zohar III, 255b). This corresponds to Ehyeh, <as is known,> which corresponds to repentance. (3) For <the meaning of> ehyeh is “I am prepared to be.” That is, before repenting a person does not yet have being. It is as if he does not yet exist in the world. Indeed, he would be better off had he not been created (Eruvin 13b). But when he prepares to purify himself and repent, he is then in the aspect of ehyeh. In other words, he will then exist in the world—i.e., “I am prepared to be.” (4) This is an aspect of Keter, because the word keter suggests waiting, <which is> an aspect of repentance. As our Sages taught: Anyone who undertakes to purify himself is assisted [from Above]. It is like the allegory of the person who comes to buy sweet smelling oil. They tell him, “Wait…” (Yoma 38b). This corresponds to KeTeR, as is written (Job 36:2), “KaTaR (wait) for me awhile and I will tell you.”

Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “If it concerns the scorners, He scorns them, but to the humble He gives grace” (Proverbs 3:34)? If one comes to impurify, they open before him the opportunity to exercise his free will and do as he pleases. If one comes to purify, they assist him. In the school of Rabbi Yishmael it was taught with regard to this verse: This is comparable to the case of a man who was selling both crude naphtha [neft], whose odor is vile, and balsam, whose fragrance is pleasant. In the case of one who comes to measure and purchase naphtha, the merchant says to him: Measure it for yourself. With regard to one who comes to measure and purchase balsam, the merchant says to him: Wait for me until I can measure it with you, so that you and I will both be perfumed.

(1) 15. It has been explained above that by means of the quiet and silence he displays when his friend insults him, a person merits repentance, which is the aspect of Keter, as explained. This is because “Silence is a fence for wisdom.” For it is necessary to be very careful to judge everyone favorably. Even when others attack and insult him, a person must judge them favorably and maintain his silence. This forms the aspect of Keter, <for there is no Keter without a Kaf, and this is precisely Kaf zekhut (favorably). Understand this.>

(2) As is brought in the Midrash: (3) It is like the allegory of someone who saw his friend making a keter (crown) . “Who is it for?” he asked him. “For the king,” he replied. “Since it’ s for the king,” he said, “set into it every jewel you find” (Vayikra Rabbah 2:5).

(4) So, too, every Jew is an aspect of a crown for God. One must therefore set in him every sort of jewel one can possibly find. That is, it is necessary to make an effort to seek out and search for every merit and positive quality one can possibly find in a fellow Jew. Everyone must be judged favorably, for they are an aspect of a Keter for God. This is as the Sages taught: Judge every adam favorably (Avot 1:6). (5) We find, then, that by judging everyone favorably he remains silent when others insult him. He finds some merit in the person who insulted him: “He is not all that responsible for shaming me, because to that person’s knowledge and way of thinking it seems that I am deserving of insult.” This creates the aspect of Keter —i.e., the quiet and silence form the aspect of Keter, as mentioned above. Understand this.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai said: It is comparable to a king who had a lone son. Every day he would instruct the head of his palace, "Make sure my son ate," "Make sure my son drank," "Make sure my son went to school." So too did the Holy One, Blessed be He, instruct Moses, "Say to the Children of Israel," "Instruct the Children of Israel." Rabbi Yehuda bar Simon said: It is comparable to one who is sitting and making a crown for the king and another person passed by and said to him, "What are you making?" He said to him, "I am making the crown for the king." He said to him, "Everyone you can set in it, whether valuable stones or pearls, you should do so. Why? Because they will be placed on the head of the king." So too did the Holy One, Blessed be He, say to Moses, "Everything you can say to praise Israel, so praise them. To raise them up and glorify them, so glorify them. Why? For I will in the future be glorified by them, as it says, "And He said to me, 'You are My servant, Israel; through you I glorify Myself."

(1) 14. It is then possible to implement Rosh HaShanah. When a person sits down to talk about another person, it is “Rosh HaShanah,” which is the Day of Judgment—for he sits in judgment of his fellow man. A person must be very careful about this. He has to take a good look at himself and ask if he is fit to pass judgment on his fellow man. “For judgment belongs to God” (Deuteronomy 1:17). The Blessed One alone is fit to judge a person, as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught: Do not judge your fellow man until you have reached his place (Avot 2:4).

(2) Who can understand and project himself into another’s place, other than God? For He is the Place of the world, and the world is not His place (Bereishit Rabbah 68:9). Each and every person has a place with God, and so He alone can judge a person. God is the Master of Compassion and in regard to us does surely “judge every person favorably” (Avot 1:6).

(3) We see His compassion in that, for our benefit, He specified that Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgment, should fall on the New Moon. This is really a great kindness, for how could we be so presumptuous to ask for forgiveness from God? He was therefore kind to us and set the Day of Judgment, Rosh HaShanah, on [the day of] the New Moon, when God Himself, as it were, seeks forgiveness, as in “Bring an atonement offering on My behalf,” which was said in connection with the New Moon (as our Sages, of blessed memory, taught; Shavuot 9a). And so we are not embarrassed to ask for forgiveness on the Day of Judgment, since He Himself asks for forgiveness then.

(4) Moreover, because God Himself, as it were, comes to the point where He must say, “Bring an atonement offering on My behalf”—that is, He did something for which He is obliged to feel remorse and say, “Bring… on My behalf”—consequently we are not embarrassed to bring our sins before Him, to ask for forgiveness and feel remorse over them. For God, too, did something which caused Him to feel remorse. We thus see His great compassion.

(5) Therefore, God alone is fit to judge the world, because He knows each person’s place inasmuch as all the places are with Him—for He is the Place of the world, and the world is not His place.

(6) Even though we find places that were inspirited by the Divine Presence, such as the Holy Temple, the intent is not that His Godliness was restricted to there, God forbid. This is as Shlomo said (1 Kings 8:27), “Why, neither heaven nor the heavens of heaven can contain You, how much less this House….” God channeled His Holiness there only because of the beautiful things that were there, for the Holy Temple contained depictions of the works of Creation and depictions of the Garden of Eden (see Tikkuney Zohar, Introduction, p.13a). But as for God, the world is not His place. Rather, He is the Place of the world.

(7) Therefore, God is able to implement Rosh HaShanah, the Day of Judgment, because He fulfills: “Do not judge your fellow man until you have reached his place”—for He is the Place of the world.

Reish Lakish says: What is different about the goat brought as a sin-offering of the New Moon that it is stated with regard to it: “To the Lord,” a term not written with regard to other sin-offerings? The Holy One, Blessed be He, says, as it were: This goat shall be an atonement for the fact that I diminished the size of the moon.

(1) 3. Thus, a person should perpetually embrace the attribute of repentance. For “Who can say, ‘I have cleansed my heart, I am purged of my sin?’” (Proverbs 20:9). Even at the moment a person says, “I have sinned, I have transgressed, I have acted wantonly,” it is impossible for him to say this with a pure heart and without an ulterior motive.

(2) {This is the meaning of “Who can say I have cleansed my heart, I am purged of my sin.” In other words, who can say that his heart is sincere and pure of ulterior motives even at the time he is saying “I have sinned….” This is the meaning of “Who can say… I am purged of my sin”—i.e., that he is purged of the “I have sinned, I have transgressed, I have acted wantonly,” which he utters. For even then, his confession is not completely sincere and pure, without ulterior motives.}

(3) We find, therefore, that he must repent for his first act of repentance, for the “I have sinned, I have transgressed, I have acted wantonly” that he uttered. Of such a person it is said (Isaiah 29:13), “and he honors Me with his lips”—because through repentance he attains kavod Elohim —“but his heart is far from Me.”

(4) And even if a person knows inside himself that he has been totally sincere in his repentance, he must still repent for his first act of repentance. This is because when he first repented, he did so according to his level of perception [then]. But afterwards, when he [again] repents, he certainly recognizes and perceives even more about God. So that relative to his present perception, his first perception was certainly <crude in comparison>. We find, therefore, that he must repent for his original <repentance>, for having made crass the exalted nature of His Godliness.

(5) This is an aspect of the World to Come, which will be completely ShaBbaT —i.e., completely TeShuVah, as is written (Deuteronomy 30:2), “Then, ShaVTa (you will return) to God your Lord.” For the essence of the World to Come will be the ability to have a perception of His Godliness, as is written (Jeremiah 31:33), “they will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest.” Therefore, each time <he comes to> a deeper perception, <it will be necessary> to repent for the preceding perception.

(6) And this is the meaning of what the Sages taught: Whoever slaughters his evil inclination <and then confesses, it is as if he honored the Holy One in two worlds> (Sanhedrin 43b). This <slaughtering of the evil inclination> is an aspect of repentance—corresponding to “My heart is hollowed within me,” and “Be quiet before God”—an aspect of the Holy Name Ehyeh / Keter / kavod. “… and then confesses”—i.e., he confesses for slaughtering his evil inclination, repenting for his first repentance and for his original level of perception—[so that] “it is as if he honored the Holy One in two worlds.” This is because the first repentance corresponds to the kavod of this world. After he has repented and attained a greater perception and a greater recognition of the exalted nature of His Godliness, he then repents for his [earlier] repentance. This [second] repentance is the kavod of the World to Come.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: With regard to anyone who slaughters his evil inclination after it has tempted him to sin, if he repents and confesses his sin, the verse ascribes him credit as though he had honored the Holy One, Blessed be He, in two worlds, this world and the World-to-Come, as it is written: “Whoever slaughters a thanks-offering [toda] honors Me [yekhabdaneni]” (Psalms 50:23).