Below is the teaching of Chaplain (soon to be Rabbi) Adam Ruditsky in conjunction with the book Preparing yourself for the High Holidays.
רפואה מן התורה
When evil doers come upon me to devour me,
even my adversaries and foes will stumble … (Ps. 27:2)
What good is t’shuva if those who oppose us do not do the
same? Why do what is right in a world
that calls for self-protection from others who seek to undermine us? Why love a neighbor as myself if that
neighbor could not care less about me? Those are valid questions for sure since that does seem like the world we live in. So, there were two sisters who had a feud and separated for many years. They own adjacent property
that is separated by a small stream, and one hires a carpenter to build a
wall, but instead builds a bridge. One
of the sister’s finds the boldness to cross that bridge and after many years
they embrace and reconnect. Would such a
reconnection have been possible if one chose not to act differently? Sometimes our t’shuva has the power to
transform not only ourselves but others. Sometimes by doing right
“our enemies” will stumble and fall into their own sense of needing to
change. We can only be responsible for
our own rightness before God (and others) but we can also be an instrument for others as they can be for us.
The only place to walk is in the presence of God
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