“The Nations’ Rebirth Is the Foundation of the Edifice of Great Repentance”

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

“All the prophets commanded Israel to repent - and only through repentance can Israel be redeemed” (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 7:5). Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai explains that Rambam is referring to the total repentance of Israel that will take place after they return to Eretz Yisrael (Kitvei HaRav Alkalai, page 324).

This interpretation matches with Devarim 30:2-5: “You will return to the L-rd your G-d... The L-rd will then bring back your remnants and have mercy on you. He will once again gather you from among all the nations.... He will then bring you to the land that your ancestors occupied, and you too will occupy it.”

Rav Kook, as well, explains that “the rebirth of the nation is the foundation of the edifice of the great repentance, the lofty repentance of Israel and the repentance of the whole world which will follow” (Orot HaTeshuvah 17:1). In accordance with Devarim 30:6, which continues, “The L-rd will remove the barriers from your hearts and from the hearts of your descendants, so that you will love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and soul,” Israel’s repentance will be “repentance out of love, greater than any other form of repentance” (Or HaChaim, Ibid.).

There is personal repentance, wherein an individual repents from his sins. To do so he must confess his sins, express contrition, and resolve not to sin in the future. There is also the general repentance of the Jewish People which begins with Israel’s returning to the Land of Israel (Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai, Ibid.).

Right now, we are in a period of the ingathering of the exiles, about which the sages said, “Great is the day of the Ingathering of the Exiles, but difficult as well” (Rashi, Ibid.). We are at the start of the great return, the start of the formation of the nation in its land after two thousand years of exile. As is known, all beginnings are hard. We are in the stage of, “I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land” (Yechezkeil 36:24). The day is not far off when the continuation of the prophecy will be fulfilled as well: “Then I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean... A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you” (Ibid., v. 35-36).

The Jewish People - in their rebirth - may be compared to a newborn infant. At first, the parents worry about the infant’s physical needs - that it should gain weight and grow. Later, when the child has grown and become a lad, his main development is spiritual.

It is the same with the Jewish nation. The Ingathering of the Exiles is part of Israel’s physical development. In the next stage, the nation will progress onward to issues involving its spirituality and destiny, i.e., the historic destiny of the nation. That destiny will involve them spreading light to the world and being benevolent to them, as in G-d’s blessing to Avraham, “You shall become a blessing... All the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Bereisheet 12:2-3).

Looking forward to salvation,
With the Love of Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael,
Shabbat Shalom.