I am not known for being subtle. That also means that subtle messages often pass me by, way under my radar. When I hear the same message -- nearly word for word -- from two different shiurim one right after the other, even I sometimes notice.
There is a mitzvah to do תשובה. That means to confess your past bad deeds, regret them, abandon them, and accept with full sincerity to never repeat them. What would you say is the main part of that? I would think that abandoning one's bad ways, regretting them, and accepting never to do them again. After all, if we don't change, have we done תשובה? If I don't regret the sins, have I really changed? Confession? Pshaw... there is a religion that has little booths for confession. They are sort of like telephone booths, but more dark and cramped, and only for extremely local calls; through a little opening to an adjoining booth. You tell the priest, whom you can't see and you hope he doesn't recognize your voice, all the bad things you have done since your last confession, he tells you to play with some beads, praise their god and his mommy, and then you are good to go.
Yet, the main mitzvah of תשובה seems to be the confession. What can just saying words do? Here's two examples. If a man doesn't want to divorce his wife, then we beat him up until he says the words that he wants to. Does he really want to if he is just saying it to stop the beating? Yes; absolutely. The Rambam explains that his yetzer hara is not allowing him to say that he wants to do what the beis din has ordered, so we help him by weakening his yetzer hara with a severe beating until it relinquishes enough control for him to say what he has wanted to say all along: I want! A Jew always wants to do what the Torah commands, but his yetzer hara gets in the way.
Another example: A totally disgraceful man says he wants to marry a bas yisrael on condition that he is a completely righteous person. If she accepts -- Mazal Tov! -- they are married. Why? Because we assume that when he said the words, "on condition that I am a completely righteous person", that he had thoughts of תשובה and so at that moment he was completely righteous. But if two non-kosher witnesses -- non-kosher because of their sins -- witness the transaction, then it is null and void. We don't we take on that perhaps they had thoughts of תשובה? Because they didn't say the words.
Words have impact. Words are powerful. Even if you can't (yet) abandon the bad deeds nor even feel remorse, if you can get the words of confession out of your mouth, you have taken a huge leap. Those words on the outside and your inner connection to HaShem as a Torah Jew will work together to squash the yetzer hara that is preventing you from full תשובה. Say the words; start the process.
This idea brings out an important insight into our thrice daily prayers. The last of the 13 requests that form the core our prayer service end with: שמע קולנו/Hear our voice; that is, hearken to our requests. Strange, no? We have davened 12 requests and only at the end we pray they should be answered?! Shouldn't that be first? "Hear our prayers! Which prayers? The following 12... for intelligence, תשובה, forgiveness, redemption, health, wealth, ingathering of exiles, restoration of our judges, destruction of our (spiritual) enemies, reward for the righteous, restoration of Jerusalem and our Beis HaMikdash, and the sovereignty of the Messiah. That is, since we went to the trouble to ask, obviously we felt we could be answered? What are we gaining by asking now that HaShem hearken to our prayers?
Look again a the words: שמע קולנו/Hear our voice ... not "hearken to our prayers", just hear our voice. Even if we don't have all the right intentions, even if our mind drifted off topic, even if we were so far from true davening that our minds only sometimes drifted on topic. Our last request is: Please, even if the only thing praying was our mouths, please שמע קולנו/Hear our voice!
You have a voice; use your voice, your voice has power.
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