You 2.0

Working in Israeli high tech for almost a decade has taught me some amazing things about teshuva.   

I always thought a new version of an application was a completely new improvement. Kind of like the telephone. The first version was the land line. The second was the remote, where you could take the receiver anywhere you wanted in the house. The third was the mobile where you could take anywhere. The fourth was the Smartphone, where you had a computer inside that was more powerful than the one that sent a man to the moon.   

These are the improvements I think of when someone releases a new version of something.   

It’s not the case.   

When a developer releases a new version of their application, they are only improving it in one area. It could be a minor release, because a certain page wasn’t working. It could be a major release, like a new feature or a new look to their user interface.   

It could be a full-on version release where they revamp their entire application on the scale of going from land line to remote receiver.   

In all cases, these updates are developers responding to problems, answering user complaints, or finding ways to improve their product in a certain area.   

When they release the new version, even if the changes were minor or limited, the application is presented as a completely new product.  

Troubleshooting  

Troubleshooting is a great term that we can apply to our daily life.   

In development, it means finding the problem, diagnosing exactly what is wrong, and painstakingly trying solution after solution until the issue is ultimately resolved.   

We should do the same with our day. When something goes wrong, like reaching into our pocket for a quarter and pulling out a dime, we need to troubleshoot.   

1. Why did this happen? (Finding the problem) 
2. What does Hashem want me to do to fix it? (Diagnosing the problem) 
3. Is this the right way to conduct myself going forward? (Trying a solution) 
4. Is the problem solved? If not, go back to step 2. (Trying solution after solution until the issue is fully resolved)  

In parshat Tzaria-Metzoria, we learn that getting a blemish, tzaraat (spiritual form of leprosy) is a problem. The Kohen sees it and diagnoses it:

You are impure. You must go into quarantine. You cannot come out until you fix yourself and Hashem makes you pure.  

The Kohen handles step 1. You have to take steps 2 and 3. For days, weeks even, you try harder and harder to improve. Gradually, the tzaraat blemish begins to recede.  

In step 4, you go to the Kohen for inspection.  

It’s like taking the new version of your application to the Quality Assurance team and asking if the fixes are sufficient to release the new code inside the application.  

He says, “Yes! You are pure.” The solution worked.   

He can say, “No! You are still impure.” The solution failed. Try something else or do what you are doing better.   

He can say, “Getting there. Seven more days in quarantine and we will check again.” The solution is working. Keep it up and you will get it.   

A spiritual blemish is like a bug in the system. It is like a cancer in the body. If we don’t destroy it, it will destroy us. Something must be done right away.   
 

A New Version of Teshuva  

For applications, we have error messages. In the desert and when the Temple stood, Hashem blessed us with tzaraat.   

Today we have tribulations for all the things we need to fix inside us. Like an application, our fixes can be resolving problems or making improvements.  

We can have tribulations for errors like: 

• Judging people unfairly.  
• Speaking gossip or negative comments about someone else.  
• Acting too comfortably with a member of the opposite sex.  

We can make improvements like: 

• Learn a chapter of Shmirat Haloshon each day and apply it 
• Find one good point in everyone we meet. Recite in a whisper whenever we pass someone, “Hashem, may You bless my brother (or sister) with parnasah (income), happiness, and peace.” 
• Wake up thirty minutes earlier each morning to recite Psalms or learn Torah.  

 When you resolve each issue, like the next version of the app, you become a new version of yourself. You are the latest version of you also released to the public.   

You are a new and improved version of yourself, the you 2.0. You are uplifted. Everything in your neshama is in a new place. Everyone around you will feel it.   

An application can go through a new version every month, every day even. We also can re-create ourselves just as much, finding favor from God with each new improvement.   

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David Ben Horin is the writer and trader for Endurance Investing & Trading Daily. He lives in the Jezreel Valley with his wife and children, lots of Jews, Arabs, and the occasional shepherd.