5 Nissan 5783 – 27 Maart 2023
כִּ֤י רֶ֨גַע ׀ בְּאַפּוֹ֮ חַיִּ֢ים בִּרְצ֫וֹנ֥וֹ בָּ֭עֶרֶב יָלִ֥ין בֶּ֗כִי וְלַבֹּ֥קֶר רִנָּֽה׃
G-d’s anger lasts only for a moment; when He wants to He gives us long life. When a person goes to bed at night crying because he regrets his sins, G-d accepts his repentance, and he will get up in the morning with joy.
From this we learn that negative things, which we perceive as punishment from Hashem, are for the better. He gives them so that we repent and thus receive forgiveness and long life. It also teaches that repentance, true repentance only goes with a broken heart. A heart that cries out to Hashem for forgiveness, a heart that weeps because it knows that because of mistakes, its relationship with Hashem has been damaged.
But this verse also teaches us that He is merciful and wants to forgive, that His “anger” is only for a moment.
This is also how we should treat our fellow man. Relationships can be damaged, but where people sincerely repent, we should go in Hashem’s footsteps and try to let go of our anger and want to repair relationships.
This is what we also read in the Riboni Shel Olam – prayer:
I hereby forgive
whoever has hurt me,
And whoever has done me
any wrong;
Whether it was
Deliberately or by accident,
Whether it was
Done by word or by deed
(See the whole prayer overhere)
A Prayer of the Repentant
A daily confessional prayer for Noahides suggested by Rabbi J. Immanuel Schochet:
O G-d, I have erred, sinned and willfully transgressed before You, and I have done that which is evil in Your eyes, especially with the sin(s) of … (state the specific sins or errors).
I am sincerely ashamed of my sins, and I repent and firmly undertake not to do so again.
Please G-d, in Your infinite grace and compassion, forgive my sins and transgressions and grant me atonement, as it is written: “Let the wicked abandon his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; let him return to G-d, and He will have compassion upon him, and [let him return] to our G-d, for He will pardon abundantly.” [Isaiah. 55:7] And it is written: “Do I desire at all that the wicked should die, says the L-rd, G-d; it is rather that he return from his ways and live!” [Ezekiel 18:23]
@ AskNoah
Let us return to Hashem and ask forgiveness for what we could have done better, and let us forgive our neighbours when they ask us forgiveness for the mistakes they committed.
By Angelique Sijbolts
Sources: ChabadAppTehillim, AskNoah PrayerBook
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