The expression in the haftorah for Shabbat Shuva, "Return…until (עד) God your God" [1](rather than 'to (אל) God your God' emphasizes that teshuvah (repentance) has a precise and directed destination that one must reach and in which one must 'position oneself'. The saying of our Sages, "In the place where ba'alei teshuvah (penitents) stand, even completely righteous individuals cannot stand,"[2] also emphasizes that there is a "place" to which one must arrive through teshuvah.[3]
"Place" (מקום) is also a name of God ("He is the place of the world, and the world is not His place"),[4] so the expression "the place where ba'alei teshuvah stand" emphasizes the great inclusion of the ba'al teshuvah in the place of God – a ba'al teshuvah merits "to be drawn into the body of the King"[5] even more than the tzaddik (righteous person). Specifically, the concept of "place" alludes to the sefirah of binah (understanding). While chochmah (wisdom) is 'nothingness' without dimensions – "Wisdom comes from nothingness" – of binah it is said, "Where is the place of binah?"[6] Binah gives dimensional place (length, width, and depth) to the flash of chochmah. In Kabbalistic terms, teshuvah belongs to the power of binah in the soul (particularly the teshuvah of Elul, which equals binah in gematria).[7]
Basic teshuvah ("lower teshuvah"), the rectification of one's actions, speech, and even thoughts, belongs to the sefirah of malchut (kingdom) in the soul, the root of the external garments of the soul. However, in Iggeret HaTeshuvah in Tanya, it is explained that this basic teshuvah is only a necessary introduction to the main teshuvah ("higher teshuvah") – an inner change in the soul and seeking God from the depths of the heart – and this teshuvah depends on the inner power of binah, "and his heart will understand, and return".[8]
When the sages said, "In the place where ba'alei teshuvah stand, even completely righteous individuals cannot stand," they specifically meant those who have achieved "higher teshuvah": one who has only merited simple and basic teshuvah in rectifying his actions is inferior to the tzaddik whose actions have always been rectified. Only "higher teshuvah," which effects an inner psychological change in a person, gives him an advantage over the tzaddik who has not merited such inner change. This resolves the debate whether a tzaddik is preferable to a ba'al teshuvah or vice versa – a tzaddik is preferable to one who has achieved lower teshuvah but is inferior to one who has achieved higher teshuvah.
Through examining the chasidic interpretations of the saying "In the place where ba'alei teshuvah stand, even completely righteous individuals cannot stand," we will deepen our understanding of the goal of "higher teshuvah".
Higher Teshuvah
In the Tanya,[9] the superiority of ba'alei teshuvah is explained by their soul's thirst and longing for holiness, which is only experienced by one who is "in a dry and weary land without water,"[10] while the tzaddikim who constantly dwell in the realm of holiness do not have such thirst. When a person merits such thirst, even his intentional sins are transformed into merits, as they become the source of his immense drive to draw close to God. Specifically, Iggeret HaTeshuvah[11] explains that the advantage of one who achieves higher teshuvah is in the abundance of his cleaving to God, both in quality (in the conscious experience of cleaving) and in quantity (in increased Torah study and good deeds beyond his norm, for where the cord of connection to God was severed, a "double and redoubled knot" is needed) – both from below to above and from above to below: Cleaving in prayer and contemplation is the ascent of the soul to God from below to above, and "the cleaving of spirit to spirit" in Torah study (as well as cleaving to God's ways through acts of kindness) is from above to below, as God's Torah and divine attribute of kindness are revealed within the person's reality.
These three aspects are teshuvah at all levels of the soul: The intense thirst for God (and the consequent fulfillment of mitzvot) belongs to the innate level of the soul (the powers of netzach-hod-yesod – victory-acknowledgment-foundation). This is a natural drive to escape from evil and death and draw close to good and life. Cleaving in prayer is the "service of the heart"[12] belonging to the emotional realm of the soul (the powers of chesed-gevurah-tiferet– lovingkindness-might-beauty). Cleaving in Torah study and contemplation is cleaving in the intellectual realm of the soul (the powers of chochmah-binah-da'at – wisdom-understanding-knowledge).
The Chariot of Teshuvah
The Tanya explained the very essence of "higher teshuvah" in binah, but for this teshuvah to be expressed in the world, a 'chariot' of diverse interpretations is required for the "place" to which teshuvah reaches. Let us contemplate four interpretations in Chasidut – corresponding to the powers of the chariot: chesed, gevurah, tiferet, malchut – with each interpretation distinguishing the levels of intellect-emotion-instinct:
Chesed: The Baal Shem Tov explains[13] that the advantage of the baal teshuvah over the tzaddik is in his enthusiasm in serving God. One who has tasted the flavor of sin's excitement and the warmth of desire – the (fallen) attributes of chesed and love – can adopt this warmth and enthusiasm in God's service (not as a "transformation" of the negative trait, but through recognizing the experience of warmth in general). The Baal Shem Tov further explains that a baal teshuvah serves God with enthusiasm due to a hidden fear that if his enthusiasm wanes – and he behaves like a regular tzaddik in mitzvot – he might fall back into sin. The baal teshuvah's enthusiasm also stems from his experience of renewal in divine service – when this sense of novelty dissipates, the baal teshuvah becomes a 'regular religious person'.
The fear of falling due to habit and lack of enthusiasm belongs to the instinctive level of the soul, to the legs that fear falling (to "her feet descend to death"[14]). The experience of enthusiasm itself belongs to the emotional realm, to the warm feeling of the heart. Enthusiasm from novelty belongs to the intellectual realm, as the mind's function is innovation and the warmth of the mind depends on renewal[15].
Gevurah: The sages state[16] that complete teshuvah is when a person encounters the same sin opportunity – at the same time, with the same woman, and in the same place – and refrains. Accordingly, teshuvah is achieved when a person merits the strength of gevurah to conquer his inclination even in a place of great difficulty. Simply put, due to the problem of a person bringing himself to temptation, some interpret that only if God arranges a situation similar to his sin can one achieve complete teshuvah by refraining. Indeed, how can it be that a person is prevented from initiating complete teshuvah? Therefore, Chasidut interprets that a baal teshuvah is permitted to enter a place where a complete tzaddik is forbidden – he is allowed to return to the place of sin to refrain from it and despise it.
The book "Rabbi Yeibi"[17] even relates that the Baal Shem Tov ascended to the heavenly academy where they questioned how complete teshuvah is possible, since at the time of sin the sinner came with audacity and frivolity, while now he returns to the place with humility and shame, which is not a similar situation. Therefore, they expounded there that "one who transgressed and repeated" – one who sinned and wants to recreate the situation of sin in order to refrain from it and despise it – "it becomes like a permissible act for him"[18] and he is allowed to recreate the audacity and frivolity that preceded the sin (and this requires further elaboration)!
When God arranges a situation of sin for a person, this is teshuvah at the instinctive level of the soul – refraining within the natural course of life. Intentionally entering the place of sin with an attitude of disgust belongs to the emotional realm of the soul. A fundamental change in feeling allows a person to return to the place of sin without fear.[19] The ability to fully recreate the state of sin and refrain from it belongs to the intellectual realm. This is stable teshuvah in the mind.
Tiferet: The Rambam ruled[20] that teshuvah is achieved when "He Who knows hidden things will testify that this person will never return to this sin." How is it possible for a person to reach a state where he is certain that he will not sin? After all, God does not negate a person's free will, and even for a lifelong tzaddik it is said, "Do not trust yourself until the day you die"[21]! Indeed, when a person is aware that from his own perspective he will certainly fall into sin, as he did in the past, he feels that "God supports all who fall"[22] – that only God's compassion supports and saves him from falling[23] (compassion is the inner dimension of tiferet[24]). For one who trusts in God's compassion, He Who knows hidden things testifies that in His mercy He will protect him from falling.
At the instinctive level, a person feels his feet tending to fall and God surrounding and guarding him. At the emotional level, a person feels compassion flowing within him, feeling that God in His mercy grants him feelings of love and awe in his service. When a person unites with the consciousness of compassion to the point of feeling that every movement and breath is a miracle occurring through God's compassion, he also unites intellectually with God's compassion, and all his actions become completely divine.
Malchut: It is explicit that while the tzaddik is confident in his rectified actions in this incarnation, the baal teshuvah rectifies all his incarnations through his teshuvah. When a baal teshuvah "prays for his fellow" – arousing mercy for the community, especially for Jewish transgressors – "he is answered first"[25] and rectifies his incarnations from their beginning.[26] Concern for the community (which belongs to malchut, which also contains the secret of reincarnation, especially the reincarnation of the Mashiach's soul and its sparks) is an entry into the "place" of Jewish transgressors, where a tzaddik does not stand (and sometimes is even forbidden to stand).
At the instinctive level, the baal teshuvah assists the community materially (to bring them closer at a basic level). At the emotional level, he prays for the community from the depths of his heart, and at the intellectual level, he disseminates the secrets of the inner dimensions of Torah to bring them closer to God.
| Sefirah | Intellectual (מושכל) | Emotional (מורגש) | Instinctive (מוטבע) |
| Chesed | Innovation | Experience of innovation | Fear of routine |
| Gevurah | Trial in boldness | Initiated trial with disgust | Spontaneous trial |
| Tiferet | Unification with God's mercy | Feeling God's mercy | Protection through mercy |
| Malchut | Dissemination of Torah's inner dimensions | Prayer for the community | Material assistance to the community |
[1] Hosea 14:2. It is known that every concept receives its primary meaning from the first context in which it is mentioned in the Torah – "everything follows the opening" – and behold, the word "until" and the root "return" appear together for the first time in the Torah: "Until you return to the ground… for you are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19).
[2] Berachot 34b.
[3] A hint to the connection between place and the baal teshuvah: The place of the baal teshuvah = 1001, 13 times mazal = 11 times 91 = fear of Heaven. This number appears in the Arizal's unification of remembrance (the name Elohim filled with yuds in its back) and he explains that this is the secret of butzina d'kardinuta (which is mocha stima'ah, the root of the 13 attributes of mercy, as it is before the contraction). The initials of "place of the baal teshuvah" equal "good" (17) times God’s Name Havayah (26) (and consequently the rest is divided by 13 – half of the verse "Hear, O Israel").
[4] Breishit Rabbah 68:9 and in many places.
[5] Zohar I, 217b.
[6] Job 28:12.
[7] Bnei Yissaschar, Maamarei Chodesh Elul 1:7.
[8] Isaiah 6:10.
[9] Chapter 7.
[10] Psalms 63:2.
[11] Chapter 9.
[12] Based on Taanit 2a.
[13] Baal Shem Tov on the Torah, Parshat Nitzavim, section 6.
[14] Proverbs 5:5.
[15] See Likutei Amarim 21.
[16] Yoma 86b.
[17] Rabbi Yeibi on Psalms 36:3 (and see also Rabbi Yeibi on the Torah, end of Parashat Balak).
[18] Based on Yoma 86b (and in many places).
[19] The Maggid of Mezritch explained (from Likkutei Amarim 116) that while the tzaddik says "I desire pork, but what can I do? My Father in Heaven has decreed upon me [not to eat it]" (Torat Kohanim, Kedoshim 9), the baal teshuvah should say "I have no desire for pork." Therefore, the tzaddik fears temptation, while a true baal teshuvah trusts in his feeling that he has "no desire" for sin and does not fear temptation.
[20] Laws of Repentance 2:2.
[21] Avot 2:4.
[22] Psalms 145:14.
[23] See Rabbi Ginsburgh’s book, Lev Lada'at, essay "A Chapter in Divine Service."
[24] See Rabbi Ginsburgh’s Shiurim B'Sod Hashem, vol. 3, ch. 9, and in many places.
[25] Bava Kamma 92a.
[26] The rectification of reincarnation is related to the secret of "may Your mercies be rolled," and it is enough for the understanding.
