A congregant told me that he was asked about T’shuvah (repentance) by his granddaughter. He was thinking about how to explain it to her when he cut himself shaving. He got a little blood on his shirt, and though his wife told him about it, he decided to leave it for later. Sure enough, by the end of the day he had let the stain slip his mind, and try as he might to remove the stain, it faded but left a permanent mark on his collar. It was then that he realized how he could explain it to her.
Just like the stain on his collar, if we make a mistake in life we should take care of it right away, lest it leave a stain that will be with us forever. Yet like the words of Isaiah that we read on Yom Kippur:
Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson, they shall be like [new] wool.
though they are red as crimson, they shall be like [new] wool.
(Isa. 1:18)
We are reminded that we can cleanse ourselves, no matter how stain-soaked we have become. At the same time, the sooner we deal with our “stains,” the easier it is to get out the scarlet and crimson on our souls.
(DNY-Inspired by Marcos Fintz)
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