This Shabbat is called Shabbat Shuva because of the opening words of this week's Haftorah.
שׁוּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ כִּי כָשַׁלְתָּ בַּעֲוֺנֶךָ׃ קְחוּ עִמָּכֶם דְּבָרִים וְשׁוּבוּ אֶל־ה
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, For you have fallen because of your sin. Take words with you and return to the LORD. (Hoshea 14:2-3)
What is the meaning of "Take words with you”? The commentary of Abravanel explains that the prophet’s message is that you don’t need sacrifices to return to the Almighty, rather say before Him sincere expressions of confession for your sins.
I’d like to share with you a beautiful homiletical explanation based on the words of Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, famously known as the Chofetz Chaim.
A wealthy man was approached in the street by a needy man who we’ll call Chaim. “Can you please help me?” pleaded Chaim. "I’ve fallen on some really tough times. If you could lend me ten thousand dollars I can get back on my feet. Please! Can you help?" The wealthy man took pity on him and said, "Yes! I’ll help you. But I can’t do it right now because I have a meeting to attend. It’s eleven o’clock now. Meet at my home at two and I'll lend you the money." Chaim thanked him profusely and took his address.
The wealthy man rushed home after his meeting to meet Chaim. Two o’clock came and Chaim wasn’t there. A few hours passed and Chaim still hadn’t come. The wealthy man left his house and walked down the street. And there was Chaim.
“I’m so happy to see you!”, cried Chaim.“Can you please help me?” I’ve fallen on some really tough times. If you could lend me ten thousand dollars I can get back on my feet. Please! Can you help me?” “I told you before to meet me at my home at two and I would lend you the money! Okay, meet me at my home at six o’clock,” said the wealthy man. Again, Chaim thanked him profusely.But six o’clock came and no Chaim. Two hours later he still hadn’t arrived. The wealthy man left his house and made his way down the street.
“Boy am I happy to see you!” exclaimed Chaim when he saw him.“Can you please help me?” I’ve fallen on some really tough times. If you could lend me ten thousand dollars I can get back on my feet. Please! Can you help me?” The wealthy man had enough.” You may have fallen on hard times but you don’t seem serious about doing anything about it. I told you twice I’m ready to help you and both times you didn’t take me up on it.”
Every day we sincerely say to Hashem in the Shemoneh Esrei:
הֲשִׁיבֵֽנוּ אָבִֽינוּ לְתוֹרָתֶֽךָ וְקָרְבֵֽנוּ מַלְכֵּֽנוּ לַעֲבוֹדָתֶֽךָ וְהַחֲזִירֵֽנוּ בִּתְשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵמָה לְפָנֶֽיךָ
Cause us to return, our Father, to Your Torah and bring us near, our King, to Your service; and bring us back in whole-hearted repentance.
Hashem’s response is, “Absolutely ! Come meet me, i.e. come closer to me, and then I’ll give you the strength to attain תְשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵמָה, whole-hearted repentance.” But we don’t budge. We continue to be the same. Then comes the next Shemoneh Esrei. Again we sincerely realize that we are sorely lacking in our service to Hashem and we plead,“Cause us to return, our Father, to Your Torah and bring us near, our King, to Your service; and bring us back in whole-hearted repentance.” Again Hashem says, "No problem! Let’s meet, i.e. make a small change in your life and we’ll come closer. Then I’ll give you the strength to attain תְשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵמָה, whole-hearted repentance." But we don’t change.
The prophet cries out to us, "Take words with you and return to the LORD!” Take those words that you say every day about returning to Hashem and get serious about doing something about it!
Why do we find doing Teshuva (Repentance) so difficult? One answer is that turning our lives around is quite a daunting task. But Hashem does not expect us to completely turn our lives around overnight or in one day, or in one week. He wants to see us return step by step. This happens when we commit to making even one or two attainable improvements in ourselves for even a small period of time. The hope is that once you’ve reached your goal you’ll be motivated to continue for another week and then another.
Let us heed the call of , “Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God,” by doing that step by step so that we meet the Almighty and merit the fulfillment of our daily request of, “And bring us back in whole-hearted repentance.”
Shabbat shalom! Gmar chatima tova!
Yitzchak