Repentance: Teshuvah

The Jewish practice of repentance involves not merely turning away from sin, but turning towards the dark parts of ourselves . . . According to the great Hasidic master Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira, teshuva is also a kind of creativity. More than a simple return to what has been, it is a process of remaking ourselves anew. But how?

. . . In the words of the psychologist David Richo, 'Hidden in everything negative is something alive and beautiful that wants to belong to us.' Immense power and potential dwell in the dark unresolved places in our soul. For it is only when we allow ourselves to come face to face with these less desirable parts of ourselves that we can understand and unlock the creative vitality contained within them. In this way we emulate the creative process of the Divine.

In opting for safety we miss the wild, fertile place of all possibility, our innate creativity. And without this connection, teshuvah becomes impossible.

A beautiful Midrash about the creation of the world conveys an argument between a certain philosopher and Rabban Gamliel, the leading rabbinic authority of his time. Reflecting on the first verse of the Torah, the philosopher remarks, 'Your God is indeed a great artist, but surely God found on hand suitable materials which were of help in creating!' Intrigued, Rabbi Gamliel asks, 'What are these materials?' The philosopher replies, 'chaos, void, darkness, water, wind and the depths' . . .

The ways in which we miss the mark arise from those dark and unknown corners of ourselves, those places of chaos and void.

In the high Holiday season of new beginnings, teshuvah beckons us to return to our depths so that we may encounter these places of primordial chaos within.

Rabbi Adina Allen in My Jewish Learning 14/09/2022