We restart our year and the cycle of krias haTorah with the reading of Parshas Bereishis. The word bereishis itself alludes to the incredible opportunity available to us when we gain a fresh start and new beginning.
The Tikoni Zohar lists many different remazim alluded to in this one word. Among them, it says that bereishis can be read as bais reishis, two beginnings.
Every person’s life has a natural start, when they enter this world and are born. However, one can recreate himself throughout his life. If a person does aveiros, and wishes to start over, he can do teshuva and begin again with a clean slate.
The pasuk tells us asa ha’Elokim es ha’adam yashar, Hashem made every person yashar, with integrity. However, the Shela Hakadosh explains, a person becomes corrupted by performing various aveiros. Teshuva is the process whereby he returns to his natural state, to the state of perfection in which he entered this world.
This process is hinted at in the seder hatekios, the order of the sounds made by the shofar. We begin with a tekia, a pure, simple sound, representing one’s state at birth. The shevarim, a groaning sound, followed by a teruah, a sound of wailing, represent the teshuva, the regret that follows his aveiros one might transgress. Finally, we conclude with another tekia. After doing teshuva, he returns to his original state of yashar, free of sin, the way he was created.
A person should never give up hope and decide that he has gone too far to redeem himself, because we can always access this tremendous power and begin again. There is no better time than at the beginning of the year. It is a time of hischadshus, a time of renewal, and we can all become rejuvenated and start our avodas Hashem anew.
The Chofetz Chaim would relate a parable about a simple farmer who could not find room in his loft to store all his grain. A charlatan observed his dilemma and offered some advice for a fee of ten ruble. The farmer was desperate and paid the requested sum, and in exchange he was handed a magnifying glass. “Look at the doorway through this glass,” his newfound ‘friend’ instructed him. “You will now see that it is big enough to bring in your entire load.” The farmer was thrilled, but after a few moments, he came chasing after him with a complaint. “After I saw how big the doorway became,” he said, “I looked at the grain, and it, too, now seems to be a tremendous load. It will never fit inside.” The swindler laughed and turned the glass the other way. “All you have to do, “he explained, “is to look at the wagon load with the small end. You will see how small it is, and you will realize that it can fit inside.” The yetzer hara employs similar tactics, explains the Chofetz Chaim. First, he convinces us to an aveira by downplaying its severity. “Everyone does it!” “It’s only a minhag!” “I can always do teshuva afterwards!”
Let’s say we lose the battle and succumb to his arguments. He then returns and encourages us to view this event from the opposite angle. “How can you do teshuva,” he asks. “You did something so terrible. You are doomed, and so you might as well just repeat it.”
