Yom Kippur

The Rabeinu Yona brings a mashal from Chazal for a person who pushes off doing teshuva. There was a group of robbers which the king caught and put in prison. They dug a tunnel, broke through the walls, and escaped out of prison. One person remained in the prison. The officer over the jail came and saw the escape tunnel and the one person remaining in prison. He hit the prisoner with a stick. He said to him, “behold, the tunnel is dug out before you. How could you not have used the escape route to be saved?!!”

Similarly with teshuva; Hashem wants us to do teshuva and waits for us to do teshuva. He gives us an escape route, teshuva, getting rid of our aveiros  and returning to Hashem. If we don’t take advantage of this great tov, chesed, and rachamim, then we are like the prisoner who remains in prison. We too remain with our aveiros and chata’im and are deserving of punishment. It’s not only missing the opportunity of Hashem’s tov, but is a zilzul in Hashem’s tov and Hashem’s punishment. It’s like a potch in the face. Hashem tells us to do teshuva and gives us the chance to return and on the contrary we continue in the route of our aveiros.

During aseres imei teshuva we say slichos and work on doing teshuva. Hashem lowers Himself to us and comes closer to us for us to return to Him. This is as the passuk says דרשו ה’ בהמצאו קראוהו בהיותו קרוב. Chazal say from here we see that Hashem is found close to us during this time. The Mishna Brurah brings a remez for אלול from the passuk אני לדודי ודודי לי. The first letters spell אלול.  If we do teshuva and try to get rid of our aveiros, אני לדודי, then Hashem reflects back ודודי לי. The Mishna Brurah says one can reach the level of teshuva out of ahava. We see this from the lashon of דודי, loved one.

May Hashem help us return to Him and bentch us all with a גמר חתימה טובה.