Your Time is Running Out

Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim

If you are not Torah observant, now is a vital time to make that change. Prior to Yom Kippur, we rise early and recite selichos (forgiveness prayers). With God’s looming judgment, we return to our senses and realize that we are His created entities, with conditional existence. This realization is lost throughout the year as our focus on earning, family and health obscures our mortality, and our debt to God for our very lives. 

This particular Selicha 57 below references Pirkei Avos’ warnings and advice regarding significant human flaws. The Rabbis desired that all people benefit from a Torah life that earns us the most satisfying earthly existence, and an eternal afterlife. For there is no greater loss than losing our soul’s eternal existence once we physically pass away. Many Jews sadly reject God’s will, and some are yet ignorant. But we are fortunate for our Torah knowledge and must now apply it. 

Selicha 57 

Let the wicked one forsake his path and humble his arrogant heart. Let him return to God.

While he is not yet cut off, nor his [last] day come. Forsake, O son of man, forsake! 

Arrogance is singled out as the primary cause of sin, for with it, one rejects God. Thus, he is told to “return to God.”

Forsake the grime [of sin] and evil talk, before you go flying from this world like doves to their cote, and the Collector comes to retrieve the pledge (your life that was on loan).  Therefore, repent! And remember the day that must come, for the day is short and the work is great. O, who will take this to his heart!

While he is not yet cut off, nor his [last] day come. Forsake, O son of man, forsake! 

Specific sins are now listed starting with evil talk. Arrogance propels man to deride his brother to inflate his self worth. But this is fantasy: evil talk changes nothing of your status, as status is imaginary.  God tells us He will retrieve our lives at some point, “That day must come.” Death is inevitable, and this realization should direct man to fear punishment for sin, and follow what secures eternal life.  The repeating stanza “While he is not yet cut off…” aims to impress upon us that vivid reality we wish to hide from. For we all will definitely pass on. Now is the time to face our mortality, and accept our temporary existence so we might repent. 

Forsake the vain indulgences of this world, distance yourself (from them], for tomorrow you shall weep over what you laugh at today. And in your Adversary's book your writing will not be erased; no payment will avail nor a bribe secretly passed. The workers are lazy, the Employer urgent, for the Adversary (your evil deeds) is coming, he stands ready with his case (to accuse you at death).

While he is not yet cut off, nor his [last] day come. Forsake, O son of man, forsake! 

Here we are directed to accept the brevity and severity of seeking vain pleasures. And if we remain sinful until death, there is no changing our crime, for which we must pay: “The adversary stands ready with his case” refers to our history of sin which is recorded indelibly and testifies against us. Anticipating regret can help us get passed the momentary urge to sin, and appreciate the larger and eternally-damning view of how we harm our soul for a mere moment of pleasure: a tragic trade-off. “Lazy workers” and the “urging Employer” help us contrast our feeble natures against God’s relentless insistence, which can motivate us toward repenting. The inevitability of our responsibility and loss can quell our sinful desires. 

Forsake the world's ephemeral values, for Gehinnom is arranged with every flame and torch. Please remember your end when you will robbed of all, for every brother will say, “pitiful you” and every friend, “you wandered off.” Therefore repent! And prepare yourself in the vestibule (this world) in order to enter the banquet hall (the World to Come).

While he is not yet cut off, nor his [last] day come. Forsake, O son of man, forsake! 

The theme of caving to our lusts continues, now highlighting punishment. But we are encouraged to view earthly life as only a preparatory stage—a vestibule—not a destination. Man’s immortality fantasy fools him that all that exists is an earthly life. Not so, we all die, but we can ensure or souls transcend Earth and endure eternally in a blissful manner.  How can you not want this?

Forsake the Evil Inclination that your soul loves, and say, “My soul, better that you should be in pain, than be gratified by drawing from another well!” And if your soul should say, “Who will testify what I do lying in bed?” [The reply is] The book is open, and the Hand is writing, so repent, and be worthy in the time to come.

While he is not yet cut off, nor his [last] day come. Forsake, O son of man, forsake! 

We are warned to address our evil inclination in dialogue, treating it as an animated being that opposes what is best for your soul. Turn your emotions on the evil instincts and be angry with them: tell them to go unsatisfied, “be in pain.” Treating your instincts like a villain, you might find greater energy to fight them, as you would fight a robber. 

Forsake this world’s pleasure and joy before your spirit wanders in every corner and direction, and your eyes see an open Gehinnom, where your soul will be burned and cut off. For you come from a putrid drop (semen), and you go to a place of ruin, the grave, and you will render an account to God, who makes the clouds his chariot.

While he is not yet cut off, nor his [last] day come. Forsake, O son of man, forsake! 

Rabbi Israel Chait taught that by recalling your inceptional state as a putrid drop of semen, knowing you came from nothing, you can weaken your pride, which fuels sin. Knowing we encounter the grave also drains our self-image and halts sin. “Rendering an account to God” focuses us on our accountability for our sins. 

Your time is running out. But God immediately forgives us during these last few days until Yom Kippur ends…if we sincerely repent. Do so, that you might inherit the good God makes available to you.