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Thought for the Day: תשובה Is Making New Mistakes

For all that Rosh HaShanah is and represents, the blast of the shofar is its spokesman.  Women with small children who don't have the luxury to daven, those small children who can't even talk/let alone daven, and the sick and elderly who are exempt from davening all want to hear the shofar blast; and we accommodate all of them.  Times, places, and messengers are scheduled, assigned, publicized, and eagerly anticipated.

And why not?  After all, the shofar blast represents our acceptance of the Torah at Mt. Sinai.  That sound that pierces to the core of our soul harkens back to that day of awe when all of Creation stopped to wait for Klal Yisrael to answer נעשה ונשמע/We will do whatever it takes to have an eternal bond with our Creator and we will make deepening that bond our only priority!  It celebrates the marriage, as Chazal describe it, between the Creator and His beloved Klal Yisrael.  Wow!

There is also the daily shofar blasts the entire month of Elul leading up to Rosh HaShanah.  And what, you might ask, do those represent?  I'll tell you: Moshe Rabbeinu ascended the mountain on rosh chodesh Elul to receive the second set up לוחות/tablets to replace the first set that we had caused to be smashed because of our despicable behavior regarding the Golden Calf.  And how did that happen?  We all know: the first time we had made a mistake in keeping track of when Moshe Rabbeinu should return; and that led to confusion and that led to doubts and that led to... well, you know.  So we blow the shofar the entire month of Elul to not make that mistake again.  Yes, indeed, a whole month of shofar blasts to remind us not to blow it again.  Wow?

Yes, wow!  HaShem is our Creator; we were not created to be perfect, we were rather created to strive for perfection.  Put another way, our job is to continually make new mistakes.  Making safeguards against repeating previous errors is not just smart, it is actually what we committed to at Har Sinai: נעשה ונשמע/We will do whatever it takes to have an eternal bond with our Creator and we will make deepening that bond our only priority!

From this example, I learned three principles in avoiding repeating mistakes; all of which I implemented in my efforts to celebrate Yom Kippur in the most perfect manner I could this year.
  1. Safeguards have to be broader than just the mistake itself.  They didn't just forbid making statues out of gold, they put of a fence to stay far away from even getting close to wanting to worship a statue.  I didn't just make plans how to eat/drink within halacha, I minimized the physical exertions I would need to make to stay far away from needing any leniencies.
  2. Safeguards have to start long before the event.  They didn't just blow shofar on the morning of Moshe Rabbeinu's return, the sounded the shofar all month.  I started my preparation long before Yom Kippur; I worked on adding nutritional calories to my diet for weeks ahead of time, and I took the train instead of my bike the last few days before the fast.
  3. Safeguards need to be public.  Of course there is embarrassment at having fallen, but the shofar blast was a very public and noble reminder to the entire nation that we were anticipating success.  I told many of my friends what I was doing for Yom Kippur; not a one of them would have let me stand or walk more than I needed.  Before mincha, in fact, that rabbi reminded me that if I needed to lie down, then I was exempt from davening; moreover, I would be required to lie down rather than daven if that's what was need to keep the fast.
Wishing everyone a year of making only brand new mistakes!
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