Volume 29 Aseres Yemei Teshuva

We may understand this with an explanation on the verse in its entirety.

In Isaiah 55, verse 6, we read, "...seek out God when he is to be found, call upon him when he is near." The verse seems to be repetitive, seek him when he's found, call to him when he's near.

On a literal level, we can say this repetitive wording is to give the verse more elegant expression.

But according to halacha, to Jewish law and a deeper explanation, it's likely that these two phrases are two individual instructions, each one containing a unique thought.

Additionally, in the two parts of the verse, there are changes made.

One, in the action man is to take, seeking God.

or calling out to God, and two, in God's responsive revelation to men, when he's found and when he's near.

And when we consider that these are two different aspects of one verse, it's reasonable to suggest that these two ideas are actually interdependent.

On the one hand, because God is found, we can find him, we need to seek him out.

As a result of his nearness to us, his closeness should motivate our calling out to him.

Notably, the basic explanation of this verse, when it says that God can be found or is near, isn't as a result of our seeking him or our calling out to him.

Unlike the verse in the portion of Aschanan, when Moshe tells the nation, And from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him, if you search for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

This verse is about seeking God out and finding him because of the quest.

But in our verse, man's finding God is due to his presence and availability.

To explain this, the word, when he can be found, behimatzo, is sourced in the word metzia, a discovery, which suggests something that one happens upon without the effort of a search.

This in turn tells us that this closeness and revelation of God that a Jew experiences at this time, described with the words, when you can find him, is because of God's revelation to all, even to those who aren't deserving of this type of revelation on their own merit, It's a discovery that's not associated with merit like a Jew who has yet to do Teshuvah.

And this is a special connection of the verse to the 10 days of repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and the concept of Teshuvah.

At the beginning of a year when a person makes a sincere and honest soul assessment of his actions, his speech, and his thoughts over the past year, and he knows in his innermost heart that his spiritual life is really quite distant from where it should optimally be, one might become despondent about his situation and think only of his unworthiness to come close to God.

And thus he is instructed, seek Hashem, for he has now found in these 10 days of Tshuva, you can reach for God and discover him independent of one's worthiness.

And that he hasn't properly prepared, one who hasn't properly prepared himself for finding God, because God is present and accessible.

In which case a person's spiritual status isn't relevant, nor does it matter if his spiritual service during the year is proper and he's worthy of the closeness.

In fact, even if a person doesn't work at seeking God, in accordance with the instruction of from there you shall seek God, you will find him, since this is a discovery that isn't precipitated by a search, God is accessible to every Jew equally.