Repentance Depends on Torah

Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

The passuk states (Devarim 30:11–14), “For this mitzvah which I command you today is not beyond your understanding, nor is it far away. It is not in heaven, so that you would say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it back, and teach it to us so we may do it.’ Nor is it across the sea, so that you could say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it back, and teach it to us so that we may do it.’ Rather, this matter is very near to you, in your mouth and your heart that you may do it.”

What mitzvah are these verses talking about? The Ramban and Seforno write that the verses are referring to teshuvah, the mitzvah to repent for our sins. They explain that teshuvah is the subject mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, which states that after stumbling into error and sin in exile, “You shall return to Hashem Your G-d” (ibid. 30:2). Regarding returning (teshuvah), the verse now states that such a thing is “not far from you.”

The Seforno explains that teshuvah is not “in the heavens,” meaning that we do not need a prophet to explain to us what our sin is or how to correct it, nor is teshuvah beyond the sea, necessitating that we travel to learn about the teshuvah process from wise men living elsewhere. Rather, the verse concludes, the mitzvah of teshuvah is “in your mouth and your heart that you may do it”—meaning, one recites vidui (confessing his sins) with his mouth, and in his heart he tries to deepen his remorse for having sinned and strengthen his awareness of Hashem. In short, teshuvah is eminently doable.

However, there would seem to be a problem with this interpretation. The Gemara (Eruvin 55a) quotes this verse, and Chazal say there that the mitzvah being referred to is Torah study. The verse then reads that the Torah is “not in the heavens,” meaning those whose “heads are in the sky,” or vain, boastful people. Nor is it “beyond the seas,” among the merchants who travel far and wide engaging in commerce. How can the Seforno contradict an open gemara?

The Ma’adanei Shmuel reconciles the Rishonim with the Gemara by explaining that Torah study is an essential part of the teshuvah process. This is readily apparent in the prayer for teshuvah that we say in Shemoneh Esrei, “Bring us back, our Father, to Your Torah,” and only then do we ask, “and bring us back to You with complete teshuvah.” Moreover, the navi Hoshea’s eternal call to teshuvah (Hoshea 14:2), “Take for yourselves words and return to Hashem” is explained in the Sifri (Devarim 32:2) as, “What words should we take? Words of Torah.”

Why is teshuvah dependent on Torah? The Gemara states (Kiddushin 30b) that Torah is the remedy for the evil inclination. This is true before a person actually sins, as a person must apply this “remedy” to overcome temptation. However, this is even truer for a person who has already fallen into sin. It is necessary to learn Torah if one wants to escape from the evil inclination’s net in which he is trapped.

The Chazon Ish (Igros 2:75) writes that uprooting a negative trait needs both work on the trait and Torah learned for the sake of Hashem. Without either ingredient, the effort is doomed to failure.

Moreover, it is impossible for a person to do teshuvah and achieve any closeness to Hashem without growing in Torah too. In Kri’as Shema, the verse states (Devarim 6:5–6), “And you shall love Hashem, your G-d. . . . And these words should be . . . on your heart.” Rashi cites the Sifri: “How does one acquire love for Hashem? By having ‘these words’ (i.e., the words of Torah) on your heart. Then you can know Hashem and cling to His ways.” Similarly, the Nefesh HaChaim (4:31) cites the Zohar that one’s closeness to Hashem is proportionate to one’s closeness to Torah.

Rav Shlomo Wolbe notes that the nation’s first Elul in the desert was a time of receiving the Torah. They were preparing for Moshe’s return from Har Sinai with the second luchos (tablets). Though they had already received the Torah at Har Sinai, that was before they had sinned, and they now needed to accept the Torah again to purify themselves from the sin of the Golden Calf.

We too are required to accept the Torah wholeheartedly as part of our Elul. We can do this by putting more time and energy into our learning than we are generally accustomed to.

In Kelm, the learning sessions were six or seven hours long during Elul. The noted mashgiach Rav Itzele Peterburger would explain, “You have to come to the Day of Judgment with a lot of Gemara, Rashi, and Tosfos.”

Once, the Lakewood mashgiach Rav Nosson Wachtfogel told his talmidim, “If the students of Kelm were capable of learning such a long time in Elul, why didn’t they do it the whole year?”

“Rather,” he answered, “such work was beyond their natural ability. Still, Hashem is closer to us in Elul, and He therefore enabled them to learn even more, giving them the chance to come closer to Him. We too can use Elul to push ourselves more in Torah and service of Hashem!”

May we be zocheh to do a complete teshuvah!

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