Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

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Rosh Hashana
A New Perspective on Teshuva
Ben Welkovics
I would like to dedicate this Dvar Torah in honour of my late grandfather, Usher
Zalki Schusheim z”l, who’s Yarhtzeit will be commemorated on the first day of Rosh
Hashanah.
As Rosh Hashanah draws nearer the perennial theme of teshuva begins to occupy
more of our thoughts. As we contemplate and reflect on the vicissitudes of the
previous year we ask ourselves how we can repent for our misdoings in an attempt
to ask for and be granted forgiveness from God. Each morning in shul, after being
both physically and spiritually awoken by the blast of the shofar, we recite Psalm 27,
Le-David Hashem ori. The body of Psalm 27 discusses having faith and trust in God.
The psalm, however, ends with the powerful words of ’ה לא הוקו ךבל ץמאיו קזח ’ה לא הוק,
“Hope to God, strengthen yourself and He will give you courage, and hope to God”.
The wording of the concluding sentence seems to make the sentence somewhat of
an anomaly within the context of the psalm, however, upon closer examination we
can learn a very significant lesson about teshuva. Throughout most of the psalm we
read about putting our trust and faith in God, yet we conclude the paragraph with the
words, ךבל ץמאיו קזח;“ “strengthen yourself and God will give you courage.” Why must
we strengthen ourselves in order to do teshuva? Aren’t we supposed to do teshuva in
order to become better people and to strengthen our spiritual muscles? Isn’t the result