The Jewish people, and a plan for Teshuva

There is (or was--I don't know anyone who does this anymore) a custom to fast on the day before Rosh Hashanah.  The classic halachic work of the 14th century, the Tur, by Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher, describes this minhag as being based on a Midrash.

The Midrash Tanchuma describes a king to whom a state owes taxes or tribute.    The king himself, after some time, comes to the city with a great army to collect the taxes.   When he gets to some distance still far from the city, the great citizens of the country come out to greet him and say "We don't have anything to give you."   So he forgives 1/3 of the tax debt.   When the king gets closer, the basic, good people come out and he forgives another 1/3.     Finally, when he gets closer to the country, the entire population comes out to greet him and he forgives the whole thing.

So, too, the Midrash says, the Jewish people and God.  We have sinned, and God, as it were, comes to us.   The great people fast on Erev Rosh Hashanah, and God forgives 1/3.   Then, during the ten days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the basic, good people fast, and God forgives 1/3.   Finally, on Yom Kippur, the entire nation fasts, and God forgives us for all of the sins.

Midrashim are not meant to be taken literally in most cases (see Rabbi Avraham ben haRambam's introduction to Midrash, printed in the front of many copies of the book Ein Yaakov).   So what does this Midrash mean?

A very basic reading reveals several important ideas:  That the Jewish people---great and not so great, pious and not so pious-- are connected together.  There is no such thing as complete spiritual success for a righteous person so long as the nation of Israel is not spiritually successful, because 1) we are all connected by bonds of family, and 2) we are all connected by bonds of mission--our goal as a Nation can only be fulfilled by the entire nation.

Another idea is that Teshuva is a process.  Erev Rosh Hashanah is a certain level, the ten days of repentance another level, Yom Kippur an even higher one.   The way we approach the repentance of these days cannot be just "okay, it'sThe time for me to repent."   We all have failings, some large and some small.   Some sins are bigger or smaller because of the nature of the sin.   Others are bigger or smaller depending on how deeply rooted the sin is in our habit.   (A big sin committed once but easily abandoned in the future may be easier to atone for than smaller sins that are deeply rooted).

The Beit Yosef, the commentary on the Tur by Rabbi Yosef Caro, asks a question about the above Midrash.   How can the Midrash imply that Erev Rosh Hashanah is the equivalent of Yom Kippur and of the entire ten days of repentance, since it atones for the same amount/quality/etc. of sin (1/3).  How can this be, he asks?    His answer is that the first 1/3 is the easiest to atone for.  The 2nd third is more difficult, and the third 1/3, which are forgiven on Yom Kippur, are the most difficult.

Perhaps this gives us a schedule for spiritual preparation.   When thinking about our sins (and our failures to do positive mitzvot, and our character failings), we start with the easier things and move on to the more difficult things.    We don't want Yom Kippur to come by and our minds are a jumble of memories of failings and faults.   Instead, we want it to arrive having planned which are the sins and failings to work on first, before Rosh Hashanah, which are either bigger or more deeply rooted and need more time, and which are the worst, most deeply rooted and need for their fixing (and the resultant forgiveness) the profound breaking of the heart that is often characteristic of Yom Kippur.

Each person knows their own heart and their own past.   There is still much to accomplish in this process, and if we do it in an organized way, much time to be successful at it.