Parashat Ki Tavo
„When it arises in a person's heart to return in complete repentance, and to repair all his deeds and feelings, even in thought alone, let his heart not fall within him from being terrified by the multitude of iniquities.”From Orot HaTeshuvah 8:16
In this week's parashah it is written: "But the Lord has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day." And the address here is to the generation born in the wilderness — for whom the pillar of fire and cloud, the manna and the quail, and alongside them also the never-ending walking in the wilderness, are the life into which they were born. The Holy One, blessed be He, places all of reality before our eyes, but in the end the decision whether to make the effort is ours. Repentance is the work of the person, and his alone. And when we decide to enter the journey of repair, we enter a long and grueling path, but one that is worthwhile and important for our shaping and for the shaping of all reality.
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.