Parshat Nitzavim: Teshuvah - It is so close

יא  כִּי הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם--לֹא-נִפְלֵאת הִוא מִמְּךָ, וְלֹא רְחֹקָה הִוא.

יב  לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם, הִוא:  לֵאמֹר, מִי יַעֲלֶה-לָּנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ, וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ, וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה.

יג  וְלֹא-מֵעֵבֶר לַיָּם, הִוא:  לֵאמֹר, מִי יַעֲבָר-לָנוּ אֶל-עֵבֶר הַיָּם וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ, וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ, וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה.

יד  כִּי-קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר, מְאֹד:  בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ, לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ.

11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not too hard for thee, neither is it far off.

12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say: 'Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?'

13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say: 'Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?'

14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

What mitzvah is verse 11-14 talking about? It is not far from us and not in the heavens?

Rashi explains it as calling attention to the mitzvah of learning Torah. Much has been written to help us understand the message according to this very understanding, given by Rashi. But Ramban says the verse refers to the mitzvah of Teshuvah; it is easy to do and close to us, in our mouths and hearts.

Is this true? Teshuvah is easy? Don’t we know it to be the opposite? It is really hard to change our ways?

The great Rav Yeruchem Levovitz explains the difficulty is because it is so close to us; it is “in our mouths and hearts,” so there is nothing closer to the essence of a person than that. There is nothing or no one standing in the way but ourselves. No one else can hold us back. But this is also the difficult part - it is all up to us! No one else can do it for us. As we sin, we dig ourselves into a  deeper and deeper hole, and knowing we alone are the only ones who can get ourselves out of it makes it a very daunting task.

Rav Chaim Shmulewitz sums it up by asking, if teshuvah is so easy, why don’t we find more people doing real teshuvah? Many people out there who sin understand they are not doing the right thing; why don’t more people change their ways? After all, it is close to us, in our mouths and hearts?

Rav Chaim explains that a Man’s challenge when he becomes too accustomed to his situation in life, becoming complacent. Many people do not stop to think about how they got where they are, what will the end look like, what will the consequences of my choices be? We do not realize it is our complacency that leads us down the path of staleness; one where we do not grow as individuals.

The answer of Rav Chaim can be supported by a novel interpretation to the pasuk at the end of Parshat Ki Teitzei;  when Amalek attacked the Jewish people, the Torah describes that Amelek was so bad because אשר קרחה בדרך, which is usually interpreted to mean he “cooled us” off. To mean since the exodus from Egypt, the Jews were “hot,” no one wanted to touch them because the hand of Hashem was evident. However, perhaps the interpretation is  “we cooled down,” in that we became indifferent or complacent. This characteristic prevents us from doing teshuvah, for we think we are doing well and not focused on our growth.

One final explanation as to why teshuvah is “close to us,” is offered by the Sefer Kadosh V’norah. He explains it is close to us because we can accomplish it by taking small, measurable steps forward. He elaborates by explaining with a mashal of a person who breaks his arm, has surgery and after months in a cast, he can barley can barely lift anything upon the cast being removed. Over time and strengthening the muscles, he can slowly build his strength back up. How did he do this? Slow and steady work, allowed the muscles to grow in a healthy way.  So, too, for us, we have many challenges in life. The path to a life of Torah and Yirat Shamayim is like a ladder with many rungs of areas we need to grow in. Don’t look at how tall the ladder is. Rather, look how close the next rung is; you can do it, one rung at a time.