Yom Kippur: Never Give Up!

Translated from Rabbi Arush’s feature article in the weekly Chut shel Chessed newsletter. The articles focus on his main message: “Loving others as yourself” and emuna.


One Shabbos with Everlasting Influence

It was Shabbos Nachamu of 5570/1810, only two months before Rebbe Nachman passed away. He had been suffering with tuberculosis for three years, and his lungs were wasted. He was often stricken with bouts of strong coughing, during which he would spit up blood.

Over the years, the Rebbe had developed a schedule of special annual occasions when all the chassidim would arrive and he would deliver a lengthy shiur in chassidus. During the rest of the year, chassidim would arrive simply to spend a Shabbos in Breslov – and later in Uman – with the Rebbe, even if he was not going to deliver any shiur.

On this particular Shabbos Nachamu, hundreds of chassidim happened to gather in Uman. They hoped that the large gathering would inspire the Rebbe to deliver a shiur, and he acquiesced despite his weakness. He spoke quietly, almost in a whisper, but suddenly he screamed out his famous words, “Gevald! Don’t ever give up! There is no such thing as yiush – no such thing as a hopeless situation!”

These words, and that Shabbos, became engraved deep in the hearts of the chassidim. It was not long before these words spread throughout the Jewish world. Today, they continue to inspire countless people with hope. The words have been featured on stickers and decals, and they have been used as the lyrics for several tunes.

A Cry from Deep Within the Heart

We have become so familiar with these words, however, that their meaning has been lost to us. They have become just another slogan, a decal to be pasted on the back of our cars. If that is the case, we are missing out on a deep, fundamental aspect of our approach to life. Let’s put a little thought into it now.

Rebbe Nachman told his chassidim that his life was short in years, but that it was one long stretch of spiritual growth. He became a unique individual in the annals of our history. He had attained a high level of piety before his trip to Eretz Yisrael, but when he returned home from that trip, he said he felt embarrassed by how little he had accomplished before experiencing the sanctity of the Land. And he continued to climb the ladder to spiritual perfection year after year, until his passing.

On Rosh Hashanah of 5571/1810, two months after that Shabbos Nachamu, Rebbe Nachman delivered his final shiur. He was terribly weak and ill, and he could barely speak, but he pushed himself with superhuman strength. Only those closest to him could hear what he said. For most of the chassidim, the last sentence they heard him say was the one he screamed out on Shabbos Nachamu with all his remaining strength. It is obvious that this is what he wanted his chassidim to remember and keep in mind for all future generations: “There is no such thing as yiush!”

A Central Principle

This slogan, therefore, encapsulates all of Rebbe Nachman’s teachings. He said this at the peak of his spiritual life, and it became his last will and testament for all generations. This is what he wanted to leave with each and every one of us: Never to give up or lose hope. Everything else depends on this. It is a central feature of the Torah and mitzvot.

When is it that people tend to lose hope? It is not at a time when everything is going well and successfully. No one gives up at times like that, and the yetzer hara has little influence on us. No, the yetzer hara lies in wait for a moment when people feel they have fallen, when they have failed. At those times, the yetzer hara starts up, telling us, “You realize now that you are a failure, that you have never accomplished anything good. So what’s the use of continuing to try? You’ll never succeed, and you know it.”

Over the years, I have met thousands of baalei teshuvah who came to me filled with enthusiasm, hoping to entrench themselves in the world of kedushah and of being attached to Hashem. Some were young men hoping to climb the ladder of spiritual perfection, while others were heads of young families with sincere intentions. A year or two later, however, I would see that their spiritual quests had been placed on hold, and that at best they were on autopilot regarding the mitzvot that they fulfilled each day. Others had strayed far off the path.

Rebbe Nachman’s message is that we have to hold ourselves together even when we see that we have fallen. He never attempted to hide the fact that failings are inevitable, and that they are part and parcel of our lives. He described the road to teshuvah as a zigzag. We climb, and then we fall, climb and fall. If someone gives up hope because he sees that he has fallen, he will never try to climb back up. He won’t even realize that the possibility exists. Reb Noson testified that every tzaddik accomplished what he did because he kept on trying even when he fell or failed.

Rebbe Nachman felt this is such an important principle that he made sure to shout it out so that it would echo permanently across the entire world: “There is no such thing as yiush!”

Oceans of Hope

Rebbe Nachman taught us many things: emunah, kedushah, humility, and all the middos tovos. But if someone doesn’t know how to keep on hoping, nothing will stick. The idea that there is always hope is one of Rebbe Nachman’s greatest gifts to our nation. Our generation is one of many spiritual downs, and without a foundation of hope there is no way that we will be able to do teshuvah. When Rebbe Nachman screamed out, “There is no such thing as yiush!” he did so for us, for each and every one of us, no matter what happens or what we have done.

On Yom Kippur, we all stand and knock on our hearts as we recount the many sins we have committed. We do it ten times over the course of the holy day. After beating ourselves down repeatedly, how are we supposed to keep on going? All we can see in front of us is mounds and mounds of sin! At the same time that we recite this confession, we are sure that we are just going to go back and do the same things over again. That ought to break us completely.

But the message of Yom Kippur is: Yes, we know what you have done. We know how far you have fallen and how much you are missing. Nevertheless, Hashem wants to forgive you. He wants to cleanse you and purify you, and He does this every single year. He is our loving Father, and He will always be there to forgive you. Never give up hope! Just recite the confession and start over again, even if it is the thousandth time.

Yom Kippur is not only a day of atonement; it is a day filled with deep hope. If there is atonement, then there is hope as well. This is what we need the most. Never give up hope! And with Hashem’s help, we will not give up. We will continue to strive and fight to climb higher, and we will always be ready to start all over again.

 
These words are for the benefit of the soul of my innocent grandson Shalom ben Asaf and Rivka, a”h, who taught us the immense power of knowing that there is no such thing as yiush (despair).