EXOD989 The levels of repentance and its virtues ["Where ba'alei teshuvah stand, complete tzaddikim many not stand" (Berachos 34b); "Great is repentance, whereby one's sins become merits" (Yoma 86b) (Zeh Hash'ar) are in accordance with the degree of one's bitterness and the intensity of one's anguish. It is this type of repentance [i.e., the higher levels of teshuvah] that emerges from the purity of one's soul and the refinement of its intellect. For the intensity and magnitude of anguish that one feels over his many sins is reflective of his understanding and awareness, as the pasuk says (Yeshayahu 57:16), "I shall not contend [with the sinner] forever, nor be angry for eternity, but only until the spirit before Me surrenders, and the souls [that] I made." This means: "When the spirit--which is 'before Me,' for it comes from the supernal realm [See Rashi]--surrenders and grieves, and the souls that I have made surrender, I will no longer be contentious with them, nor will I be angry. How can I not be graceful and merciful to a precious spirit that is 'before Me' and to the souls that I have made?" Consequently, to the extent that one's avodah [i.e. service of Hashem] of sighing weighs upon him, the transgression will be made lighter. This is because anguish emerges from the purity of the supernal soul, and leads to greater reconciliation than that which comes from intense bodily suffering and the pain associated with it. This can be illustrated as follows: A king shows compassion to his family members, who are brought up in his household and are part of the honored aristocracy. He will be more merciful with them than to those who are far removed and of lower status. The pasuk says, "the souls [that] I made," due to their closeness to the supernal realm, even though the body and all of creation are [also] His handiwork [i.e., Hashem shows greater compassion to that which is rooted in the upper spiritual domain.] In a similar vein [this verse]: "The tablets were Hashem's own work." [But isn't all creation Hashem's work? We see that such language points to a higher spiritual quality.] Furthermore, our Sages, z"l, said (Nidah 31a), "There are three partners to man: his father, his mother, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu." Since one's parents are not partners in the soul, therefore, the pasuk says, "the souls [that] I made." Thus, 'the souls [that] I made" is shedding light on the [beginning of the pasuk], "the spirit before Me," [i.e., as further proof that "before Me" denotes the soul's source from the supernal realm] the underlying idea being as we have explained [i.e., they are of greater significance in Hashem's eyes, and, consequently, the anguish of the spirit/soul lightens one's sin.]
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