BS’D
How difficult is it to do teshuva? To some it may appear to be an unattainable goal. However, the Torah teaches in Parshat Nitzavim regarding teshuva, “Ki hamitzvah hazot, asher Anochi Mitzavcha hayom … v’lo reh’choka hee. Lo ba’Shamayim hee … ki karov elecha hadavar meod…” Teshuva is not beyond anyone’s reach. In fact it is near; ever so near to Klal Yisrael.
If it is so accessible then why do our Sages teach that we need 40 days to prepare for Yom Kippur? Rebbe Natan ztk’l explains that teshuva is easily accessible so long as we yearn for it. Every Jew is capable of stirring their heart with an intense yearning to return to Hashem. As a result teshuva is easily achieved. What begins as a fiery desire to seek truth and closeness to Hashem, ends in a cleansing of the heart and bonding to Hashem, the source of taharah (purity). In summary, it all begins and ends with the amount of desire we demonstrate to Hashem.
Building up desire in the heart begins in the mouth; with tefillah. Pleading and begging as a pauper to a point where it pains us to continue living with such great distance from Him, is precisely what determines how close we eventually will feel towards Hashem. The more pain over the detachment; the tighter our bond will be.
The greater the obstacles that stand in our way when striving for a closer bond with Hashem, the more painful it is. The more painful it is, the stronger our desire to come closer to Hashem. Therefore let us use our pain and suffering as a catalyst to beg Hashem to end this exile and embrace us with a speedily redemption – b’karov, b’rachamim, Amen!
