Rabbi Corey Helfand
This week’s Torah portion is Nitzavim: Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20
Over the last few weeks, we have read some heavy stuff in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy). In addition to blessings and curses, the text is filled with words of rebuke and admonition. Yet, as we approach the final chapters of the Torah, the tone begins to shift to one of hope and optimism, restoration and return. The concluding sections of the Torah accurately reflect the culmination of our journey that started nearly seven weeks ago. What began in the month of Av, with the destruction and mourning of Tisha B’Av, moved through the month of Elul, a time of introspection and personal growth, and will culminate, or perhaps begin anew, next week with Rosh Hashanah. This is teshuvah.
In Parashat Nitzavim, the Torah says, “When all these things befall you — the blessing and the curse that I have set before you — and you take them to heart … and you return (V’shavta) to the Lord your God, and you and your children heed God’s command with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin upon you this day, then the Lord your God will restore (V’shav) your fortunes and take you back in love. God will bring you together (V’shav) again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you” (Deuteronomy 30:1-3). These verses play on the Hebrew word which is at the core of the word teshuvah.
Teshuvah encapsulates the ideas of renewal, restoration, forgiveness and repentance. These are the qualities we hope will exist in God’s relationship with the Jewish people if we successfully engage in “returning.”
Bible scholar Dr. Jeffrey Tigay suggests that this word does not refer only to contrition, but to a change of behavior, literally a “return” to God and to the behavior that God requires of us. Tigay continues, “The concept of returning to God in the Torah is not identical to its better-known form in the Prophets and in classical Judaism. Teshuvah in the Torah is mentioned only as something that occurs after punishment has taken place: If the people take their punishment to heart and return to God, God will terminate their punishment. The prophets developed the concept further. They called upon people to repent before it is too late, and to thereby avert punishment altogether. The concept of teshuvah in classical Judaism combines both ideas, with an emphasis on the latter.”
Teshuvah requires that we be proactive, whether l’chatchila — from the outset — or b’diavad — after the fact. On one hand, part of the teshuvah process requires that we do everything in our power to follow mitzvot and the Torah and behave appropriately before making a mistake and suffering the consequences thereafter. On the other hand, our tradition recognizes that we are not infallible, and teshuvah, therefore, provides us with a mechanism for returning when we err, toward God and others.
As we transition from 5785 to 5786, I pray that the coming year be one of balance, striving to do preemptive teshuvah, learning from past mistakes so as not to intentionally repeat them. At the same time, when we do slip up, may we also embrace the power of the teshuvah process, our ability to seek forgiveness from God and others when we sin or transgress. More importantly, I pray that this year can be a time of teshuvah, of return to one another, of overcoming division, polarization and hate, and working hard to find the good in each other. May our return to each other help us build a different kind of world filled with love, compassion and kindness. As we say at the very end of the Torah service when we “return” the Torah to the ark: Hashiveinu Hashem eilekha v’nashuvah, haddeish yameinu k’kedem — Turn us toward You, God, and we will return to You; make our days seem fresh, as they once were. Amen.
Rabbi Corey Helfand is the rabbi at Ohr Kodesh Congregation in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
