Blessing for Torah Study
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu la'asok b’divrei Torah. Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who hallows us with mitzvot, charging us to engage with words of Torah.
Beginning with Our Own Torah
Think back to the last moments of Yom Kippur. What were you feeling? How were your feelings affected or not affected by your reflections on teshuvah?
(30) For on this day atonement shall be made for you to purify you of all your sins; you shall be pure before ה׳.
(1) Cry with full throat, without restraint;
Raise your voice like a ram’s horn!
Declare to My people their transgression,
To the House of Jacob their sin. (2) To be sure, they seek Me daily,
Eager to learn My ways.
Like a nation that does what is right,
That has not abandoned the laws of its God,
They ask Me for the right way,
They are eager for the nearness of God: (3) “Why, when we fasted, did You not see?
When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?”
Because on your fast day
You see to your business
And oppress all your laborers! (4) Because you fast in strife and contention,
And you strike with a wicked fist!
Your fasting today is not such
As to make your voice heard on high. (5) Is such the fast I desire,
A day for people to starve their bodies?
Is it bowing the head like a bulrush
And lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call that a fast,
A day when GOD is favorable? (6) No, this is the fast I desire:
To unlock fetters of wickedness,
And untie the cords of the yoke
To let the oppressed go free;
To break off every yoke. (7) It is to share your bread with the hungry,
And to take the wretched poor into your home;
When you see the naked, to clothe them,
And not to ignore your own kin. (8) Then shall your light burst through like the dawn
And your healing spring up quickly;
Your Vindicator shall march before you,
The Presence of GOD shall be your rear guard. (9) Then, when you call, GOD will answer;
When you cry, [God] will say: Here I am.
If you banish the yoke from your midst,
The menacing hand, and evil speech, (10) And you offer your compassion to the hungry
And satisfy the famished creature—
Then shall your light shine in darkness,
And your gloom shall be like noonday. (11) GOD will guide you always—
Slaking your thirst in parched places
And giving strength to your bones.
You shall be like a watered garden,
Like a spring whose waters do not fail. (12) Some from your midst shall rebuild ancient ruins,
You shall restore foundations laid long ago.
And you shall be called
“Repairer of fallen walls,
Restorer (mishovev) of lanes for habitation.” (13) If you refrain from trampling (Lit. “Turn - tashiv - back your foot from.”) the sabbath,
From pursuing your affairs on My holy day;
If you call the sabbath “delight,”
GOD ’s holy day “honored”;
And if you honor it and go not your ways
Nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains— (14) Then you can seek GOD’s favor.
I will set you astride the heights of the earth,
And let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob—
For GOD’s mouth has spoken.
(ג) שבעה דברים נבראו עד שלא נברא העולם, ואלו הן, תורה וגיהנם וגן עדן וכסא הכבוד ובית המקדש ותשובה ושמו של משיח.
(ד) תורה מנין, שנאמר (משלי ח, כב): "ה׳ קָנָנִי רֵאשִׁית דַּרְכּוֹ קֶדֶם מִפְעָלָיו מֵאָז". קדם, רוצה לומר קודם שנברא העולם. גיהנם מנין, שנאמר (ישעיה ל, לג): "כִּי עָרוּךְ מֵאֶתְמוּל תָּפְתֶּה". מאתמול, עד שלא נברא העולם. גן עדן מנין, שנאמר (בראשית ב, ח): "וַיִּטַּע ה׳ אֱלֹקִים גַּן בְעֵדֶן מִקֶּדֶם". מקדם, עד שלא נברא העולם. כסא הכבוד מנין, שנאמר (תהלים צג, ב): "נָכוֹן כִּסְאֲךָ מֵאָז". מאז, עד שלא נברא העולם. בית המקדש מנין, שנאמר (ירמיה יז, יב): "כִּסֵּא כָבוֹד מָרוֹם מֵרִאשׁוֹן". מראשון עד שלא נברא העולם. תשובה מנין, שנאמר (תהלים צ, ב): "בְּטֶרֶם הָרִים יֻלָּדוּ" וכתיב (תהלים צ, ג): "תָּשֵׁב אֱנוֹשׁ עַד דַּכָּא". טרם עד שלא נברא העולם. שמו של משיח מנין, שנאמר (תהלים עב, יז): "לִפְנֵי שֶׁמֶשׁ יִנּוֹן שְׁמוֹ". וכתוב אחד אומר (מיכה ה, א): "וְאַתָּה בֵּית לֶחֶם אֶפְרָתָה צָעִיר לִהְיוֹת בְּאַלְפֵי יְהוּדָה... וּמוֹצָאֹתָיו מִקֶּדֶם". מקדם עד שלא נברא העולם.
This source is from a collection of Midrash, which dates to the ~100s-900s.
(3) Seven things were created before the world was created. They are: The Torah, Gehinnom, the Garden of Eden, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, Repentance (teshuvah), and the Name of the Messiah.
(4)....How do we know that Repentance (teshuvah) [was created before the world was created]? Because it is said, "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world" (Ps. 90:2); and then in close proximity [we read], "You return (shuv) man to contrition/dust" (Ps. 90:3). "Before," i.e. before the world was created.
"Sukkot and the Completeness of Teshuvah" by Rabbi David Rosenn
Rabbi David Rosenn is the President and CEO of the Hebrew Free Loan Society.
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Ha-Kohen Kook, who served as Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi in pre-state Israel, taught that for all that it is powerful and necessary, the process of repentance shrinks the will, and that
“when one shrinks the will…there is also a shrinking of the will for good. The vitality of the virtuous life is also weakened. The penitent suffers from their moral cleansing the kind of weakness experienced by the patient cured from an illness by a strong current of electric shock. It may have cured the illness, but it also weakened the patient’s healthy vitality. That is why the penitential season is followed by days of holy joy and gladness for the self (Sukkot) to restore the will for good at the innocent vitality for life. Only then will repentance be complete.” (Orot HaTeshuvah, chapter 9)
According to Rav Kook, Sukkot completes the Days of Awe by restoring a sense of self-confidence and joy that is required for full repentance.... What is the contribution of Sukkot to the repentance cycle? I would like to suggest three indispensible elements that Sukkot brings to the process of teshuvah: a focus on love, a plan for action, and a movement from individual to collective action.
"Universal and Particular Joy" by Rabbi Avi Killip (2022)
Rabbi Avi Killip is Executive Vice President at Hadar, where she is faculty and host for the Responsa Radio podcast.
The Torah describes Sukkot as “Z’man Simchatenu” —the time of our joy. This joy is not random. We don’t manifest happiness just because the calendar says so. The placement of Sukkot as a way to emerge from the teshuvah (repentance) process gives us a reason for real joy. The process of forgiveness — particular or global — would not be complete without this final holiday of joy. And our joy would not be as meaningful without the hard work of teshuvah.