The Next Day…And Every Day After
T’shuvah does not end with Yom Kippur. It never ends. For those seeking closure or some sense of completion, Yom Kippur offers this advice: Go and live your life. Do the best that you can to make wise and compassionate choices. Know ahead of time that you will make mistakes and that the same mistakes will keep coming up again and again in your thoughts and actions.
That is inevitable because we human beings are imperfect. That is the way that God designed us. That is the way that God wants us to be. It’s okay.
It’s okay because the doors of t’shuvah are always open. It is always possible for us to look at our mistakes, learn from them, and grow. You will never be perfect, but you will always have another chance to become better, to get a little bit closer to living the life that God wants for you. And that is enough.
In Jewish wisdom we understand that the effort we make to come closer to being the person we should be … is itself being the person we should be. As we read in Pikei Avot, “It is not up to you to complete the task, nevertheless you are not free to give up trying” (Pirkei Avot 2:16). Keep trying. Keep striving. Live your life that best way you can. When you make a mistake, return.
T’shuvah does not end with Yom Kippur. It never ends. For those seeking closure or some sense of completion, Yom Kippur offers this advice: Go and live your life. Do the best that you can to make wise and compassionate choices. Know ahead of time that you will make mistakes and that the same mistakes will keep coming up again and again in your thoughts and actions.
That is inevitable because we human beings are imperfect. That is the way that God designed us. That is the way that God wants us to be. It’s okay.
It’s okay because the doors of t’shuvah are always open. It is always possible for us to look at our mistakes, learn from them, and grow. You will never be perfect, but you will always have another chance to become better, to get a little bit closer to living the life that God wants for you. And that is enough.
In Jewish wisdom we understand that the effort we make to come closer to being the person we should be … is itself being the person we should be. As we read in Pikei Avot, “It is not up to you to complete the task, nevertheless you are not free to give up trying” (Pirkei Avot 2:16). Keep trying. Keep striving. Live your life that best way you can. When you make a mistake, return.
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