The possibility of repentance as it appears in our parasha appears from the perspective of a broad, national approach. Moshe foresees that the Israelite nation will not follow in the ways of God, and will be exiled from their land. Nevertheless, the day will come when the nation will voluntarily return to full faith in God.
The description of the process of national repentance differs from that of the repentance of the individual.
At the beginning of his “Laws of Repentance” Maimonides writes:
How is the verbal confession made? The sinner says thus: “I beseech Thee, O Great Name! I have sinned; I have been obstinate; I have committed profanity against Thee, particularly in doing thus and such. Now, behold! I have repented and am ashamed of my actions; forever will I not relapse into this thing again.”
From these words of Maimonides we derive three essential elements of repentance:
Viduy – Verbal confession
Haratah – Regret
Kabbalah al he-Atid – Accepting upon one’s self to refrain from sinning in the future.
Some add a fourth element: Azivat ha-Het – abandonment of the sin.
This is a very formal, practical description, which includes a clear process of repentance. The formal report lays out how the individual’s behavior deviated from the norms of a person committed to fulfilling the word of God. The process that is required demands a listing of activities that must be noted, recognized and changed, based on those points of deviation that must be corrected. This is not a process of general upheaval or a wide-ranging change of direction.
The path to repentance presented in our parasha offers an entirely different process from that described by Maimonides:
But if you search there for the Lord your God, you will find Him, if only you seek Him with all your heart and soul.
When you are in distress because all these things have befallen you and, in the end, return to the Lord your God and obey Him.
…
Know therefore this day and keep in mind that the Lord alone is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other.
(Devarim 4:29-30, 39)
These verses describe an almost cosmic process, social changes that the Nation of Israel will undergo as part of a natural process. The chronology described here is that of an intense search for truth. First – “you will search there for the Lord your God.” The next stage is the one that leads to fulfillment of God’s commandments – “and obey Him.” Finally, there is the realization of God and the acceptance of His position as King – “Know therefore this day and keep in mind that the Lord alone is God.” This is a description of a natural process of repentance. It is not a mechanical, obligatory process that fulfills a specific religious ritual. Instead, this is a prophetic description presented by Moshe of a set of experiences that the Nation of Israel will undergo in the future.
I would like to spend a moment examining these verses in an attempt to use them to understand one of the most fascinating mysteries of human existence.
The verse “you will search there for the Lord your God” describes a broad experience – the entire Nation of Israel will begin to search out God. This experience has a personal outcome – “you (singular!) will find Him, if only you seek Him with all your heart and soul.” General repentance is made up of a large number of individuals, independent realizations. It is entirely possible that it is accompanied by individual stories or feelings, but from a broad perspective we are talking about an entire nation that begins to think differently, based on both human processes and cosmic ones that are difficult to understand. These global processes of searching will lead to the ultimate – almost nostalgic – return to fulfilling the commandments. Only afterwards will there be a return to God as the Creator, as the Father of the world and as the single, unique Ruler Who controls all.
Were we to identify the stages of this process, we would recognize three elements:
- A search
- Acceptance of the yoke of commandments
- Recognition of God.
These elements relate to different areas of the brain: intuition or emotion – those that lead to practical decisions – that lead to understanding.
There is a huge difference between the process of repentance as described by Maimonides in contrast with that found in our parasha. First of all, the root cause of the process as described in our parasha is not guilt feelings stemming from the pain of sin. What is driving the process described in these verses is a desire for enlightenment, a sense of great deprivation, the need for meaning. In addition, the process of individual repentance as presented by Maimonides is a rational process with full awareness from beginning to end, whereas the process in our parasha is based on a lack of awareness. It is a natural process whose power stems from a search for truth rather than from pangs of guilt. As such, it causes the individual to move from one point to another with a power that is not under the person’s full control. Furthermore, this process is not a reaction to individual failing, nor is it accomplished in the course of a given individual’s life. This is a redemptive process that takes place over many generations, acting like a series of waves through history.
In order to understand the differences between these two models of repentance, it may help to borrow concepts from modern psychology.
The basis for the approach presented by Maimonides is reminiscent of the psychoanalytic approach. This approach breaks down a person’s actions into component parts, deals with his motives, and clarifies how correction can be achieved by means of disassembling and isolating those variables.
An alternative psychological approach is the humanistic approach. The basic assumption of this approach is that overall, humans are good. According to this approach, breaking down a person’s actions into component parts and attempting to delve deep into the depths of the human soul, detract from the essence of man as a complete person striving for good. Only by examining his broader temperament in an attempt to see the individual as a whole person will he ultimately be able to overcome his difficulties.
The humanistic approach is the one that appears in our parasha. It is specifically the ability to disregard the past that offers an opportunity for “self-cleaning,” which helps bring about a desired process of repentance.
Opening Maimonides’ “Laws of Repentance” to discussion, and the examination of biblical examples as a basis for developing new models of repentance, can help enrich the conversation about repentance. By doing so, we will likely be able to conclude that those parts of the commandment of repentance that are strictly legal in nature are relatively small in comparison to those elements that are conceptual and theoretical.
