Original man was comprised of holiness and spirituality, but when Adam sinned, he introduced physicality to the mix. Man would never be the same; the complete state of purity in which man had existed was sullied, and there would always be a struggle between good and evil, spiritual and physical.
The act of teshuvah enables us to return to our desired state. Teshuvah enables us to rid ourselves of the taint of sin and allows us to fully reconnect with our soul and Maker.
We expend much effort to study and understand the process of teshuvah. Rabbi Rapps’s work is profound and deeply meaningful, especially during the period leading up to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Every English-speaking God-fearing person will find their life tangibly enhanced as they read and study this sefer, written by a preeminent scholar and expert in the realm of Jewish thought as expounded by the Maharal, the Ramchal, Rav Tzadok Hakohen, and the Sefas Emes. Our mutual rebbi, Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, spoke highly of Rabbi Rapps and accepted responsibility for him and his writings as he encouraged me to publish his columns in the Yated.
May this work inspire and motivate its readers to perform proper teshuvah and help prepare the world for the ultimate redemption.
Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
Rabbi Ahron Rapps, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Zichron Shraga, is a talmid of Mesivta Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and of Rav Moshe Shapiro, zt”l. He writes articles on divrei machshavah in Yated Ne’eman and has been giving shiurim on those inyanim in many venues. He has also been a madrich to his many talmidim over the years. He previously authored Emerging from Darkness: Chanukah, dealing with the Yom Tov of Chanukah as well as inyanim of galus and geulah. He is the rav of Kahal Sharei Tefilla of Blue Ridge in Waterbury, Ct. He can be reached at ahronrapps@yeshivanet.com.
