Come and see, "but he went perversely in the way of his heart,"
followed by, "I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also,
and bestow comforts on him and on his mourners." (Isaiah 57:17-18) "But
he went perversely" - though the wicked do what they do willfully and follow
the way of their heart, and others admonish them but they do not want to listen
to them. However when they turn from their ways and take the good path of
repentance, the healing remedy is already prepared for them.
We should observe now whether the verse refers to the living or the dead, for
the beginning of the verse is not as its ending, nor the ending the beginning.
The first part of the verse points at the living, yet the latter part points to
the dead, the verse speaks of living man, and it is thus: "he went
perversely in the way of his heart," because the Evil Inclination within him
is strong and gains power. Hence "he went perversely," and does not care
to repent.
G‑d sees his ways, that he walks in evil to no use. He says, I need to hold his
hand [to help him to teshuvah], as written, "I have seen his
ways" walking in the darkness; I wish to give him healing, as written, "and
will heal him." G‑d brings into his heart the path of repentance and healing
for his soul. "I will lead him also" - what does this mean? [Rashi
says: 've'anchehu', meaning "I will lead him (in the way of
healing)". Alternatively, 've'anchehu' is an expression of rest
and tranquility.] It resembles the words, "go, lead the people," (Ex.
32:34) and G‑d leads him in the true path as one holding someone's hand, leading
him out of darkness.
"And bestow comforts on him and on his mourners": it seems as if
he is dead, assuredly he is dead; even though he is alive, since he is
wicked, he is considered dead. What is the meaning of, "and bestow comforts
on him and on his mourners"? G‑d acts kindly with people. Ever since one's
thirteenth birthday, He gives two guardian angels to be with him, and they guard
him, one to his right and one to his left. [As it says, "For His angels
are commanded to guard you upon your ways." (Ps. 91)]
When man walks the right path, they (the angels) rejoice in him and
uphold him with joy, announcing before him saying, Give honor to the image of
the King. But when he treads the crooked path, they mourn for him and leave him.
G‑d holds him and leads him in the right way, it is written, "and bestow
comforts on him and on his mourners." First I will "bestow comforts on
him," for he regrets all that he did formerly and what he has done now and
repents. Then, "on his mourners," who are the angels that mourned him
when they departed from him. Now that they have returned there are consolations
(in Hebrew, 'nichumim') in every aspect.
Now he is surely alive, he is living in every respect. [He is alive in this
world, and he is righteous, called 'living', holding to the Tree of Life,
Zeir Anpin.] Since he is connected to the Tree of Life, he is called a
penitent, for the Congregation of Israel, is also called penitence [for they
connect to Zeir Anpin, the husband to malchut]. And he is
called a repentant, and the ancient sages called him Ba'al teshuva/man
of repentance literally[for he draws the flow of blessing from Zeir Anpin
to malchut, as a husband gives flow to his wife]. Therefore, even the
wholly righteous cannot dwell where the penitents do.
BeRahamim LeHayyim: Why did the Ari and Chida include this section? What do they want us to learn?
Guess what? YOU ARE NOT ALONE, EVER. Since the days of your Bar or Bat (aka Bas) Mitzvah, you've been keeping pretty awesome company. That guardian angels are always with you, on your right and on your left.
We have friends in high places. If we do the
right thing, they applaud us. But if we don't, well, that's a different
story. They perhaps are the "watcher angels" mentioned in the Book of
Daniel. They know when you are sleeping, they know when you're awake, they
know if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake/for its own sake!
We will explore in much greater detail this matter of what a Ba'al Teshuvah
means, how if one returns to the straight path after taking spiritually
deadening detours, they can actually ascend higher than those who are always in
the right in all their actions, words, and thoughts.
Let us accept this as the Carrot as a motivating force in our ascent with Moses
who went to the top of Mt Sinai for his 3rd and final time on the 1st
of Elul, when the 40 days of Teshuva really starts in full force.
What does the above mean for your Teshuvah/return, and why is it revealed to you right now?
Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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