1. The Torah says, “Seek Hashem when He is found”. The Talmud tells us that this verse specifically refers to the first ten days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, beginning with Rosh Hashanah (the first of Tishrei), and concluding with Yom Kippur (the tenth of Tishrei). These ten days are “Days of Repentance”.
2. During these ten days of repentance our Rabbis implemented the addition of Psalm 130 into the daily morning prayers. After the “Verses of Praise” and before the blessings preceding the Shema we say:
“A song of ascents, from the depths I call out to you Hashem. My L-rd, hearken to my voice; let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas. G-d, if You were to preserve iniquities, my L-rd, who could survive? But forgiveness is with You, that You may be feared. I hope in the L-rd; my soul hopes, and I long for His word. My soul yearns for the L-rd more than night watchmen waiting for the morning, wait for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the L-rd, for with the L-rd there is kindness; with Him there is abounding deliverance. And He will redeem Israel from all its iniquities”.
Aseres Yemei Teshuva – “The Ten Days of Repentance”
The Rebbe says:
1. The Torah says, “Seek Hashem when He is found”. The Talmud tells us that this verse specifically refers to the first ten days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, beginning with Rosh Hashanah (the first of Tishrei), and concluding with Yom Kippur (the tenth of Tishrei). These ten days are “Days of Repentance”.
2. During these ten days of repentance our Rabbis implemented the addition of Psalm 130 into the daily morning prayers. After the “Verses of Praise” and before the blessings preceding the Shema we say:
“A song of ascents, from the depths I call out to you Hashem. My L-rd, hearken to my voice; let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas. G-d, if You were to preserve iniquities, my L-rd, who could survive? But forgiveness is with You, that You may be feared. I hope in the L-rd; my soul hopes, and I long for His word. My soul yearns for the L-rd more than night watchmen waiting for the morning, wait for the morning. Israel, put your hope in the L-rd, for with the L-rd there is kindness; with Him there is abounding deliverance. And He will redeem Israel from all its iniquities”.
3. The Rebbe now explains why this specific Psalm is added to our prayers during the Ten Days of Repentance:
This Psalm is apropos to the Ten Days of Repentance because the theme of this Psalm is King David calling out to Hashem with repentance.
4. The Rebbe now starts elaborating on the first verse of this Psalm:
The first verse of the Psalm says, “A song of ascents, from the depths I call out to you Hashem”. We must notice that the word used is “depths”, plural form, and not “depth”, singular form. This must mean that there is more then one level of depth; there is the depth within the depth.
5. The Rebbe now quotes two opinions from the Zohar as to what, “From the depths I call out to you”, means:
The Zohar explains that there are two opinions as to what, “From the depths”, means:
Opinion one: Rebbi Yitzchak holds that “depths” is referring to the depths of the soul; King David or any Jew who recites this Psalm is calling out from their own depths.
Opinion two: Rebbi Aba holds that “depths” is referring to the depths of Holiness; when one calls out to Hashem through the recitation of this Psalm, their calling is from the depths of Holiness.
According to both opinions, the result of, “calling from the depths”, is Hashem sending a flow of energy from His infinite light, as the verse ends, “Hashem”.
6. The Rebbe now explains how these two opinions are not actually arguing:
These two opinions are not in disagreement with each other, they are merely talking about different stages in the process of bringing down a great revelation.
The full process is; when a person calls out from the depths of their heart through repentance, they tap into the depths of Holiness, which brings down a great revelation of Hashem’s infinite light.
Rebbi Yitzchak is discussing the beginning of this process; the person calling out from the depths of his heart, and Rebbi Abba is discussing the next stage of the process; from the depths of Holiness Hashem is aroused to send down a great revelation.
7. The Rebbe now explains how our repentance can elicit a revelation of Hashem’s infinite light:
Repentance can come in two forms:
#1) The person systematically changes his behavior; he takes one character trait at a time and changes it to the next level of purity.
#2) The person radically and completely changes himself to the extent that he is not at all associated with his previous status.
When a person changes himself so that he is a whole new being, he is being infinite; he is not growing in an orderly logical fashion. Therefore, he can illicit a revelation of Hashem’s infinite light.
7. The Rebbe now concludes with a Blessing:
When we call out to Hashem with the second level of repentance, we will cause the blessings of Hashem to shine upon us, and the ultimate blessing for a complete redemption speedily in our time. As the last two verses of the Psalm state, “…for with Hashem is kindness, and with Him is abundant redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all its iniquities”.
Translated and adapted by Shalom Goldberg and Mosheh Poltorak. Taken from Sefer Hamamorim Meluket, “Shir Hamalos Mimamakim Karasicha Hashem”.
