By Rabbi Shmuel Choueka
When we think of teshubah (repentance), we usually recall the sins that we’ve committed or the misvot that we’ve neglected to perform. Indeed, that is the basic level of repentance, to wipe out the sins from our records. However, there is another concept that we should also focus on, especially during these days of teshubah.
There was a great Rabbi, Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin, known as the Netziv, who once invited his family and friends to a festive meal. He explained that he had just finished composing a very complex sefer, and wanted to celebrate. At the meal, he told his guests that when he was a young boy, he was a playful child, not interested in studying.
One day, he heard his father tell his mother, "It looks like our son is not cut out to be a Torah scholar. Maybe we should teach him a profession so that he could hopefully be successful in his trade." The young boy burst into his parents' room and cried out, "Please give me one more chance and I'll apply myself to my studies!" His parents gave him another chance to prove himself, and the rest was history.
The Netziv, zt”l
The Rabbi then concluded his speech by saying, "Imagine if I had become a tailor, a pious Jew who learns every day for a while, and after 120 years went to the Heavenly court. I would think that my judgment would be based on my life as a tailor, but the Heavenly court would show me this book that I have just completed, and would ask me, 'Where is this work that you could have written?'
Of course, I would be shocked and speechless because I would never have dreamed that I was capable of writing such a sefer. But we see now that I was given the ability to write such a book. That is why I am celebrating today - because I will be able to say that, at least in this matter, I did what I was capable of doing and fulfilled my potential."
We see from here that when we do teshubah, it's not enough to just consider our transgressions. We should also ask ourselves, "Are we living up to our potential?" Hashem has given us so much talent and capability, but we sometimes neglect to utilize it and maximize it. We need to recognize our skills and exert ourselves a little more in the service of Hashem. In these days of teshubah, let us re-examine our lives, our gifts and our proficiencies, our accomplishments and our goals, and let us see where we can make a difference.
Reprinted from the Yom Kippur 5785 email of the Jersey Shore Torah Bulletin
