Return, not Repent

If the little 4-year old in the photo above was your son, would you be angry at him? No? But he just broke your flower pot! No, you wouldn't yell at him because his soul is worth a lot more than a flower pot and you wouldn't want to damage it, Heaven forbid, by screaming at him. Besides, he's so scrumptiously cute and you love him...

Hashem loves each one of us a zillion more times than we love our children. Hashem too is not angry when we ruin things. Like a loving parent and tremendously more so, He wants us to be happy. But, He is angry when people feel they are not accountable, do bad, then altogether ignore and avoid Hashem. That's not a recipe for success.

Hashem wants us to return to him - returning is a pleasure. Hashem doesn't want us sad and tormenting ourselves, and He's not enamored by the self-induced suffering and breast-beating penitence that many folks think is teshuva. We'll learn in today's lesson that teshuva is not repenting, but returning - returning to Hashem with all our hearts.

Don't miss today's emuna lesson and live broadcast from Jerusalem entitled "Return, not Repent", which will take place, G-d willing, on the ground-floor main sanctuary of the Chut Shel Chessed Yeshiva on 13 Shmuel Hanavi Street in Jerusalem at 7 PM Israel time; the shiur is open to the public - both men and women are invited. You can see today's lesson here - the broadcast, as well as our lessons posted from now on - are Mac and iPod compatible. If you tune in too early to the live broadcast link, you'll be sent to the main page of the Breslev Israel website, so try to tune in on time.  If you are not able to view today's broadcast live, then G-d willing, you'll be able to see the video tape of it later this coming week on Lazer Beams.