The Root of Everything
Rebbe Mendele of Vitebsk, in his sefer Pri HaAretz (Parashas Shofrim), teaches us, “The root of everything is to know that a person cannot, with his own capabilities, do any action of mitzvos and good deeds and to cleave to Hashem—only through the hands of the Blessed One, Creator of fire, can the love and fear of Hashem be on a person’s face.” Thus, it is only through the miracles that Hashem performs for us that we are able to come to close to Him and attain ahavah and yirah.
A person must say, “What I already have is a miracle, and so I ask for further miracles to merit that I to do teshuvah.” This is the prayer of teshuvah. When a person davens לתורתך אבינו השיבנו, he is davening for a miracle. Indeed, in this area, HaKadosh Baruch Hu wants us to ask for a miracle. One of the things He wants us to understand is how much we need this miracle. Ask for it, and you will be given it. When we look closer, we see that this berachah of השיבנו is unique in that we end with בתשובה הרוצה, He who desires teshuvah. Hashem doesn’t merely return us to Him. He wants us! He is waiting for us to recognize that we need His miracle.
And so, if a person recognizes that he needs this miracle, he is in a very good position. Now he need only daven for this miracle and believe that the miracle will come. Know that the more you will realize that you can’t go it alone, the closer you are to the truth; for indeed, we cannot do it on our own. We could never have done it alone, but in our generation, it is more obvious than ever! And this clarity that we can’t succeed on our own will bring a person much closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
