Parshas Acharei – How Teshuvah Turns Darkness into Light
Today we study a sichah from Likkutei Sichos, Volume 17, the second sichah on Parshas Acharei. A major section of our parshah discusses Yom Kippur—the holiest day of the year—and the sacred service performed by the Kohen Gadol. Yom Kippur is the day of atonement, when Hashem grants forgiveness and purification to the Jewish people. Yet together with the holiness of the day itself, there is another essential element: teshuvah. We must return to Hashem, confess our wrongdoings, and sincerely seek forgiveness.
But teshuvah is more than regret. The Gemara teaches a remarkable idea: true teshuvah can transform a person’s past. In some cases, sins are not merely forgiven—they are turned into merits.
This sounds astonishing. How can a wrongdoing become a mitzvah? How can something negative be transformed into spiritual gain?
The Greatness of a Baal Teshuvah
Chazal say:
“In the place where baalei teshuvah stand, even complete tzaddikim cannot stand.”
A person who once sinned and then sincerely returns to Hashem can reach a level even higher than one who never sinned at all.
Why?
Because the struggle, distance, and return create a depth of yearning and passion that would otherwise never have existed. The soul that wandered and came back often burns with a stronger love than before.
The Story of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev
A famous story is told about Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev, known for always finding merit in every Jew.
One Yom Kippur, he saw a man publicly eating outside the shul. Instead of rebuking him harshly, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak said:
“I envy you.”
The man was shocked. “Why would the Rabbi envy me?”
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak replied:
“If you do teshuvah, all of your many sins can become mitzvos. You may end up with more merits than I have.”
Though the man joked back, the Rabbi’s words penetrated his heart and changed his life.
This story captures the Rebbe’s theme: no Jew is ever beyond return.
Three Levels of Teshuvah
The Rebbe explains that not all teshuvah is the same. There are levels.
1. Teshuvah from Fear – Teshuvah MiYirah
Sometimes a person repents because of fear:
- fear of punishment,
- fear of consequences,
- fear of spiritual loss,
- fear of separation from Hashem.
This teshuvah is real and valuable. It heals the future. From now on, the person changes direction.
But the past remains the past.
The sin is forgiven, yet it is not transformed.
2. Teshuvah from Love – Lower Level
A higher teshuvah comes from love:
- love of Hashem,
- desire to do what is right,
- longing for closeness and truth.
This level can erase the past entirely. The sin is uprooted and no longer defines the person.
But still, the sin itself has not yet become a mitzvah. It is removed, not transformed.
3. Teshuvah from Love – Higher Level
Then there is the deepest level of teshuvah.
Here the person’s return is so powerful, so sincere, and so full of longing, that the very distance itself becomes the engine of closeness.
The darkness becomes the background for greater light.
The fall becomes the force that launches a stronger return.
At this level, sins themselves are transformed into merits.
How Can Sin Become a Merit?
The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya that someone who has been far away often returns with extraordinary intensity.
A thirsty person values water more than one who never lacked it.
A person who has struggled with weakness, addiction, pain, or failure may come to appreciate holiness with greater passion than someone who never knew such struggle.
The yearning itself becomes stronger because of the distance.
In that sense, the past mistakes become part of the journey that led to deeper love and greater devotion. They do not remain sins—they become the path that brought the person home.
A Message of Hope
This teaching carries tremendous hope.
No one should ever say:
“I have gone too far.”
“My mistakes define me.”
“My past cannot be repaired.”
Torah teaches the opposite.
A person can heal.
A person can change.
A person can rise even higher because of the struggle itself.
When teshuvah is sincere, the very places of failure can become the roots of future greatness.
The Lesson of Acharei
Parshas Acharei introduces Yom Kippur, the day of forgiveness. But the deeper message of Yom Kippur is not only that Hashem removes sin—it is that Hashem gives a Jew the power to transform life completely.
Not only to start again.
Not only to be forgiven.
But to turn darkness into light, distance into closeness, and failure into holiness.
That is the greatness of teshuvah.