A Morning Person’s Teshuva

בֹּקֶר וְיֹדַע ה’ אֶת אֲשֶׁר לוֹ (במדבר טז, ה)

In the morning, G-d will make known who is His. (Bamidbar 16:5)

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His intention was to delay, with the hope that they might retract. -Rashi

The atonement achieved through teshuva, repentance, takes “but one ‘turn’ and in one moment”, in the words of the Zohar (vol. 1, p. 129a). Why then did Moshe feel that they needed an entire night to repent? And if it was a matter of time until they’d reach that decisive moment, what determined that one night was a sufficient waiting period?

The answer is that Moshe wasn’t merely stalling for time. With the words “in the morning”, he was alluding to the type of teshuva he was hoping for; a transformative teshuva that shines bright like the morning. Yes, one’s past sins can be atoned through one moment of sincere regret, even if that remorse was triggered simply by the fear of future retribution. Yet such repentance does not change the individual. His fear of retribution is merely another manifestation of his egocentric fixation on personal survival and preservation.

Teshuva brought about through internally developed love and devotion to G-d, on the other hand, is transformative. Not only does the penitent become a changed man, but he even brings light and G-dly life into his past negative behaviors, which ironically served as the catalyst for his rebounding dedication to G-d’s will. Likewise, the Baal Hatanya explains the phrase “good deeds” used by Chazal in their common expression “teshuva and good deeds” not as a virtue of its own, but as descriptive of the teshuva; a repentance which causes one’s deeds to be beautiful and radiant.

Moshe therefore emphasized that he was waiting for the morning light. Thereby, he expressed his hope that the retraction and repentance of Korach and his company would not be one stemming from their darkest fears, but a luminous and inspiring teshuva that would illuminate their lives and the lives of those around them.