As we come close to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur,
we focus on the idea that Torah expects us to do
Teshuva. Yet for most of us, while in a theoretical
sense we understand that there are areas in which
we could improve, in our real mode of being, we
don’t seem to feel that we really sin. When we go to
Shul on Yom Kippur morning, it is rare to find the
person who walks in with this sense of the magnitude
of his sins and the fierce determination to get rid of
them. For most of us, we come to daven, we try to
focus on what we can do to improve, but the idea of
heart felt remorse and repentance just doesn’t seem
to fit in.
In this Shmuz we are brought to focus on the
severity of a sin and its grave consequences, and
our ability to use the system of Teshuva to rid them
from our essence.