Nitzavim: What Would Teshuvah Look Like If It Were Easy?
Nitzavim: What Would Teshuvah Look Like If It Were Easy?
This may very well be the most radical idea about teshuvah I've ever written about. I'm not even certain that it's correct, but if it is, it's a game-changer. I'd love to hear cwhat you think.
The Torah Content for the month of Elul has been sponsored anonymously in loving memory of Henya bas Tzirel - a mother who cared deeply about her children's engagement with Judaism.
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Nitzavim: What Would Teshuvah Look Like If It Were Easy?
Tim Ferriss is a man who knows how to ask questions. One of the questions he trained himself to ask is: What would this look like if it were easy? Tim unpacks this question in his article, 17 Questions That Changed My Life:
These days, more than any other question, I’m asking, “What would this look like if it were easy?” If I feel stressed, stretched thin, or overwhelmed, it’s usually because I’m overcomplicating something or failing to take the simple/easy path because I feel I should be trying “harder” (old habits die hard).
We are currently in the month of Elul: the season of teshuvah (returning to God). Each year at this time, I feel daunted by the enormity of the teshuvah I need to do. This is especially true during the Aseres Ymei Teshuvah – the ten days from Rosh ha’Shanah through Yom ha’Kippurim, in which our judgment hangs in the balance, when we are keenly aware that our fate will be sealed based on the quality of our teshuvah. Invariably, I pressure myself into “trying harder,” which only creates more pressure – pressure that doesn’t actually yield better results.
If someone were to challenge me, saying, “Why are you freaking out? Teshuvah is easy!” I would laugh in disbelief. But if I clapped back with, “Says who?” They’d respond, “Moshe Rabbeinu.” Devarim 30:11-14 states:
For this commandment that I command you today – it is not hidden from you, and it is not distant. It is not in the heaven, [for you] to say, “Who can ascend to the heaven for us and take it for us, so that we can listen to it and perform it?” Nor is it across the sea, [for you] to say, “Who can cross to the other side of the sea for us and take it for us, so that we can listen to it and perform it?” Rather, the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.
Sforno (ibid.) explains that the phrase “this commandment that I command you today” refers to the mitzvah of teshuvah, which is mentioned in the preceding sentence: “when you shall return to Hashem, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul” (ibid. 3:9). Moshe is telling Bnei Yisrael that teshuvah “is not hidden from you, and is not distant” but rather, it “is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” The question I ask myself every year upon reading this is: How so? Is teshuvah really that accessible?
To appreciate this question, let us review Rambam’s formulation of the teshuvah process in Hilchos Teshuvah 2:2:
What is teshuvah? That the sinner should abandon his sin, remove it from his plans, and resolve in his heart not to do it again, as it is stated, “The evil one should abandon his way, and the man of iniquity his plans” (Yishayahu 55:7). Likewise, he should regret having transgressed, as it is stated, “for after I returned [in teshuvah], I had remorse; after I became aware [of my sin], I slapped [my] thigh [in anguish]” (Yirmiyahu 31:18). And he should call upon the One Who Knows Hidden Things as his Witness that he will never return to this sin, as it is stated, “We will no longer say, ‘O our gods!’ to the work of our hands, for it is with You that an orphan finds mercy” (Hoshea 14:4). And he must verbally confess and say these matters which he resolved in his heart.
The strength of our question is apparent. Is it really that easy to resolve in your heart not to do a sin again, calling upon Hashem as your Witness that you will never return to the sin? Maybe for a “minor” sin, like forgetting to say a berachah after eating or neglecting to wait the requisite amount of time between meat and milk. But what about sins like “do not go as a gossipmonger among your people” (Vayikra 19:16), or “you shall not explore after your heart and your eyes” (Bamidbar 15:39), or violating the injunction to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Vayikra 19:18), or failing to fulfill the difficult mitzvah of “you shall love Hashem, your God, with all your heart, all your soul, and all your resources” (Devarim 6:5)? What about teshuvah on bad character traits, such as anger, laziness, jealousy, lust, greed, and arrogance? Is it really so easy to do teshuvah on such weighty matters?
Since Sforno appears to claim that it really is that easy, let’s see what he has to say on our pesukim:
because this mitzvah … [concerning] this mitzvah of teshuvah which I command you today – He said regarding every sin in Parashas Vayikra, “and he will incur guilt” (Vayikra 4:22), “and he will become guilty” (ibid. 4:13), that the idea in all of them is that the sinner should recognize his sin, as he explained afterwards, saying: “It shall be that when you incur guilt about any of these things, he shall confess that which he sinned upon it” (ibid. 5:5). Likewise, in his statement: “Speak to the Children of Israel: A man or a woman who commits any of man’s sins, by committing treachery toward Hashem, and that person shall become guilty – they shall confess their sin” (Bamidbar 5:6-7).
it is not hidden from you – such that you will need prophets, nor is it distant from you – such that you will need the faraway sages of the generation to explain it to you; [therefore,] you can do it while you are still in exile …
in your mouth and in your heart to do it – to recognize in your heart your sin and the God against Whom you sinned, and to make yourself regret, and to confess this verbally.
Notice what’s missing? Sforno mentions the requirement to acknowledge your sin, to recognize that you sinned against God, to regret what you did, and to verbally confess – but he doesn’t mention the requirement to never do the sin again! This is a case of ikkar chaseir min ha’sefer: omission of the main element. Of course it would be easy to do teshuvah if we didn’t have to worry about refraining from sinning again, but how can he say this?
I posted this question in my favorite Facebook group (Ask the Beit Midrash) and received a few different answers. One person wrote, “I think maybe that’s the point. That’s the easy part.” I don’t buy this answer. If I claim, "It's easy to paint the Mona Lisa! All you need to do is buy a canvas and art supplies and you're good to go," and you ask me, "But what about the actual painting process?" and I respond, "Oh, I was talking about the easy part," then my initial statement becomes rather pointless. Another person suggested that this isn’t talking about the type of teshuvah codified by the Rambam in Hilchos Teshuvah, which pertains to the individual. Rather, if you look at the context of the pesukim, it's talking about national teshuvah. This is an astute observation, but doesn’t it compound the problem? Is national teshuvah really that easy? Even a cursory reading of Tanach points to the answer, “nope!”
Then my friend Levi said: “Maybe [Sforno] doesn’t think that’s a necessary part of teshuvah? Maybe he thinks the main point is the recognition and regret of sin?” I replied: “That's what I was secretly wondering, but I was hoping someone else would offer evidence in support, since I think it's a somewhat radical take.” Levi responded: “Is it though? Isn’t it just ‘not Rambam’? Rambam’s formulation is rightly popular, but there are certainly others.”
I’m not ready to conclude that Levi is right. I simply don’t know enough about Sforno’s view of teshuvah to make that assertion with any confidence. But I am prepared to ask: “What if he is right? What if Sforno maintains that the teshuvah process is exactly what he says it is: recognizing the sin and Whom you sinned against, feeling regret, and confessing verbally? What if making a commitment not to return to the sin is laudable, but not actually required for teshuvah? How would this view change our relationship with teshuvah?”
One thing is for sure: it would make teshuvah a whole lot easier! Easy enough to describe as “very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.”
I’m going to continue to think about this idea. In fact, I’m going to do more than that: I’m going to attempt to embrace it – just to see what will happen. What will my experience be like if, instead of sitting there on Yom ha’Kippurim and bemoaning how little teshuvah I’ve managed to do by the Rambam’s standards, I instead open myself to the real possibility that I can do teshuvah on ALL my sins according to Sforno? What if my rebbi, Rabbi Moskowitz zt”l, was right: that instead of trying to change, I should instead focus on knowledge of God’s will and allow change to happen naturally? What if teshuvah really is as easy as Moshe Rabbeinu says it is? Let’s find out!
So, what do you think? Am I reading Sforno correctly? If so, what are your thoughts on his view? And either way, what are the implications?
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Hi, I really enjoyed this article.
I don't see any contradiction between Sforno, Rambam and Rabbi Moskowitz zt"l.
>"it is not hidden from you – such that you will need prophets, nor is it distant from you"
This does not refer to the process being easy. Instead, it refers to the fact that only you can do Teshuva for yourself -- no one can do it for you. I would even go as far to say this makes Teshuva harder, since you can't hire some rabbi/prophet/sigulah giver/molybdomancer to repent on your behalf.
> “What if he is right? What if Sforno maintains that the teshuvah process is exactly what he says it is: recognizing the sin and Whom you sinned against, feeling regret, and confessing verbally? What if making a commitment not to return to the sin is laudable, but not actually required for teshuvah? How would this view change our relationship with teshuvah?”
If you sin after doing Teshuva did you even do Teshuva in the first place? "Recognizing the sin" is realizing the action you did was bad. If you truly thought the action is bad, why would you do it again? A student writes 2 + 2 = 5 on the first test, and then the teacher corrects him saying 2 + 2 = 4, then on the second test the student again puts 2 + 2 = 5. Did the student actually learn 2 + 2 = 4? Likewise, one who willfully sins after "recognizing the sin" never actually "recognized the sin", and as such never did Teshuva according Sforno.
>"Rabbi Moskowitz zt”l, was right: that instead of trying to change, I should instead focus on knowledge of God’s will and allow change to happen naturally?"
This is sound advice. Let's say if someone has an issue with drinking and follows the Rambam naively. He says "I resolve never to drink alcohol again" and in order to do so he moves to a country with strict alcohol laws. Did this person repent? The answer is no. For who knows what what will happen, and there are many ways he could stumble upon alcohol. The only way to never drink alcohol again would be that he realize alcohol is bad for himself. This would be true Teshuva. Similarly, with positive and negative mitzvot if one truly realizes that abrogating a mitzvah is harmful, he would never sin.
TLDR:
1) "It is not hidden from you" indicates that Teshuva is personal, not that it is easy.
2) "Recognizing in your heart your sin..." is hard.
3) The Rambam saying "resolving in his heart not to do it again" is an elaboration on "recognizing in your heart your sin..." not an additional step.
4) This is consistent with Rabbi Moskowitz zt"l since the only way to "resolve in your heart not to do it again" is to truly know the sin is bad, and not to just try using willpower or forcing yourself in a situation where merely by happenstance you will not sin.
He doesn't go as extreme as you are suggesting here, but Saadia Gaon also isn't as strict as Rambam appears (although the Rav says Rambam agrees with Saadia Gaon as well, based on the Lechem Mishneh):
"And let me further clarify: that if a man resolves in the course of his repentance that he will not repeat the sin, his repentance is accepted. And if he be later persuaded by lust to repeat his transgression, his repentance is not retroactively effaced; but only the sins which preceded that repentance will be forgiven, and whatever (sins) follow it will be recorded against him. And this applies repeatedly, if he repents, and sins anew: only that which follows repentance is to be held against him, so long as each repentance is done honestly and sincerely and if, in each case, the penitent firmly resolves not to revert to sin" (Emunot VeDe'ot 5:5).
He also doesn't require you never do the sin again, and I think, based on the Sforno's you brought, this view fits into what he says, although it is slightly less radical than only recognition, regret, and confession.