Rabbi Weinberg's Elul Thought for the Day

Wednesday September 23
Someone once wisely pointed out that if you do not buy a lottery ticket there is no chance you will win the jackpot!  You have to be “in it to win it” as they say.  There is a similar concept about teshuva:  The Chafetz Chayim (Maamar Torat Habayit Ch 10) quotes an anonymous gaon who said that if a person would just speak often, over and over, about teshuva then one time it might be effective in penetrating his/her soul, one time it might spark something in them.  If you never speak about teshuva and bring it into your everyday discourse and into your conscious mind, then you have no chance of ever achieving it.  These 10 days of repentance can be daunting.  It might be hard to think of all the things we want to change or improve upon.  It may feel like we don't even know where to start.  It may feel like we had so many aspirations before Rosh Hashanna and we have already messed up or disappointed Hashem even just in the few days of this new year that have passed so why continue to try!?  The Chafetz Chayim is reminding us that, maybe, the place to start is just to keep talking about teshuva.  Find at least four ways to talk about teshuva today whether to yourself, your journal, a relative or friend, or Hashem.  If you can do it, keep trying it every day until Yom Kippur and see what happens!