Repentence

How can we ever "quiet" our God-given conscience, if we do sincerely strive for improvement, but can never achieve moral & spiritual perfection?! Sounds frustrating, until Rav Kook teaches us in Orot HaTeshuva that the strive for perfection is (!) as perfect as man can be, and that's all God asks. Although it's hard to understand how we can actually erase mistakes that were already done, the sources teach that even when our sages say that in particular cases, Teshuva doesn't help, they're just saying so as part of the test, where if despite that, if one doesn't "despair" & does Teshuva, it's a sign that he's really sincere, his thought of improvement has no ulterior motives & is accepted! It's a lot easier & more natural than we think.

This last Sedra of the year, Nitzavim, seems perfect as a precursor to Rosh Hashana. The sedra reiterates the bond & covenant we have with the Eternal.

There are those who wonder how we can ask God to return us in Teshuva (repentance). After all, Teshuva is our job. I heard once from Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, that every Teshuva contains an aspect of man and an aspect of the Blessed Creator, Who sends man an awakening to repentance.

Right now, faced with the prospect of having to turn my life and my emotions upside down, I go into a panic that results in total spiritual paralysis. Fear of Elul.

Why will this special Messianic generation, of all generations, be in such a sorry spiritual and material state? Logically when Israel improves its ways, they will be worthy of Redemption – so why will it actually be a period of spiritual crisis and other troubles?

What "national t'shuva" is, how it differs from individual t'shuva, and why it takes precedence in this generation.

one of the elderly Russian women asked Rav Kook's mother, "Tell me, please: We're on our way to the Holy Land to meet our god, but why would you Jews be going there? Mrs. Kook answered without hesitation: "You're going to visit a dead god, but we're going to meet the living G-d."

A short story and explanation of the power of Teshuva to transform sins into merits