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The Gemara recounts how the Sages told R’ Zeira, “One should always reject with the left hand and embrace with the right” (Sotah 47b). R’ Zeira, however, preferred to focus on the sin, not the sinner. He had faith that even a hard-core sinner, even a hoodlum who is wicked towards G-d and wicked towards people, has a very positive seed hidden away in his soul, which over time can eventually overpower all evil and hooliganism. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 37b) quotes Reish Lakish, who taught, “Even the empty among you are as full of virtuous deeds as a pomegranate.” R’ Zeira went even further and deduced the notion of highlighting the positive even in negative people.

How does one become a real baal teshuvah? What is true repentance? Chazal tell us there are numerous ways to repent, but usually, in each instance, it requires an awakening in a person’s soul, which allows him to see the folly of his ways and thereby repent. The question is: How does one achieve that “awakening”? There are a number of ways....

A young married man living in Jerusalem began to experience symptoms of a serious illness, and although at first he hoped it was nothing to be concerned with, it soon became clear that he required medical attention. He was friendly with a prominent and influential Israeli layman who had contacts with numerous doctors in various hospitals, and he turned to this man for advice.

The following story is related by Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser shlit’a and illustrates how a Jew can merit unique Divine intervention if he or she stands up for what is right. The story took place in Eretz Yisroel and is about a poor bride named Rena who could not afford her own wedding gown and needed to resort to procuring one from a free-loan gemach organization. She did her research and found such an organization that had just what she was looking for. The problem was that it was in a distant city, and she would have to travel there if she wanted the gown.

The Yamim Noraim tefilos in the Chevron Yeshivah in Jerusalem were always a rousing experience. Opening the beis medrash door on Rosh HaShanah felt as though one were standing on the brink of a fiery furnace. The Shemoneh Esrei sounded just the way it is described in the Shulchan Aruch: not spoken aloud, but rather in a hum, trembling and prolonged. Krias HaTorah was unhurried and articulate, and the shmuess before shofar blowing, given by the Rosh Yeshivah, R’ Yechezkel Sarna ZT”L, was awe-inspiring, leaving the tzibbur with an almost palpable wave of fear and trembling.

Reb Shmuel Strauss, a great-grandson of the Baal Shem of Michelstadt, lived in Karlsruhe, Germany, and managed a small bank that his father-in-law had founded. From the start, it was evident that Reb Shmuel possessed unrivaled business acumen. As a man of integrity, many entrusted their entire savings to him, enabling him to support his family in comfort.