Oros HaTeshuva 4:2

Rabbi Silber continues Rav Kook's Oros HaTeshuva, unpacking the idea that a person's own willpower is never enough, by itself, to accomplish real change — because change is the hardest thing in the world. He connects this to the Midrashic image of Hashem saying, "Open for Me an opening the size of the eye of a needle, and I will widen it into a gate wide enough for wagons to pass through." Rav Kook's twist, he explains, is that this isn't only about Hashem finishing what you started — the moment you make that smallest opening, you tap into the very power that renews all of nature, the same force that regrows the trees each spring. The catch is that no one else can make that first opening for you; the beginning has to come from you alone.

• Real change is the hardest thing in the world, and willpower alone is rarely enough to accomplish it.
• You only need to create the smallest opening for change; Hashem promises to widen it into something far bigger.
• No one else can start your personal teshuva for you — the first step has to be yours alone.
• Once you begin, you tap into the same universal force that renews nature every spring, not just your own effort.