Class One: In the first class focus is placed on the power of “teshuva” to change the past. We typically think of time as different than space – it seems you can only go one way. If something is in the past it is assumed to be gone. The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that “through the power of teshuva we become masters over our past.” It is possible to do an act of “teshuva” that affects past deeds and outcomes. The concept of nullification of vows is also applied to this power of changing the past. By way of allegory, the common understanding of medical treatment is to heal the patient so the illness will not continue into the future – this is like “hafaras nedarim”. However, there’s another kind of medicine which is comparable to “hataras nedarim” that heals you so that you were never sick in the first place.
