Introspection as a Springboard for Growth

There seems to be a strange juxtaposition in this week's parshah of two concepts that seem to be inherently alien from one another. 

Moshe tells the Jewish people they will sin. Summarily, they'll be sent into exile. Then, they'll call out to God repentantly, and then, in the memory of their ancestors, the forefathers, God will forgive them. Then, Moshe asks, "Has there ever been a nation to hear God's voice and survive?" The two, seem to be diametrically opposed. The people have already returned, sought forgiveness and gained it, and then, are told to put themselves through a guilt trip as to how they ever reached such depths despite their exalted role and mission. 

But if you search there, you will find your God, if only you seek with all your heart and soul—

when you are in distress because all these things have befallen you and, in the end, return to and obey your God.

For your God is a compassionate God, who will not fail you nor let you perish; [God] will not forget the covenant made on oath with your fathers.

You have but to inquire about bygone ages that came before you, ever since God created humankind on earth, from one end of heaven to the other: has anything as grand as this ever happened, or has its like ever been known?

Has any people heard the voice of a god speaking out of a fire, as you have, and survived?

Thus, why is it at this point in the chronological order that they are to ask themselves this question? Presumably the asking of this question is what would prompt the teshuva process. 

One could answer that teshuva can be likened to both a continuum and a pendulum. Is it something that longitudinally propels us over time, from one step to the next, yet at the same time, ups and downs are more the norm than linear growth. 

The Chazon Ish once quipped upon being asked by a friend as to his wellbeing, "We sin, do teshuva, sin and do teshuva. Baruch Hashem (thank God)."

Perhaps, likewise there's another point, here, something introspective. That even after having made a comeback, it's important, so as to not relapse, to take the time to reflect on the process we've been through. At critical junctures, individually and communally, God asks us to do that. When a Jew brings his bikkurim, first fruits, he does just that, recalling where he came from, and where he's heading. 

It could be that here too there's a mechanism in place for asking such probing questions, not only as a catalyst or impetus for returning, but after having returned, so that we always remember, on a personal level, how far we've come. 

Shabbat shalom!