We say it so fast during the Yamim Noraim that we almost don’t hear it:

U’Teshuva, U’Tefilla, U’Tzedakah ma’avirin et roa ha’gezeira.

Teshuva, Tefilla and Tzedakah avert the severe decree.

But what decree? And why these three?

Our rabbis teach that these three aren’t three random good deeds. They are the repair of the three relationships that break every year — the relationship with ourselves, with HaShem, and with other people. If we truly want to understand where our year went off track, look there.

Teshuva — Returning to Yourself

Teshuva does not mean repentance. The root is lashuv — to return.

I am not trying to become a new person. But rather trying to return to the person I was before I got tired, cynical, defensive, busy.

Most of us don’t wake up in the morning and decide to be far from ourselves. We drift. We say yes when we want to say no. We speak harshly because we are stressed. We scroll because we are lonely. We slowly become someone we don’t fully recognize.

The Hebrew word for sin, chet, is an archery term. It means you aimed for the target and you missed. Not that you are evil. Just that you missed.

Teshuva is the courage to ask the question where did I miss? Not to punish ourselves, but to be honest.

The Rambam (Maimonides) says something radical.

The proof that our teshuva is complete is not that we feel guilty. It’s that we are in the........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)