The Best Time to Begin Again Is Now: A Powerful Lesson from Parashat Ki Tavo

A Jewish man had been imprisoned for many years, unable to live a full Jewish life or observe many practical mitzvot. He could not hear the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, sit in a sukkah on Sukkot, eat matzah at the Passover Seder, or fulfill many other commandments that were impossible within the confines of prison.

Then, unexpectedly, he was granted permission to leave prison for one day. He could choose any day he wished.

Which day should he choose? Perhaps Rosh Hashanah, so he could hear the shofar? Maybe Yom Kippur, so he could participate in the stirring prayers of the day in synagogue? Or perhaps Passover, so he could sit at a Seder and fulfill the mitzvah of eating matzah? What was the most important day on which to use this precious opportunity?

One of the great halachic authorities, Rabbi David ibn Zimra, known as the Radbaz, who died in 1573, was asked this very question. His answer was remarkable: Leave prison now.

If you have the opportunity to be free for one day, do not spend another unnecessary moment in prison. Leave at the first possible opportunity and fulfill whatever mitzvot you can perform immediately, whether praying with a minyan, honoring your parents, or performing another mitzvah unavailable to you while incarcerated.

The Radbaz explains: "One does not pass over mitzvot... Therefore, the first mitzvah that comes to his hand that he cannot perform while imprisoned takes precedence. We do not consider whether the mitzvah that comes first is minor or major, for you do not know the reward of the mitzvot" (Responsa Radbaz 4:13).

Many of us might have advised the prisoner to wait for the holiest day of the year or for the opportunity to perform a particularly significant mitzvah. The Radbaz, however, tells him not to wait. Why? Because the most important time is now. There is no moment more significant than the one presently in our hands.

Every Day Is a New Beginning

This idea takes on even greater meaning in light of two verses in Parashat Ki Tavo. Moshe tells the Jewish people: "This day the Lord your God commands you to perform these statutes and ordinances, and you shall observe and perform them with all your heart and with all your soul" (Deuteronomy 26:16).

Moshe said these words nearly forty years after the revelation at Mount Sinai. Why, then, does he say, "This day the Lord your God commands you"? Had the Torah not been given almost four decades earlier?

Rashi, citing the Midrash, explains: "Every day, they should be new in your eyes, as though you were commanded concerning them that very day." In other words, imagine that Mount Sinai happened today. Approach Torah with the excitement and awe you would feel if you had just heard the voice of God speaking to you from Heaven.

The same idea appears later in the parasha: "Moshe and the Levitic priests spoke to all Israel, saying: Be silent and listen, Israel. This day you have become a people to the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 27:9). Once again, Rashi explains that every day should feel "as though today you entered into a covenant with Him."

Rabbeinu Bachya develops this idea further. Human beings are naturally affected by what is directly before their eyes. When something is visible, we remember it; when it disappears from sight, we tend to forget. The miracles of Mount Sinai did not remain physically visible forever, and therefore the Torah urges us to keep the experience alive within ourselves. Our faith during times of concealment should remain as strong as it was during moments of revelation. Torah should remain fresh and precious, and the experience of Sinai should remain alive in our consciousness.

Rabbeinu Bachya also notes that the verse begins with the words "this day" and ends with "with all your soul." A person should devote himself to God at all times with the same intensity he would have felt on the day the Torah was given, when the Jewish people witnessed the fire and miracles of Mount Sinai.

Want to Change? Start Now

This teaches us a fundamental principle of spiritual growth. When a person wants to move forward, the time to begin is now.

From his perspective, everything can begin today. Today he received the Torah. Today he entered into a covenant with the Creator. Whatever happened yesterday does not prevent him from beginning again, and whatever tomorrow may bring does not need to concern him at this moment. Right now, he can receive the Torah anew and start fresh.

We find this principle at the very beginning of human history. After Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge, the Torah records God saying, "Behold, man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand and also take from the Tree of Life, and eat, and live forever..." (Genesis 3:22).

The Midrash focuses on the words ve'atah, "and now." Rabbi Abba bar Kahana teaches that God was opening a door of repentance for Adam: "'And now' refers to repentance," as we also find in the verse, "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you?" (Deuteronomy 10:12; Bereishit Rabbah 21).

Even immediately after Adam's sin, God opened the door and said, in effect: You can begin again. And the time to begin is now.

This is a profound principle for anyone who longs for positive change. Do you want to change? Do you want to return to your inner purity and become the person you know you can be? Begin now. Do not wait for the perfect opportunity, because that opportunity may never arrive.

Don't Let the Past Prevent a New Beginning

One of the greatest obstacles to teshuvah is the weight of the past. A person may look back at years of mistakes and feel overwhelmed. How can I possibly repair everything? How can I remove all the stains that have accumulated over so many years?

The Torah offers another way of looking at ourselves: imagine that your life is beginning now. Think of yourself as having just received the Torah. Imagine that you have only now entered into a covenant with God. Everything is new. Everything is fresh. From this moment onward, you can become a new person.

Of course, beginning again does not mean that the past never needs to be repaired. Teshuvah certainly includes taking responsibility for what has happened and correcting what can be corrected. But the first step toward repairing the past is refusing to remain trapped inside it. The first step is to begin again, here and now.

We cannot exercise free choice over what has already happened. Nor do we choose many of the circumstances into which we are born. We also cannot yet make choices about a future that has not arrived. What we do possess is free choice in the present moment. Given everything that exists right now, how will I choose to act?

The Torah asks us to approach each moment as though we have just entered into a covenant with God, bringing to it the excitement, freshness, and enthusiasm of a new beginning.

"And Now, Do Not Be Sad"

When Yosef revealed his identity to his brothers, he told them: "And now, do not be distressed, and do not be angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life" (Genesis 45:5).

Once again, the Torah uses the word ve'atah, "and now." Yosef gives his brothers the opportunity to stop being imprisoned by their past. They can acknowledge what they did, repent, and rebuild their relationship with him in the present.

The Sfat Emet explains that Yosef's words contain a message for every person who wishes to return to God: "And now, do not be sad." The expression "and now" represents teshuvah. If you are returning and sincerely regretting what you have done, do not allow that regret to turn into paralyzing sadness. True teshuvah is reached through joy and love, not through despair.

How can a person remain consumed by sadness when today he has received the Torah anew? How can he believe that everything is lost when today he has entered into a new covenant with his Creator?

The message of Parashat Ki Tavo is simple but transformative. We do not need to wait until we have repaired everything, until circumstances are perfect, or until a particularly inspiring day arrives.

We can begin again today, and we can rediscover God's boundless love and renew our relationship with Him.

The right time is not someday; it is now.