(Nesavim) Elul- The Potential Within Each Jew
The process of repentance is often fraught with frustration and disappointment. As a person considers the many mistakes he has made, the flaws that need correction, and the previous attempts at improvement that failed to yield the desired results, he can easily become disheartened. We often wonder to ourselves, "Can I become better? Is it really possible for me to improve? After all that I’ve done and given the depths to which I’ve sunken, should I even bother trying to perform Teshuba?"
But while these thoughts are natural, the answer to all these questions is a resounding "Yes." The Torah believes in the potential of each and every person to repent and improve, regardless of the spiritual level on which he currently finds himself. Moshe proclaims to Beneh Yisrael in Parashat Nisavim, "For this matter is very near to you – within your mouth and in your hearts, to perform it" (Debarim 30:14). Repentance is well within reach, for every Jew.
In one of the more puzzling sections of the Torah (Debarim 21:18-21), we read of the "Ben Sorer U’more," a child who habitually disobeys his parents and performs certain heinous crimes. The Torah tells that a child whom the court determines to fall under this category is executed. The Sages explained that a child who conducts himself in the manner described in the Torah will assuredly grow to become a murderer and social menace. We are therefore bidden to eliminate him to prevent him from reaching that point.
Interestingly enough, the Talmud teaches that there has never been a situation of "Ben Sorer U’more"; no child has ever met the criteria of this status that warranted his execution. The Torah nevertheless presented this law, the Sages explained, despite knowing that this circumstance would never arise, for the purpose of "Derosh Ve’kabel Sachar" – "Study and receive reward." At first glance, this means that the Torah added this section so that we have more Torah to study and thereby receive reward.
Some commentaries, however, suggest a different reading of this comment. When the Sages determined that there was never a "Ben Sorer U’more," they meant that no Jew can ever reach the point where there is no hope for his return. Never has it happened, and never will it happen, that a person can be confidently written off as a failure. This is the "study" and "reward" of which the Gemara speaks. The Torah presented this case specifically to teach us that such a situation can never happen, that every Jew has the potential to repent, to change direction, to leave his current path of sin and live a life of piety of virtue. This is how one earns reward – by remembering that regardless of how far he has strayed, he can always make his way back.
The Rabbis teach us that the Jew’s soul originates from the "Olam Ha’asilut," from the very highest regions, from the place in heaven to where even the angels may not enter. The sacred soul within a Jew cannot be tainted; it remains intact regardless of how a person acts. Thus, he always has the potential to return. No matter what sins he has committed, he still has a holy spark within him waiting to be ignited.
We all know this from empirical evidence. Everyone has heard of Jews who were very distant from Torah observance and eventually became full-fledged practicing Jews. As but one of countless examples, I have a friend in London who had a non-observant acquaintance staying in his home. That acquaintance decided to join the friend one morning to the synagogue, and he insisted on laying Tefillin privately in a room outside the main sanctuary. My friend invited him to lay Tefillin inside the sanctuary with everybody else, but the friend insisted on going to a private room. He rolled up his sleeve and showed my friend that on his upper arm he wore a tattoo of his girlfriend, an image that was inappropriate for a synagogue.
Eventually, that young man became a fully committed, practicing Ben Torah.
How did this happen? It happened because even when he was having immodest images tattooed on his arm, he had a sacred soul inside him. That spark enabled him to perform Teshuba and commit himself to Torah.
Thus, we must never despair. Regardless of our past, Teshuba is always well within reach, something that each and every Jew is capable of achieving. We must never let the failures of our past discourage us; instead, we must believe in the potential within each and every one of us to improve and draw closer to the Almighty.
