When They Ask Forgiveness, See Them as Greater Than Before | Tomer Devorah #9

**When someone hurts us, and then sincerely comes back asking for forgiveness, how should we see them?** The natural reaction may be to forgive them while still seeing them as the person who hurt us. For full playlist of this series Tomer Devorah -- How to Become Like Hashem, see: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF-aTKCqR7-o 00:00 - Introduction & Welcoming Channel Members 00:55 - The 7th of the 13 Attributes of Mercy (Yashuv Yerachameinu) 03:00 - Human Forgiveness vs. Divine Forgiveness 07:25 - The High Spiritual Level of the Ba'al Teshuvah 09:30 - Rambam's Laws of Repentance (Hilchot Teshuvah) 13:17 - What It Means to Truly Cleave to Hashem (Dvekut) 14:58 - Sincerity Across All Mitzvot (Magnifying Glass Analogy) 20:09 - Kabbalistic Structure: The Letter Hei and Escaping Descent 28:20 - Setting Up Safeguards and Fences (Syagim) 33:09 - Tractate Menachot 29b: The Opening and Crown of the Hei 37:52 - Why the Repentant Soul Ascends Beyond the Tzaddik 40:18 - Insights from the Holy Zohar: Avraham, David HaMelech & King Menashe 44:35 - Pardes Rimonim: Shattering the Klipot (External Shells) 50:35 - The 5th Palace of Gan Eden for the Ba'alei Teshuvah 55:12 - Practical Application: Seeing Those Who Seek Forgiveness as Greater 58:04 - Concluding Remarks & Channel Support But Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, the **Ramak**, teaches us something far more profound. In this ninth lesson of **Tomer Devorah – How To Become Like Hashem**, we explore the seventh of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy: **יָשׁוּב יְרַחֲמֵנוּ — “He will again have mercy on us.”** The Ramak begins by explaining that Hashem's relationship with a person who does Teshuvah is not merely restored to what it was before the sin. **It can become even greater.** This is why Chazal teach: **“In the place where Ba'alei Teshuvah stand, even the completely righteous cannot stand.”** The Rambam develops this remarkable idea in *Hilchot Teshuvah*: a person should not imagine that a Ba'al Teshuvah is distant from the level of the righteous because of his past. On the contrary, he is **“אהוב ונחמד” — beloved and desirable** before Hashem, and his struggle to overcome his Yetzer Hara gives him a unique spiritual greatness. We then explore the extraordinary imagery of the **letter ה** in *Menachot 29b*: the world is open downward for the person who wishes to leave, but there is also an opening above for the person who wishes to return. The Zohar takes this even further, describing the remarkable closeness that a Ba'al Teshuvah can attain to Hashem. And the **Pardes Rimonim** of the Ramak explains how Teshuvah does not merely repair what has happened to the person himself, but can also break the spiritual forces associated with the sin. But all of this leads to the Ramak's most challenging application: **“וְכָךְ הָאָדָם צָרִיךְ לְהִתְנַהֵג עִם חֲבֵרוֹ” — “And so a person must behave toward his fellow.”** If someone has hurt us, but then genuinely seeks our forgiveness and wants to restore the relationship, we should not hold on to the old resentment. And we should do more than simply return to the love we had before. **We should learn to see that person as greater than before.** Why? Because that is how Hashem sees the Ba'al Teshuvah. The person who struggled, fell, recognised what had happened, and then returned has experienced something that the person who never fell has never experienced. So when someone who has hurt us sincerely returns to us, perhaps the question is not merely: **“Can I forgive them?”** Perhaps the deeper question is: **“Can I learn to see them the way Hashem sees them?”** Can I stop defining them by the moment in which they hurt me? Can I recognise the courage involved in returning? Can I allow their Teshuvah to make them **more precious to me, rather than less?** This is one of the most profound ways in which we can learn to **become like Hashem**. 📖 **Sources explored in this lesson:** * Tomer Devorah, Seventh Attribute — **ישוב ירחמנו** * Rambam, *Hilchot Teshuvah* 7:4, 7:6 * Talmud, *Menachot* 29b * Talmud, *Berachot* 34b * Zohar * Pardes Rimonim 31:10 **Tomer Devorah – How To Become Like Hashem** A journey through the teachings of Rabbi Moshe Cordovero on how we can transform our character by learning to emulate the ways of Hashem. If this teaching speaks to you, please **like, subscribe, share the video, and leave a comment**. Your engagement helps these Torah teachings reach more people. 🌐 **[www.lovingkindness.co](http://www.lovingkindness.co)** #TomerDevorah #Teshuvah #BaaleiTeshuvah #HowToBecomeLikeHashem #Ramak #RabbiMosheCordovero #Torah #JewishSpirituality #Forgiveness #DivineMercy #ThirteenAttributes #YomKippur