Two Minute Torah Podcast

Vayelekh (Shabbat Shuva) 5769 by Rabbi Joshua Cahan

Shabbat Shuva takes its name from the beginning of the haftarah, where the prophet Hoshea urges us, "Shuva, Return, Israel, to God." It's a fascinating word to define the process of repentance — come back. It implies that we are being called back to a place we once were, to the place we belong.

What is that place? It is a spiritual place, a place of closeness and intimacy with God that is, for the Bible, the end of all human striving. Think back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve are in there for only the briefest time before getting booted. When they leave, the doors are locked and the key thrown away. So why do we need to know about it? It's because the Garden of Eden was a place when humanity and God were truly intimate, totally trusting. That story tells us, we were once that close. And if we were once, we can be again.

The key to getting there is belief. Not belief in God — belief in ourselves, in our ability to be the best version of ourselves. What the prophet is asking, I think, is how much we ask of ourselves. Do we expect ourselves to be average, excusing our failures because, well, other people do it too? Do we criticize or demean others and then tell ourselves that they were asking for it? Returning to God is in large part about learning to think of ourselves as ovdei hashem, as servants of God. About asking whether our choices and our words are worthy of a servant of God. We are close to God when we demand of ourselves that we live up to God's expectations of us.

The good news, says the Bible, (no, not that Good News — please!) is that we're always just one step away from return. The Bible insists that wherever we wander, God comes with us. My favorite image of repentance comes in Deuteronomy ch. 4. After describing a littany of terrible sins the Israelites were destined to commit, Moses foretells that they will be sent into dark and dismal exile. "But if you search there for the Lord your God," asserts v. 29, "you will find Him, if only you seek Him with all your heart and soul." You might have expected that Deuteronomy, which is so focused on the unique holiness of God's Temple, would assert that they would find God only when they returned to Israel. But the opposite is true — reconnecting with God is the first step. The long journey back to wholeness is one that God takes along with you. Wherever you are right now, however distant you feel from God, from yourself, from your ideals, is the perfect place to start looking.