The Ten Days of Repentance

Welcome to all our friends joining us from all over Israel - what a great joy to be here together. Friends even came all the way from Haifa and we also have friends on the Arvut system, and friends on the Zoom. Whenever we come together around our goal we are joyful. Our topic today is The Ten Days of Repentance, which comes straight after Rosh Hashana - the time of change. And after this lesson we'll have a festive meal together - I saw lots of good things on the way in.

Clip: How can someone born in sin avoid sinning?

They cannot. We were all born in sin and are incapable of not sinning. We are not required to be holy and pure; we are required to acknowledge this. And what exactly is "sin"? Sin is defined as any desire that runs counter to connection - counter to the correction of the shattering.

You simply need to understand that the system is very straightforward. We exist within a system that has shattered. "Shattered" means that there is "me," "you," "him," and others, and each of us has our own ego. Through the ego, I might want to exploit others in some way - though that isn't the main issue; those are just ordinary matters - that is simply how I wish to use others.

The true ego - the one we must confront and work against - arises when I want to be connected, truly connected with others, yet I encounter resistance. I feel a resistance - a genuine reluctance - to be in connection. People who merely maintain various relationships with one another in this world are not considered "egoists" in this sense, because they are not attempting to connect into a single system.

Rather, the ego reveals itself only when a person sets out to connect and seeks to correct the shattering - only when they possess an inclination toward this. "Correcting the shattering" means connecting in order to reveal the Creator.

I might not feel like connecting or revealing the Creator, but if I make the effort to do so, the result is the revelation of evil—or the force of the shattering; that is what I discover. And that is what is called "the ego." For an ordinary person, unless they work on it, there is no ego.

You need to discover the force of brokenness that existed among everyone - that is what you uncover - and then you set out to correct that force of brokenness, transforming it into a force of connection. What you discover at this stage is called "recognition of evil." From this recognition of evil comes prayer and group work; then comes the good - you arrive at the correction. This entire process is intended only for those who strive to connect in order to rectify the brokenness and reveal the Creator; in doing so, they bring Him contentment. Michael Laitman

We are reading Letter 34

Here is an excerpt -

The meaning of Rosh Hashanah [New Year’s Eve] is a new beginning, when a person begins to build a new structure. It is as our sages said, “One should always consider oneself half sinful, half righteous. If he performs a single Mitzva [good deed/commandment], happy is he, for he has sentenced himself and the whole world to the side of merit. If he commits one transgression, woe unto him for he has sentenced himself and the whole world to the side of fault.”

We should understand what it means that one should always consider oneself fifty-fifty. 1) If he performs one Mitzva and sentences to the side of merit, how can he be said to be fifty-fifty again? After all, he has already sentenced and already has a majority of merits. Conversely, if he committed one transgression, how can it later be said that he is fifty-fifty? 2) How can it be said that he is fifty-fifty when one knows about himself that he is full of sins and transgression? At the same time, one is compelled to confess, “We are guilty, we have betrayed,” and “For the sin.”

The thing is that our sages are letting us understand the order of the work. There is no issue of a court and judgment above, here. Only when one comes before the court above are his transgressions and merits sentenced.

Rather, here our sages are teaching us that one should always begin the work and choose the good and loathe the bad. This is so because choice is pertinent precisely in something that is fifty-fifty, for then he has the power to choose. But when one of the sides already has the majority, he can no longer decide because man follows the majority and then it is irrelevant to speak of choice.

This brings up the question, “How can he deceive himself and say that he is fifty-fifty when in fact he knows that he is full of sins?” However, we should know that the matter of choice that one is given is permanent and always existing, as in, “He who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than him.” According to this rule, if one has many sins, then he has a small inclination, which is not greater than the good inclination, but is precisely fifty-fifty, so he will be able to decide.

And since the transgressions come through the evil inclination and the Mitzvot [good deeds/commandments] come through the good inclination, as RASHI interpreted, “You have created righteous through the good inclination; You have created wicked through the evil inclination,” hence our sages said, “One should always consider oneself half sinful half righteous.” In other words, regarding the choice, it is always, and if the transgressions are from ... then the evil inclination diminishes. Thus, he is fifty-fifty.

Similarly, if he performs a single Mitzva and has already sentenced to the side of merit, he is promptly given great evil inclination, as it is written, “He who is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater.” Thus, now he has fifty-fifty, so he will be able to sentence to the side of merit.

Therefore, on Rosh Hashanah, one begins one’s work anew. Additionally, the days of the ten penitential days are called “days of forgiving and atonement of sins,” so a man will have every opportunity to join in the work of the Creator once more, even though he’s been so remote from the work.

Rav explains this part -

Why must we always view ourselves as being exactly balanced - half and half? Because then, every action becomes fateful; it determines which way I lean - whether I am deemed righteous or guilty. Wouldn't it be better to feel entirely guilty? The answer is no, because then you would not belong to the realm of holiness - and where, then, would you draw your strength? Conversely, if you belonged entirely to the realm of holiness, you would have no "will to receive," so how could you seek to make corrections? We always advance along the "middle line"; therefore, we must perceive ourselves as determining our own destiny at every single moment. That is one point.

A second point concerns the timeline: regarding everything that has happened up to this moment - it is all "there is none else but Him," the work of the One who is good and does good. However, the step forward - what I must do now - is up to me. Thus, the past is the Creator's doing, while the future is mine - this, too, reflects the middle line. In various other contexts as well, we must view ourselves as always standing in the middle - in a state of perfect balance. There is a great deal of material on this subject.

It is a very worthwhile perspective. While the Selichot (penitential prayers) seem to focus on regretting the past and making promises for the future - suggesting a state other than this "fifty-fifty" balance - the reality is different. I see how flawed I am and how much I need to correct myself, yet I recognize that this is the state I am currently receiving from the Creator; I did not create this situation, nor did I create the evil inclination. Therefore, even though I am entirely flawed, I am not the one who caused it. Rather, a person must always feel that the next step depends on him, while everything that has happened to him thus far is entirely the work of the Creator. In this way, he senses his partnership with the Creator - seeing that the Creator supports him by revealing the evil and now supports him in revealing the good aspect.

It turns out that the Creator is the one who causes the damage, while the person is the one who performs the repair. Let us say it is so for now; later, it will be revealed that the Creator performs the act of repair as well. Michael Laitman