Repentance 

תשובה

A person does not know when his time will come and he will be called before his Creator. It is therefore advisable for one to rectify his ways each and every day, rather than procrastinate and miss his opportunity. 

We learned there: Rabbi Eliezer says: Repent one day before your death.  

Rabbi Eliezer’s students asked him: But does a person know the day on which he will die? He said to them: All the more so; one should repent today lest he die tomorrow, and one will thereby spend his entire life engaged in repentance. King Solomon also said in his wisdom: “At all times, may your garments be white and may the oil on your head not be lacking” (Ecclesiastes 9:8). Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai said: This can be explained by means of a parable of a king who invited his servants to a feast and did not set a precise time for them to come. The wise among them adorned themselves and sat at the entrance to the king’s house,<footnote data-num="263"/> saying: Is the king’s house lacking anything?<footnote data-num="264"/> The fools among them went to their work, saying: Is there a feast without the toil of preparation?<footnote data-num="265"/>  

Suddenly, the king requested that his servants come to the feast. The wise among them entered before him adorned in their finery, and the fools entered before him dirty. The king was happy at the approach of the wise ones and angry at the approach of the fools. He said: These wise servants who adorned themselves for the feast will sit and eat and drink, whereas these fools who did not adorn themselves for the feast will stand and watch.  <source>(Mishna <i>Avot</i> 2:10; <i>Shabbat</i> 153a) </source>