Death and Life
"Joel, my friend, you don't look good. Let
old Mike sit you up in this big armchair. Don't slouch! Let's
prop you up some more. My, you're pale. Let's color your cheeks
a bit. This stuff's for girls, but we won't tell anyone. OOPS,
keep that head up! I'm sorry about what I did to you before,
Joel. Guess I lost my cool. Next thing I know I'm holding that
kitchen knife... I'm real sorry! But now you look great! I fixed
you up like new! Oh, no! The eyes! How are we going to keep
your eyes open?"
Can a person undo murder? Can he undo his actions?
Mike may make Joel look a little better, but what's done is done.
Only a miracle could bring Joel to life.
The same is true in the spiritual world: Can a person
undo a sin? What's done is done! Only a miracle could wipe away
the negative consequences of a misdeed.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato in his classic "Path
of the Just" explains that repentance is a miraculous phenomenon.
It enables a person to undo the spiritual effects of what is
already done. Repentance can erase a misdeed, or even turn it
into a good deed! That is the miracle of miracles.
Source:
- The Path of the Just pg. 59
