was assumed to be rewarded and transgressions punished, forgiveness was granted if only there was repentance. As long as a Jewish person shows his or her desire to remain in the covenant by observing the commandments, he or she is granted a share in the world to come. Observance of the commandments, then, is not a way of gaining entrance into the covenant, but a means of staying in. The inability of humans to fulfill the commandments to perfection was foreseen in the Torah itself and remedy is offered