Shabbat Greetings

There is something especially meaningful about having a Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. We have begun the work of teshuvah: of repentance, reflection, and change and then Judaism gives us a day to stop. That in itself is part of the lesson.

The Haftarah begins with the words, “Shuvah Yisrael ad Adonai Elohecha” — “Return, O Israel, to Adonai your God” (Hosea 14:2).

The word teshuvah comes from the Hebrew root shuv, “to return.” We often think of repentance as looking backward at what we did wrong. But teshuvah asks us to look forward as well: Where are we going, and who do we want to become?

The tradition teaches that our mistakes do not have to define us. The Talmud says, “In the place where those who repent stand, even the completely righteous cannot stand” (Berachot 34b). There is something sacred about returning; about recognizing that we can change direction.

However, teshuvah is not simply a private spiritual exercise. The Mishnah teaches: “For sins between a person and God, Yom Kippur brings atonement; but for sins between one person and another, Yom Kippur does not bring atonement until one has appeased the other” (Mishnah Yoma 8:9). In other words, sometimes teshuvah means prayer. Sometimes it means an apology. Sometimes it means making amends. And sometimes it means having the courage to change a pattern that has hurt someone we love.

And we should offer ourselves some compassion as well. The Hasidic tradition tells of Rabbi Zusya, who imagined standing before God and being asked not why he wasn’t more like Moses or Abraham, but why he wasn’t more like Zusya. The task of these days is not to become someone else. It is to return to the person we are capable of being.

So this Shabbat, may we pause long enough to ask ourselves two simple questions: Where have I wandered? And where am I being called to return? May we have the courage to repair what we can, the humility to ask forgiveness, and the faith to begin again. Shuvah Yisrael. Return.

SHABBAT SHALOM