Notes on a Teshuva class

This was a three hour interactitive lesson on Teshuva. I decided to post the notes in the hope that they may be useful to some.

Teshuvah Repentance

Book of Yonah- How reading the Book of Yonah can help us understand Teshuva.

What is Teshuva anyway?

1.What happens in the Book of Yonah?

2.Structure and Message

Ch.1 The Call and Running Away

Escape

Despair

Pregnancy and Rebirth    

Ch.2  Yonah speaks to G-d

Ch.3  The Call and Reluctant Compliance     

Ch.4 Escape

Pregnancy and (?)Transformation

Despair

G-d responds to Yonah

3.Recognition and Denial

1. What are the first steps in repentance?

2. From where does the first glimmer of recognition come?

I always knew it.

Others showed me.

My conscience bothered me.

Life showed me.

Consequences of my actions could not longer be ignored

Religious motivation

a.Religion versus Spirituality

Are spiritual also most moral?

b. I set my own standards vs. G-d sets His own standards.

4. How clear is the recognition?

א  וַיְהִי, דְּבַר-יְהוָה, אֶל-יוֹנָה בֶן-אֲמִתַּי, לֵאמֹר.	1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying:
ב  קוּם לֵךְ אֶל-נִינְוֵה, הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה--וּקְרָא עָלֶיהָ:  כִּי-עָלְתָה רָעָתָם, לְפָנָי.	2 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim against it; for their wickedness is come up before Me.

5.How we respond to Recognition?

Accept – is that what you usually see in life?

Deny completely, or

Deny through:

Rationalization

Reinterpretaion

Reformatting

Sublimation

Why do people deny?

6.Denial through Escape

ג  וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה; וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אֳנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ, וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי, יְהוָה.

3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of the LORD.

5.Are there gradations in refusal to do Teshuva or are some forms of denial “better” than others?

Is denial absolute or can denial be partial?

Partial Teshuva: R. Kook and the Satmar Rov

Is it a part of process of complete Teshuvah or an entity in itself?

Classic definitions of Teshuva

1.Alter Rebbe: Regret

2.Rambam:Regret, Confession, Acceptance for the future

3.Shaare Teshuva: Multiple elements

How do we understand Partial Teshuva.

There are many levels of Teshuva. However, the sin will not be forgiven completely until the soul will not be purified and spirit sett straight until (Shaarei Teshuva 1:9)

A.Regret alone:

a."Anyone who commits a sin and is embarrassed by it - is forgiven for all transgressions" (B. Berachot 12b). This declaration is rooted in the words of the prophet Ezekiel: So that you will remember and be ashamed... when I have forgiven you for all you have done, says the Lord God (Ezekiel 16:63).

Another biblical source. King Saul found himself in trouble and sought sage advice (I Samuel 28). He turned to a necromancer and asked her to raise the spirit of the prophet Samuel. When the ghost of Samuel appeared it demanded, "Why have you disturbed me and brought me up?"

King Saul replied, "I am in dire straits, and the Philistines are making war against me. God has turned away from me and does not answer me any more - not through the prophets nor by dreams - and I am asking you to tell me what to do!. He was ashamed to mention Urim and Tumim because it was King Saul who destroyed Nob, the city of Kohanim. Samuel’s response was that Saul and his sons will die in battle tomorrow but “tomorrow you are with me”.

b. At the end of the silent Amida of Yom Kippur, "Behold I am before You as a vessel filled with shame and disgrace….. "May it be Your will, Lord, my God and the God of my forebears, that I shall sin no more; and the sins which I have committed before You, erase them in Your abounding mercies, though not through suffering and severe illness."

B.What does shame mean t a 21st century American?

1.The Death of Honor

2.Obligation to the Self

Can one be ashamed before himself?

(Shaarei Teshuva 1,10)

C.Confession and Abandoning sin.

Why does one need these steps?

Mesilas Yesharim

When is Teshuva not possible?

Can future influence the past?

"Reish Lakish said: Great is repentance, for intentional sins become for a penitent as if they were not intentional, as it says: Return Israel to your God for you have stumbled in you crime (Hosea 14,). Crime refers to intentional sin and yet it is called "stumbling". Is this really so? Did not Reish Lakish say, "Great is repentance, for it turns sins into merits, as it says, "When the wicked returns from his sin,he shall live (in the sense of "prosper") (Ezekiel 33,)". No problem - this statement is about repentance through love and this one is regarding repentance from fear (Yoma 86b)".

D.Escape

How is escape different from straightforward denial?

Where do people escape to?

ג  וַיָּקָם יוֹנָה לִבְרֹחַ תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי יְהוָה; וַיֵּרֶד יָפוֹ וַיִּמְצָא אֳנִיָּה בָּאָה תַרְשִׁישׁ, וַיִּתֵּן שְׂכָרָהּ וַיֵּרֶד בָּהּ לָבוֹא עִמָּהֶם תַּרְשִׁישָׁה, מִלִּפְנֵי, יְהוָה.	3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD; and he went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish, from the presence of the LORD.

Escape end with the escapee being spat out to face himself.

6. Back to Yonah: Spiritual Pregnancy

ב  וַיִּתְפַּלֵּל יוֹנָה, אֶל-יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו, מִמְּעֵי, הַדָּגָה.

2 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly.

יא  וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, לַדָּג; וַיָּקֵא אֶת-יוֹנָה, אֶל-הַיַּבָּשָׁה.  {פ}

11 And the LORD spoke unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. {P}

II Life is a spiral

Denial after Denial

Is an admission of guilt sufficient?

Why or why not?

What do we really want?

What does it mean to be free?

Are there orders of desires?

1.Second call to Yonah

א  וַיְהִי דְבַר-יְהוָה אֶל-יוֹנָה, שֵׁנִית לֵאמֹר.	1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying:
ב  קוּם לֵךְ אֶל-נִינְוֵה, הָעִיר הַגְּדוֹלָה; וּקְרָא אֵלֶיהָ אֶת-הַקְּרִיאָה, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי דֹּבֵר אֵלֶיךָ.	2 'Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and make unto it the proclamation that I bid thee.'

A. How is this call different?

Was this a more complete message, a change of message, or better understanding of the original message?

2.Was Yonah ready to hear?

1. Yonah and Eliahu?

Yonah:

ה  וַיִּירְאוּ הַמַּלָּחִים, וַיִּזְעֲקוּ אִישׁ אֶל-אֱלֹהָיו, וַיָּטִלוּ אֶת-הַכֵּלִים אֲשֶׁר בָּאֳנִיָּה אֶל-הַיָּם, לְהָקֵל מֵעֲלֵיהֶם; וְיוֹנָה, יָרַד אֶל-יַרְכְּתֵי הַסְּפִינָה, וַיִּשְׁכַּב, וַיֵּרָדַם.	5 And the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god; and they cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it unto them. But Jonah was gone down into the innermost parts of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
ו  וַיִּקְרַב אֵלָיו רַב הַחֹבֵל, וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ מַה-לְּךָ נִרְדָּם; קוּם, קְרָא אֶל-אֱלֹהֶיךָ--אוּלַי יִתְעַשֵּׁת הָאֱלֹהִים לָנוּ, וְלֹא נֹאבֵד.	6 So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him: 'What meanest thou that thou sleepest? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.'

Eliahu:

ד  וְהוּא-הָלַךְ בַּמִּדְבָּר, דֶּרֶךְ יוֹם, וַיָּבֹא, וַיֵּשֶׁב תַּחַת רֹתֶם אחת (אֶחָד); וַיִּשְׁאַל אֶת-נַפְשׁוֹ, לָמוּת, וַיֹּאמֶר רַב עַתָּה יְהוָה קַח נַפְשִׁי, כִּי-לֹא-טוֹב אָנֹכִי מֵאֲבֹתָי.	4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom-tree; and he requested for himself that he might die; and said: 'It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.'
ה  וַיִּשְׁכַּב, וַיִּישַׁן, תַּחַת, רֹתֶם אֶחָד; וְהִנֵּה-זֶה מַלְאָךְ נֹגֵעַ בּוֹ, וַיֹּאמֶר לוֹ קוּם אֱכוֹל.	5 And he lay down and slept under a broom-tree; and, behold, an angel touched him, and said unto him: 'Arise and eat.'

Antidote to Denial is arousal: Arise go…

p.147

2. Denial after denial

How many exposures does it take to admit full, full truth?

Can human beings ever be completely truthful?

What are the barriers to completely surpassing Denial?

Self-confidence

Reliance on G-d

Teaching yourself the habit of Truthfullness.

What is Integrity?

3. Step by step.

A lifetime of work

A Commitment to Transformation

When slow is not OK.

Shaare Teshuva: Difference between the”path” and an act.

5. Yonah’s Lessons