Haazinu: Don't Forget to Forget

Rabbi Silber's Parsha Thought on Haazinu, delivered ahead of Yom Kippur, unpacks the Kotzker Rebbe's teaching that Hashem gave the Jewish people the profound gift of forgetfulness — the ability to push tragedy and failure into the recesses of the mind so life can move forward. He explains that the avodah of the Aseres Yemei Teshuva has two distinct phases: first to remember everything and do a full accounting through teshuva, and then, once Yom Kippur ends, to forget — to close the book on the past year and step into a new one with a clean slate. Citing a striking teaching that a person can sin simply by not believing they can be forgiven, he urges that real teshuva must include fully trusting in the power of forgiveness.

• Hashem gave people the gift of forgetfulness so painful memories can move to the background instead of dominating daily life.
• The work of the Aseres Yemei Teshuva is to remember everything; the work after Yom Kippur is to forget and move forward.
• Not believing that you can truly be forgiven is itself a kind of sin worth correcting.
• Real teshuva means closing the book on the past year completely, not carrying its failures into the new one.
• What the coming year becomes depends less on what was decided on Rosh Hashana and more on what a person builds from it.