In this berakha we ask God for His assistance in our teshuba, repentance.
Literally, 'teshuba' menas 'coming back' , in the sense of 'coming back to the right path'.
This berakha says:
Bring us back our Father to Your Tora
'Sinning' is above all, a consequence of loosing temporarily our mind and reason. en adam ba lide chet... 'a person would not sin, unless he is possessed by a temporary spirit of foolishness'. When we recover our intelligence, as we requested in the previous blessing, the first thing we realize is that abandoning the right path was not a good idea...
And Bring us closer, our King, to Your service.
Tora is the 'Instructions Manual for life' and 'service' is God's worship, the application of what we study in Your Tora.
And make us return to You completely.
When we say: bring us , make us... we don't mean literally 'that'. Our moral actions are up to our freedom of choice. All what we are asking God is for 'help', assistance and 'inspiration' to do the right thing.
Baruch Ata.. harotse bistshuba.
Blessed are you, God, who desires/love 'repentance'. A very important Jewish principle is that God love us like a father loves his children. God does not take any enjoyment in punishing a bad son. As a loving Father, all God wants from His children is for come back to the right path. This is harotse bitshuba: God desires our teshuba, because He wants our good.
Rabbi Yosef Bitton. YMJC 130 Steamboat Rd. Great Neck NY 11024
