T'hilim Psalms, Kohelet Ecclesiastes 5-12-04

T'hilim Psalms, Kohelet Ecclesiastes 5-12-04, I'll just put up the date, since I'm losing track of how many sessions. Next week we won't be having class, since it's Chanukah vacation from schools, and everyone's busy.

T'hilim still on chapter 32
1- There's always tshuva, repentence. One mustn't give up on it.
n'su'i pesha one whose sin is forgiven
think of the old type of scale, the balance changes, tips the other way
re: last week's parsha Bereishit 38
Yehuda gets into trouble with everybody "goes down"
one sin brings another, a downward spiral
according to medrash, after the birth of his third son, he started tshuva and went to all of his brothers (and father and grandfather) to ask forgiveness
medrash- his tshuva elevated him and he was in a position of leadership, part of the beit din, court, and sat as head of it, between his father and grandfather (who was still alive, though not in a position of leadership)

it was this court that convicted Tamar, and her response was to go to Yehuda and show the proof of who the father of her unborn child was. She didn't say YOU. She showed him the pledge left with her, and waited for him to admit it which he did. For this he did more tshuva, for each sin he discovered (besides admitting to Yaakov what happened to Yosef.)

His tshuva and trials put him on a much higher level than Yosef, who was so "perfect"
That's why G-d tempts us with opportunities to sin to make us strong resisting them. We don't use all of our potential and we must. (Maybe that's why so many Israeli kids, including my Nedavya, travel the world after the army. They've gotten so strong in the army they want further testing.)

We must find our talents to utilize all of our potential in a positive way.

If a person does tshuva, G-d doesn't reveal to toher old sins.

Job XX, 27, If we don't do tshuva, then G-d reveals the sins to others
The good deeds, mitzvot, chessed to others become one's clothes in the next world. If one begins to sin and regrets previous mitzvot, then one loses the clothes.

Tehilim XXXII, 5 reveals sin to G-d and no one else knows of it, protects us
A person can't be a witness against himself and no one else knows of it, so he's not punished if he does tshuva. If no other witness, not guilty.