TESHUVA ON TESHUVA
תשובה על התשובה
Shoots & Ladders Teshuva Technique:
From Fear of Falling,
to the Ladder of Return
HINTS OF ELUL
REFLECTIONS OF TESHUVA ON TESHUVA
Based on Day 10 Hints of Teshuva
CLICK HERE for Info on the Book:
Hints of Teshuva: A 31-Day Journey of Teshuva and Renewal
Teshuva al haTeshuva —
From fear of falling, to the ladder of return.
Shoots and Ladders Teshuva Technique:
The ALEF א alef represents the 5 LEVELS OF OUR SOUL
Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya / Yechida.
and the ארבע עולמות arba olamot —
The Top alef is the world of Atzilut Chaya /Yechida
The ו vav is truth, Neshama, our 6 Emotional Sefirot
a ladder joining heaven and earth.
ELUL IS THE LADDER!!!
The lower yud is the the world of Asiya / Nefesh / Malchut
Imagine playing the Game of Shoots and Ladders
and your piece lands on the lower י yud,
You shoot up the ו vav, the connecting ladder,
like a kav / line of light through your spine.
Like a rocket of golden light flow,
As your playing piece shoots up
and your arrive / land in Atzilut.
Your become Closer and closer to the Ohr Ein Sof
Practice
Can I play the game with myself?
To meet one part inside,
not deciding if it is good or bad —
just allowing it to be,
a being that suffers,
a vessel swirling with golden light.
And can I play the game with another?
Someone I see as “less”
less holy, less aligned, caught in the drama of this world.
Rav Kook says:
If only I knew how much hidden light they hold.
This is the ladder of compassion.
To see beyond judgment,
to see light in every vessel.
At first, we apologize
to be free of shame,
not to heal the wound.
but did i feel the love in that apology, in that teshuva?
an apology for the apology.
This is teshuva al haTeshuva — תשובה על התשובה —
to return again,
to release shame when it rises,
to see beyond failure
to the love that came before.
אַהֲבַת קֶדֶם Ahavat Kedem —
to the primordial love,
remembering our first state of closeness.
To let that memory bind us,
instead of pushing us apart.
Let us shift consciousness.
Start with five minutes a day.
Not to look at the other as good or bad —
Ich und Du (you and me)
but to suspend the critic.
From טוב ורע tov v’ra,
to עֵץ הַחַיִּים etz haChaim.
From fear of falling,
to the ladder of return.
Shoots and Ladders Meditation
From fear of falling,
to the ladder of return.
Close your eyes.
Feel your breath as Hashem’s breath in your spine.
We begin at the alef — א —
the root of the ארבע עולמות arba olamot:
The 5 levels of soul
Nefesh · Ruach · Neshama · Chaya · Yechida.
See yourself landing on the lower yud — י
small, humble, the beginning.
Look up
You see a ladder
a straight ו vav,
like a Stairway to Heaven
or a Gesher Tzar Meod, a Narrow Bridge
a line of truth,
stretching upward.
Feel the line of light through your spine,
a golden current rising like a rocket.
Climb the ladder
Shoot upward like light.
The vav connects you,
earth to heaven,
body to soul.
You land in a new space called Atzilut —
a world of not knowing
where orot b’keilim, light in vessels,
flows with no barrier.
Oneness
Play the game:
Find a part-ner
(within yourself)
Do not name it good.
Do not name it bad.
Just let it be —
a being, suffering,
yet also a vessel of golden light.
Let this light swirl around it,
from the surrounding light of the ohr ein sof
embrace it.
Say inwardly:
“Even this part is light.”
Now bring to mind another —
someone you see as challenging
a different “type” perhaps
someone less…less holy, less aligned, caught in the dramas of the world.
Let their vessel too
be filled with golden light.
Whisper inwardly:
“If only I knew how much light they hold.”
This is teshuva al haTeshuva — תשובה על התשובה.
At first, we feel badly
we apologize
or do teshuva
to ease our guilt or shame.
But higher teshuva
turns again —
beyond shame,
into love.
REMEMBERING IS GEULA
REMEMBER THE
אַהֲבַת קֶדֶם Ahavat Kedem —
the primordial love.
Remember it with all your senses
AHAVA
See Feel Touch Smell
Return to it.
Let it bind you closer,
instead of pushing you apart.
Five minutes a day.
Suspend the critic.
Not tov v’ra — good or bad.
But עֵץ הַחַיִּים etz haChaim —
the tree of life.
Climb the ladder.
Shoot upward.
Return again.
Not from fear
but from love.
This is TESHUVA FROM LOVE
REFLECTIONS OF TESHUVA ON TESHUVA
Based on a Shiur by Reva Emunah Seidel 8 Elul 5785
based on Rav Kook “Yesh Kanfei Ruach”
WE ARE BEING CALLED UPON
lo lehitchashev… לֹא לְהִתְחַשֵּׁב
try.
letting go of what you
think of your mistakes
can you try a different kind of teshuva?
letting go
from PROVING you are really sorry
not to tally mistakes,
not to prove our remorse.
Another teshuva is possible:
the teshuva of release.
With Hashem’s breath
in my spine.
ORIGINAL POEM BY
-HaRav Avraham Israel Kook - קוק הרב
“The Lights of Holiness” "אורות הקודש "
Human, rise up, rise up
You have strength within you
You have wings of spirit
Wings of powerful eagles
Do not deny them Lest they deny you
Seek them out
And you will find them without delay
בן אדם
עלה למעלה עלה
כי כוח עז לך יש לך כנפי רוח
כנפי נשרים אבירים
אל תכחש בם פן יכחשו לך
דרוש אותם ויימצאו לך מיד
“A Reading for Lofty Reflection”
(words quoted by Rahav-Meir from the original Hebrew)
Man! Consider by the light of the Divine Presence all of the material world…
Reflect about the wonders of Creation, their Divine Origins…
Know yourself, your world;
know the workings of your heart,
as well as that of anything that considers and thinks.
Identify the source of life,
both within you as well as above you and around you,
the beauty of the living generations in whose midst you find yourself.
The love that is within you, raise it as a most powerful inspiration…
Rise up and continue to ascend, because you possess great power.
You have wings of spirit, pinions of powerful eagles.
Do not deny them, lest they deny you.
Seek them out, and they will present themselves to you immediately.
Elul unfolds through its own letters
אלול / Alef, Lamed, Vav, Lamed …
Each day a remez — רמז — a hint.
Each hint a shaar — שער — a gateway.
Each gateway a teshuva — תשובה — a return.
A 31-Day Companion
of Teshuva & Renewal through
Torah · Meditation · Movement
This book invites you to walk gently into Elul …
one hint, one pasuk, one breath at a time.
Hints of Elul offers 31 daily gateways of Torah, meditation, breath, and movement — inspired by Rabbi Eyal Vered’s Rimzei Elul and the Rav Moshe Cordovero’s zt”l Tomer Devora. Each day opens with a hidden “hint” of Elul and unfolds into reflection, practice, and love — guiding you gently into the field, where the Beloved is waiting.
Each day offers:
• Torah teaching from the hidden roshei teivot of Elul לולא
• Tomer Devorah on the 13 Middot haRachamim
• Ahavat Yisrael practices for the heart
• Meditation, sound, & embodiment to root teshuva in the body
• Hitbodedut to bring the work into personal prayer
Rather than thunder or judgment, Elul arrives with hints — subtle invitations to return. This book guides you to listen, notice, and follow the path inward. The King is in the field; His face shines toward you. Every page is an open gate back to His embrace.
_______
$25 / ₪80 ILS Earlybird Price
(Full Price $36 / 100 ILS)
VIEW SAMPLE OF BOOK
ELEVATE ELUL
Sefer Tomer Devora - LEARN ONLINE
Sefer Tomer Devorah promotes imitating the Divine, presenting midos (character traits) of H-shem and explaining how to improve oneself by incorporating these midos into one’s life. By acting with these midos we become a Tzelem Elokim and we are mikayem the mitzva . “V’halachta b’drachav”. The reason the 13 midos are such a powerful tool for us to receive H-shem's mercy is because they are all about tolerance. These 13 midos and the idea of tolerance are fundamental to the whole creation.
Perek 27– כז Tehillim
A deeper look into Perek 27. All the 13 channels of compassion open on Rosh Chodesh Elul until Yom HaKippurim. All who read Perek 27 (כז') of Tehillim every morning and every evening beginning Rosh Chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur, the AriZal promises in that merit, your year will be a great year filled with blessings and even if there is a harsh decree from Shamayim it will be cancelled!
12 TRIBES /12 DAYS
12TRIBES /12DAYS Last 12 days of Elul 5779
Sept 18- Sept 29, 2019| 18 Elul - 29 Elul
The last 12 days of Elul arep arallel to the 12 months & the 12 tribes.This is an opportunity for us to review, cultivate and harmonize these 12 inner kochot of our soul in preparation for Rosh Hashanah.Each day, Nechama Sarah Burgeman will lead a meditation on the appropriate aiver / part of the body and cultivate its spiritual function. In this way, we will be prepared with our whole being for the coming year.