Our relationship with G-d is completely scripted. The tasks demanded by this relationship seemingly don't leave much room for improvisation, for impromptu and original outbursts of care and love.
7 Comments Posted
Rabbi Silberberg,
If my wife would ask me to make her a cup of tea, after I had already started one for her as a surprise, and things like this happen often after 44 years of marriage, my reaction would have been totally different. I would have said, B'H for giving me such a wife that we even think alike. But of course, that would not have fit the thread of your story line.
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I would suggest the husband let his wife know that he was just about to make her a cup of tea and they would both benefit the proper gratification of being thought of without being told, and being able to deliver without being asked fo.
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I understand what the author was trying to say, but I don't understand how teshuva adds the personal touch to mitzvos. Mitzos in themself can be personalized, I have no problem feeling a personal connection to Hashem by doing them. It's a nice thought o have thought up of, but I simply don't see the logic as reality. If someone could explain it to me again I would appreciate it.
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As long as one does mitzvot because s/he was so commanded by G-d, there's a certain element of intimacy and personal feeling lacking in this service. Teshuvah, on the other hand, is an expression of one's most innermost desire to connect with G-d. This experience infuses also the rest of the mitzvot with this same sense of closeness and personal touch. Once you've seen that a connection with G-d is what YOU really treasure, than anything that enhances the relationship -- i.e. Torah and mitzvot -- is also something that you really want to do.
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Thank you for responding personally, and so promptly. I am truly honored. I think that a person can want to have a personal connection with God without neccesarily needing to repent. Teshuvah is feeling remorse for something we've done, or a way of life. And it also comes from many things, not just wanting to be close with God- some people are more concerned with reaching perfection within themselves, or attaining the emotional health the mitsvos provide- not neccesarily is it an expression of being close to Hashem. I appreciate the response.
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Why would it bother me it's been that way all my life, even though I've never been married, but marriage at my age for get it, I have.
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The definition of Teshuvah isn't "a concern for reaching perfection."
For more on this, see "Broken New Year's Resolutions" (www.chabad.org/488493).
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