4739 —הרהור סוף השנה וכוח התשובה

B"H, Selichos days, 5716.

Brooklyn, NY.

Shalom u'Vrachah!

To the sons and daughters of Israel in every place—may Hashem be upon you and grant you life—abundant peace and blessing!

As we approach the end of the old year and stand at the threshold of the new year, every earnest-thinking person makes an accounting of the past year and, based on this, takes resolutions for the new year.

In order for this accounting and these resolutions to be correct, one must guard against overestimating one's own virtues and accomplishments; yet at the same time, one should not exaggerate one's shortcomings and failures. For a mood of discouragement—let alone despair, G‑d forbid—is among those things that weaken one's resolve to improve oneself.

However, it can unfortunately happen that even without exaggerating one's faults, when making a true accounting—it turns out that the negative side seems quite large, sometimes even greater and outweighing the positive side. But even in such a case, one must not allow feelings of despair. Along with deep regret over the past and a firm resolution to change from now on—which is what a true accounting should evoke—one must always remember that goodness, positivity, and holiness—as our Torah, Toras Chaim (the Torah of Life), explains what is good and holy—are indestructible and eternal because they stem from and come from the soul, from the Divine spark (G‑dly point) within a person. But negative deeds are connected to and come from the animal soul (the animal within man) and the yetzer hara; they are inherently limited and can be completely nullified and erased.

The bad—the negative deeds—are only temporary; through genuine and sincere teshuvah they can be corrected and wiped away. The above should arouse in everyone—regardless of what their true accounting for the past year reveals—a feeling of encouragement and strong hope for the future. Knowing that one's good deeds in the past year are eternal and have brought light into one's life, family, and all of Israel—for "Kol Yisrael areivim zeh bazeh" (all Jews are interconnected; they are one whole).

From this it is also understood that even if sometimes there appear to be phenomena indicating decline—not everyone becomes wiser or more pious—in truth and in essence, goodness in the world grows stronger every year, every day, every moment because good actions are constantly being added. And even when negativity seems to have dominance—that is only temporary. Ultimately goodness must prevail completely over negativity because the Creator of the world has decreed that all will do teshuvah. And Hashem—Who abundantly forgives even sins repeated many times—will accept their teshuvah: "Ki lo yidach mimenu nidach" (no one will be cast away).

This is within everyone's power—to make this coming year one with an excellent sum total of their actions by transforming themselves; Hashem Who desires teshuvah helps with this as well. And a firm resolution to do so makes it even more certain that one will have a good and sweet year.

Summary

The Rebbe teaches us to honestly evaluate ourselves at year's end without falling into despair over shortcomings. Goodness is eternal; negativity is temporary and can be erased through sincere teshuvah. With hope and resolve for improvement, we merit a truly good new year.