Dear Chevre (Friends):
“Rabbi Abahu said: in the place where the penitent stands, the perfectly righteous may not stand.” (bShabbat 34b) What is the basis for this beautiful, but counterintuitive, Talmudic teaching? According to one explanation, the righteous have it easier. They aren’t subjected to the usual vices, such as greed, envy, lust, and the like. But the sinner, whose moral constitution is weaker or who may have been subjected to greater temptations, must work harder to overcome them. The penitent has had the opportunity to fulfill all the Mitzvot that the righteous have fulfilled, plus one more—the Mitzvah of Teshuvah.
I would go a step further. Not only is repentance meritorious, but sin itself can become meritorious. “Reish Laqish said: great is repentance, for because of it, even willful transgressions turn into merits.” (bYoma 86b) (Reish Laqish was a living example of his own teaching. He started out as a Roman gladiator, robber, and murderer, but converted to Judaism and become one of the great Rabbis of the Talmud.) How can sin ever be redemptive? The businesswoman who serves her time for embezzlement and devotes the rest of her life to philanthropy, the teenager, in remorse for his role in public bullying and hazing, who decides to become a high school guidance counselor as an adult—these are examples of good that can stem from evil. There is no doubt in my mind—and my closed friends and loved ones can attest to it—that I would not be a Rabbi today if not for the waywardness of my past.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that we should go out and indulge in transgression. The teaching is not: “the righteous may not stand with the sinner.” The teaching is: “the righteous may not stand with the penitent.” After all, we all sin, so the teaching is aimed at all of us. It prompts us to look for ways—no matter what we have done, no matter how dark our past—to make our misdeeds count for good.
G’mar chatimah tovah, may you be sealed for a year of repentance and meritorious deeds,
Rabbi Brian
rabbi.brian.besser@gmail.com
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