Day 16

Day 18

Positive Mitzvah 73: Confessing a sin
Leviticus 5:5 "And he shall confess that he has sinned"

"Ari, say you're sorry," advised Ari's mother.

"Admit you did something wrong," coaxed his father.

Ari felt sorry and upset that he had been careless playing with the ball and smashing his neighbor's window.

His parents were teaching him that feeling sorry is not enough.

In addition, it is very important to admit to doing wrong and apologize for it.

Feeling regret is only one step of doing Teshuvah and asking forgiveness.

This Positive Mitzvah requires us to actually state and say what we have done wrong. This is the main step of doing Teshuvah.

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In my first years studying in Lubavitch, I met other musicians who had also come to learn. We began to play together, eventually forming the first Chassidic Hard Rock Group, which we called, "The Baal Shem Tov Band". The formula was simple: We took traditional chassidic melodies and played them with a rock beat and rock harmonies at high distortion amplitudes. We had a good time. A reporter from the Village Voice even wrote that we were "electric". Eventually, we adopted into our band a Moroccan drummer and vocalist who had starred in one of the top bands in France. He told us how he had first come to speak with the Rebbe, with beads and sequins and hair to his knees. He told the Rebbe he wanted to abandon his music and return to the religious life of his childhood home.

The Rebbe answered him:

"Everything has purpose. Whatever you have picked up on your journey, if it is not evil, you must find in it the Divine. On the contrary, you must use your rock music for good things, and that way you will sublimate the world of rock."

From: Bringing Heaven Down to Earth by Tzvi Freeman - tzvif@aol.com

Day 16

Day 18