It is still possible to repair



 'The Shoemaker' by Elena Flerova

R' Yisrael Salanter was returning home very late one night. As he walked through the dark alleyways, he suddenly noticed that a light was still burning in the home of the shoemaker. He knocked on the door and entered his home.

"Why are you still sitting and working at such a late hour?" asked R' Salanter.

"As long as the candle burns" replied the shoemaker, "it is still possible to repair."

Those words made a great impression upon R' Salanter and, from then on, he repeated them on many occasions.

"Do you hear?" R' Salanter would ask. "As long as the candle burns, it is still possible to repair! As long as a person is alive and his soul is within him, he can still repent and rectify his deeds."