A talmid of Chevron Yeshiva related that one day during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah he passed the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Chazkel Sarna, and Rav Chazkel asked him why he looked so sad. He replied that it was because it was in the middle of Aseres Yemay Teshuvah. “And who said that these days do not allow for happiness?” countered Rav Chazkel. The bochur explained that the obligation and requirement to affect teshuvah is so immense and intense, and the Rambam asserts that Teshuvah is complete only once the Eibershter, who is privy to all hidden thoughts, is able to testify that one will not return to repeat those aveiros. Upon hearing this, Rav Chazkel exclaimed, “Why are you machmir to pasken like the Rambam? The Rabeinu Yonah disagrees with the Rambam. Rabeinu Yonah writes in Sefer Shaaray Teshuvah that the basic condition to be considered a Baal Teshuvah is to just position oneself on “the straight and good path.” Once one gets into proper position, Yom Kippur completes the job.
Rav Chazkel elaborated on the meaning of “the straight and good path.” He pointed out that the Alter from Slobodka explained this with a mashal given by Rav Yisroel Salanter. A person standing at the city exit from Yerushalayim asked a bystander how long it takes to reach Bnei Brak and was told that the journey should take one hour. After having traveled an hour, Bnei Brak was still not in the horizon. He turned to a fellow traveler and asked how much longer it would take to reach Bnei Brak. The fellow looked at him and incredulously and said, “Are you kidding? Bnei Brak is in the opposite direction!”
His co-traveler explained to him that if at the outset of the journey he would have turned left toward Bnei Brak, he indeed would have arrived after sixty minutes. “Turn around now before you continue to go further and further away down the wrong road.”
This is the meaning of “the straight and good path”. Rav Yisroel taught us a big chiddush and at the same time, gave us tremendous chizuk. Although the path to reach his destination doubled, the traveler was still in a better position than he was at the outset of his journey. At the outset, he had already taken the wrong turn and may never have reached the intended destination. Although he had lost some time, at least he was in the correct direction to eventually reach the desired destination.
Rav Chazkel concluded: “Do you think that in these few days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur you will be able to achieve a complete teshuvah for each and every aveirah that you committed? Do you imagine that during this one week you will be able to make amends for hundreds of paragraphs in the Shulchan Aruch? That is a grave mistake! Teshuvah is not something that can be done in a moment’s time. The duty in the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah is to search for the proper direction and gain solid footing in that place to reroute oneself. It may take one hundred and twenty years to get to the final, desired destination.
Let us be mindful of Rabeinu Yonah’s leniency! Teshuvah may be a long arduous journey but the main objective is to get on the right path and forge ahead. | 
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