The Path to True Teshuvah
Among Chabad chassidim, it is customary during the month of Elul to study the book Derech Chaim, authored by the Mitteler Rebbe, the second Rebbe of Chabad. This is a book that awakens one to teshuvah (returning to Hashem), in which the con-cept of true teshuvah is explained in detail, along with how to act so that teshuvah impacts one's life throughout the year.
During the month of Elul and the Days of Awe, every Jew has thoughts of repent-ance and sincerely wishes to improve their ways. However, with time, very often the faults will return as if nothing happened. Why isn't there a more lasting affect?
The Mitteler Rebbe explains that the teshuvah treated only the external manifes-tations of the "illness" and not its essence and root. Most of one's energy was inves-ted in the negative phenomena themselves, but very little was directed toward treating their cause and inner source.
Prikat Ol
This is compared to a ruined and broken house, where shady characters find shelter and leave all kinds of garbage. The owner may come from time to time to chase out the uninvited guests and clean the accumu-lated trash, but immediately the next day the troublemakers return. As long as the house remains open and broken to every wind, it will attract every fly and lowlife. Only after the owner closes all the open-ings and locks the gates will he no longer need to remove trash, because it will no longer enter at all.
Similarly, in the soul, there are harmful forces and "garbage" that penetrate it — these are our negative thoughts, speech, and deeds for which we are called to do teshuvah. But the main cause that makes the soul like a ruin open to every wind, is "prikat ol" (throwing off the yoke of Heaven) and lightheartedness. When there is no "kabbalat ol" (acceptance of the yoke of Heaven), no guarding of all that enters and exits the gates of the soul — what wonder that all harmful influences pene-trate inside.
First and Foremost
True teshuvah is first and foremost the removal of prikat ol. And when speaking of prikat ol, it is not necessarily total re-moval of the yoke of Heaven. Prikat ol can be found even in a Torah-observant Jew who prays three times a day, sets fixed times for Torah study, and is meticulous in mitzvot — and yet has no kabbalat ol. He looks where he should not, listens to im-proper things, all for one reason — prikat ol and lightheartedness. He does not feel the yoke; he lacks the sense that every matter must be scrutinized and examined.
Kabbalat ol means placing gates at the entrances of the soul. Not everything that wants enters and exits freely. There are permitted and forbidden things. The soul is not abandoned property. Every matter must stand the test of the mind and pass through the supervision of the heart. Only if it is good and proper will it enter inside.
The first condition for true teshuvah is acceptance of the yoke of Heaven. A Jew who carries the yoke, always feels the sovereignty of G-d. He does not allow lightheartedness to take control over him. After all, he has a Master; he is G-d's servant! Therefore he controls all his actions and examines every word and thought. This is true teshuvah, which uproots the root of evil, and only after-wards can one deal with correcting the past.
Moshiach Now
Everyone Must Do Teshuvah
One of the unique powers of a person is the ability to do teshuvah — to make a leap that is incomparably higher than the framework he has been living in until now. No matter how good and admirable his life has been up to this point, he always possesses the ability to rise to a level so much higher that, in comparison, his previous state is con-sidered a "chet" (sin)—a deficiency, something that fell short.
Therefore, according to the teachings of Chassidus, everyone must do teshuvah. It is through this return and spiritual ascent that we bring about the Redemption.
