Always Returning

In his work, Iggeres Hateshuvah, the Alter Rebbe explains that there are two levels of repentance. While the first brings about a change in the person’s conduct, it is the second, higher level, which revolutionizes his entire inner world.

The deeper level of repentance means that whatever one accomplishes in his return to G-d today, certainly falls short of the highest level he can reach. So the next day, he must work on this very same goal again, of returning to G-d, no less than on the day before, and perhaps even more. For the more one has an appreciation of G-dliness, the more he is pained by his distance from G-d. However close one comes, he never lacks what to strive for; G-d is infinite and beyond any definition.