Jewish Sexuality dot Com

The Real Hero PDF Print E-mail
Written by Michael   
Saturday, 25 August 2007

 "In the place where the baale t'shuva stand, even the completely righteous cannot stand" (Berachot, 34b).

This is because the baal t'shuva has to exert a far greater effort to overcome his yetzer and transform it into a passionate lust for G-d.

"T'shuva elevates a person above all of the baseness of the world. Notwithstanding, it does not alienate the person from the world. Rather, the baal t'shuva elevates life and the world with him" (Orot HaT'shuva, 12:1).

Sometimes, people have a misunderstanding of t'shuva. They think that t'shuva comes to separate a person from the world.

Image
It's not about being alone on the hill
During the early stages of t'shuva, a person should certainly avoid situations which are antithetical to his newfound goals, in order to rebuild his life on purer foundations, but a baal t'shuva is not a recluse. He should not cut himself off from the world. The opposite. By participating in the life around him, he elevates, not only himself, but also the world. After returning to G-d, he must then return to the world. G-d created the heavens for the angels. Our lives are to be lived down on earth. When the powerful life-force which went into sin is redirected toward good, life is uplifted. A baal t'shuva who returns to a former situation in which he sinned, and now conducts himself in a righteous, holy manner, affects a great tikun. As the Rambam explains: "For instance, if a man had sinful relations with a woman, and after a time was alone with her, his passion for her persisting, and his physical powers unabated, while he continued to live in the same district where he had sinned, and yet he refrains and does not transgress, he is a baal t'shuva" (Laws of T'shuva, 2:1).

"The inner forces which led him to sin are transformed. The powerful desire which smashed all borders and brought the person to sin, it itself becomes a great, exalted life-force which acts to bring goodness and blessing to all existence" (Orot HaT'shuva, 12:1)

It is time to take t'shuva out of the closet. The true champions of life are not the basketball players, nor the Hollywood stars. The real heroes are the masters of t'shuva. They are the Supermen who battle the forces of darkness in order to fill the world with goodness and blessing. Teenagers! Tear down your wall posters of wrestlers and rock stars! The people to be admired are the masters of t'shuva! You can be one too!
Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 August 2007 )
 
< Prev
[ Back ]