After a lengthy and graphic description of the suffering that can befall the Jewish people for their abandonment of Hashem’s mitzvot as a nation, the Torah tells of a seeming change in attitude on their part.
וְהִתְוַדּוּ אֶת־עֲוֺנָם וְאֶת־עֲוֺן אֲבֹתָם בְּמַעֲלָם אֲשֶׁר מָעֲלוּ־בִי וְאַף אֲשֶׁר־הָלְכוּ עִמִּי בְּקֶרִי
Then they will confess their sin and the sins of their forefathers,for the treachery with which they betrayed me, and also for having behaved toward me with casualness. (26:40)
Sounds like the Jewish people have realized that their actions are the cause of their suffering and are now admitting their guilt. However the next verse reads:
אַף־אֲנִי אֵלֵךְ עִמָּם בְּקֶרִי וְהֵבֵאתִי אֹתָם בְּאֶרֶץ אֹיְבֵיהֶם אוֹ־אָז יִכָּנַע לְבָבָם הֶעָרֵל וְאָז יִרְצוּ אֶת־עֲוֺנָם׃
I, too, will behave toward them with casualness and I will bring them in the land of their enemies- perhaps then their unfeeling heart will be humbled and then they will gain appeasement for their sin. (26:41)
The commentary of Kli Yakar points out that when the Torah says, "for the treachery (with which they betrayed me)" it uses the word בְּמַעֲלָם. If we break down this word the first letter, ב (bet) stands for the word for, and the rest of the word, מַעֲלָם, means their treachery. The letter ב at the beginning could also be translated as in. The verse would then read, “Then they will confess their sin and the sins of their forefathers, in the treachery with which they betrayed me,” which would mean that they will confess while they are still committing the treachery. Even after confessing, they are continuing to sin. Confessing without committing to end one’s wayward ways is worthless. Therefore, Hashem sends them into exile.
How are we to understand people admitting to their wrongdoings and that those actions are the cause for their troubles but still continue to do them? One answer may be that they get swept up in a moment of inspiration (such as on Yom Kippur) so they confess their sins, but deep down they’re really not committed to changing their ways.
Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, famously known as the Chofetz Chaim, once interrupted the recital of Selichot (the penitential prayers said leading up to the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) and made the following point to those assembled. What does reciting Selichot, when we admit to Hashem that we have sinned, really accomplish? Are we letting Him in on something He does not know? He knows everything! The point is to commit that we will not return to our foolish ways.
Another possible answer is because people may not believe they can change. They feel so entrenched in their ways that they have decided that this is who they are and there’s nothing they can do about it. Although they regret what they have done and admit that this is the source of their misery, they’ll just have to live with it.
Hashem’s response is that if you say that the situation on your part can’t change, then the situation on My part won’t change either and you will remain in the land of your enemies until, as the verse says, "their unfeeling heart will be humbled and then they will gain appeasement for their sin."
Rabbi Yissocher Frand tells the story of a woman who was in charge of a major business in New York City earning a high six-figure salary. She began to study about Judaism and decided to become observant. She invited her rabbi to come and make her kitchen kosher. When he arrived he noticed a pack of Chiclets on the coffee table. The rabbi told her, "If you want your home to be kosher you have to get rid of those Chiclets. They’re not kosher."
“Give up my Chiclets?” she gasped. "That’s it. I can’t be kosher!' Fera not, the story has a happy ending. She got over it, gave up her chicklets, and made her home kosher.
As Rabbi Frand puts it, we all have our Chiclets. But we have to believe that we can get over them and change. As our Sages have taught (Talmud Yoma 39a), "Sanctify yourselves and you will be sanctified (Leviticus 11:44); a person who sanctifies himself a bit, will be sanctified greatly. "As difficult as it may be to change, when we make the effort Hashem will give us the strength to succeed.
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak