This week’s Parsha, Behar-Bechukotai contains an interesting concept which is echoed throughout much of Jewish liturgy and text. In 26:12 G-d promises the Jewish people that if they follow in His ways, He’ll “walk” with them. According to Rashi, G-d is saying that if the Jewish people keep G-d’s commands, G-d will stroll with the Jewish people in Gan Eden (Garden of Eden). Rabbi David Fohrman extrapolates on this verse, calling it the quintessential second chance. Back in Bereshit (Genesis), Adam and Eve resided in Gan Eden, the ideal setting for humanity to develop. They were spiritually focused and close to G-d. However, after sinning by eating the fruit of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve lose their idyllic setting and intimate relationship with G-d. They are forced into the “real world” where one must toil for survival and childbirth is painful, to say the least. However, here in parshat Behar-Bechukotai, the Jewish people are given a second chance to achieve this ideal relationship with G-d and their environment, they can achieve this correction of previous misdeeds simply by following G-d’s commands.

Second chances may feel like they’re hard to come by. When you fail an exam, unless your teacher offers extra credit, you’re pretty much stuck with your poor grade. This notion of “no second chances” is unforgiving and is not characteristic of Judaism. With only a few exceptions, G-d is always willing to forgive the Jewish people for their mistakes as long as the sinner undergoes a repentance process called Teshuva. The biggest misconception about Teshuva is that it can only be performed once a year in the synagogue around the High Holidays. That’s entirely false. Teshuva should be woven into the fabric of our everyday lives, it’s a personal process of repentance and reflection that can be done without fasting and wearing white, Teshuva can be performed in the car, on the street or even in school. The Teshuva process is simply outlined with the following four steps, a few guidelines to help an individual access their second chance.

1. Admit that you sinned. This is often one of the hardest aspects of the Teshuva, it’s so challenging to stop ourselves from justifying every action and actually fess up to the fact that we did something wrong.
2. Stop sinning! Once you admit that you’ve done something wrong, take action to avoid sinning again. Set a reminder on your phone, make a promise to yourself, make a chart… whatever it takes to make a genuine effort to stop that specific sin you were engaged in. It’s sort of like a contingency plan, you can make yourself all the promises in the world, but the process of Teshuva forces you to immediately take action in order to preempt any future misbehavior.
3. Confess. Describe your mistake and ask G-d for forgiveness. If there were other people involved in your sin (i.e. gossip, bad business deal, lies…) you must also seek forgiveness from the person directly. This step is almost like a form of prayer, genuinely ask G-d to forgiveness and ask Him to help you never commit the same sin again.
4. Similar to step two, make a resolution never to commit that same sin again!

The Teshuva process outlines a mechanism for achieving genuine remorse over one’s misdeeds and allows humanity, prone to making mistakes, to constantly have a second chance within reach.

Parshat Behar-Bechukotai conveys the message of second chances, let’s use this Shabbat to reflect on our own deeds this week, do Teshuva if necessary, and access our G-d given second chance!

Shabbat Shalom

Sarah Engel