Rabbi Manes Kogan

To change is one of the most important rights we have as human beings. We don’t need to be the same today, as we were yesterday; and neither tomorrow like today. People used to see change as a sign of weakness, but really the opposite is true. We always are in movement, not only our bodies, but also our minds and our feelings. Even though consistency is an important and positive virtue, nobody has the right to tell us: "You can not change your opinion, or your behavior".

Of course, in theory we can be worst today than yesterday, but I believe that most changes can only improve our lives.

People are bad because they resist change, they resist being better. Most of the people we refer to as "bad people" had occasionally hurt us or someone we know. They may envy our life or our prosperity, but they are not spending their time thinking how to hurt other people.

However, if we don’t try to be better, if we don’t work on our faults and we resist improving ourselves, we can really descend from the level we are. As Rabbi Ahron of Karlin, one of the most important Chassidic Masters said: "If a person is not better today than yesterday, he is worst".

The Hebrew word that describes the process through which a person changes and improves himself, is called "Teshuvah".

The word "Teshuva" is usually translated as "repentance", but it is really more than that. It derives from the word "Lashuv", that means "to return". To return to where? To our soul’s nature, that is good by essence, and to God itself. Also, the word means for a Jewish person to return to God’s commandments and to a Jewish life, because our sages assumption is that Israel’s God, Israel’s People and Israel’s Torah are part of an indivisible unity.

When a father decides that he will dedicate more quality time to his sons, we are talking about "Teshuva". When a Jewish woman starts to light Shabbat candles, we are talking about "Teshuva". When we promise to ourselves to stop gossiping, we are talking about "Teshuva".

"Teshuvah" is not only limited to daily situations but also to big sins. Murderers, thieves, blasphemers, have the right to change. They may need to pay for their sins, they may suffer the consequences of their past behavior, but regarding their souls and their relationship with God, they are like new creatures.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk used to say: "Also in the life of a bigger sinner there are some moments when he is closer to God than the biggest of the righteous, and those moments are moments of Teshuvah".

At the beginning of our Parasha -Parashat Vaigash- Judah, the same person who more than two decades ago suggested to sell his brother as a slave (see Genesis 37: 26), offers himself to stay as a slave instead of Benjamin: "And now, if I come to your servant my father and the youth is not with us –since his soul is so bound up with his soul- it will happen that when he sees the youth is missing he will die... Now, therefore, please let your servant remain instead of the youth as a servant to my lord, and let the youth go up with his brothers. For how can I go up to my father if the youth is not with me.." (Genesis 44: 30-31,33-34).

This is a story about change, about Teshuvah.

As Nehama Leibowitz points in her commentary, "..a man must be confronted by the same temptation to which he had previously succumbed. If he stands the test and resists, he has proved his mettle"..."This time the brothers would find themselves really faced by a valid excuse for leaving his brother to his fate. For how could they fight the whole Egyptian empire? If, in spite of that, they would refuse to go back to their father without Benjamin and would be willing to sacrifice their lives as indeed Judah indicated, only then could the brothers be considered true penitents and Joseph would be able to make himself known to his brothers and the game would be over".

The brothers changed, and especially Judah changed. Why did he change? We really don’t know. Maybe he realized how much his father was suffering. Maybe he grew up and became more responsible. I like to think that he returned to his soul’s nature. "The soul manifests the very reason for our existence; it is the one part of our being that directly reflects our connection to God, our creator"^..

Judah had, hidden in his soul, the virtue of "Teshuvah". He had the potential of change, and we, his descendants, also have the same potential.

A last question we can ask is: Why does the Torah cut the story about Joseph and his brothers at the end of parashat Miketz? Why do we need to wait one week to read about Judah’s answer to Joseph? Was it not more logical to link both stories and include them in the same parasha?

I believe that here is also hidden an important lesson: Teshuvah is a process which takes time. Important changes need to mature. We know that both Judah and Joseph needed time to change.

We also need time to change, but change is possible. We can definitely learn more, we can be more committed to our Judaism and we can be better people. And even though we are talking about a process which can last the entire life, the right time to start it is now!