Shabbat Shuvah, Parshat Haazinu, Deuteronomy 32:1-32:52

We have entered the New Year with small steps and during this Ten Days of Awe we are to do the work of turning our lives around. Shabbat Shuvah reinforces this message with the words from the special Haftarah from the prophet, Hosea—Shuvah Yisrael—Return, O Israel to Adonai your God for you have fallen because of your sin. The words of the Haftarah speak to exactly our task during this season; “Take words with you and return to Adonai, Say to God “Forgive all guilt and accept what is good; Instead of bulls we will pay the offering of our lips.”

Our prayers are our offerings. In days of old we brought sin offerings and guilt offerings and the High Priest sent the goat off to the wilderness of Azzazel with our sins. But our offerings during this season are the prayers we recite, the confessions that we make and our sincere commitment to change from our less than sacred path of the less year to a new year of holiness.

The rest of the special haftarah message not only encourages this theme of rebirth and renewal but the additional verses from the prophets Micah and Joel encourage our strong relationship with God. The Micah verses reminds us that God’s forgiving nature will reach out to reinforce the love and unique status that the Jewish people have always known with God—even when there have been times of discord and discontent. The verses from Joel are the icing on the cake as it were. These verses speak to the fulfillment of the covenantal promise of reward and bounty that comes with this unique and special relationship. “And you shall eat your fill and praise the name of Adonai your God who dealt so wondrously with you, My people shall be shamed no more.” ( Joel 2:26)

Taken together these three prophetic sections combine to uplift the People Israel in the New Year and to remind the people Israel that this season, even with its emphsis on throwing off sin, reviewing past failings and making teshuvah—will ultimately be a season of joy and hope. The goal of teshuvah is not to make one shamed and guilty but to rid ourselves of any transgressions and behaviors that leads to transgression so that our lives will be rich with meaning and happiness as expressed through our covenantal obligations, commitments and yes, relationship with the Divine.

As we begin the new year and come to the end of the Torah the portion itself is a poem. This is Moses’ true farewell song to the people. It is a reminder too that Israel, no matter what will befall them is close to God and must remain so.

Certainly this is an important message to be read at the High Holy Day Season.

During Shabbat Shuvah, and anytime that we take stock in our lives, we can beat up on ourselves for the things not done, not said, for the courage we lacked, for the words said with anger and hurt. This week’s parasha and special haftarah come to remind us that God is with us and will remain with us no matter what. We must ask for forgiveness but it is there for the asking! So during this ten days of awe—ask away. Ask God and your loved ones for forgiveness. Make teshuvah—you’ll be glad you did.

Nitzavim-Vayelech; Deuteronomy 29:9 –31:30

Parshat Nitzvaim is always read on the last Shabbat of the month of Elul. Just prior to Rosh Hashanah. This year it is read together with Parshat Vayelech. But the message contained in Nitzvamim is so powerful and important that in Reform Jewish tradition parts of Parshat Nitzavim are read on Yom Kippur morning.

This is because the message of Nitzavim is the unique covenantal relationship between God and the people Israel throughout the generations. This covenant is entered into not only by those present in the desert but by later generations as well. “I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before Adonai our God and with those who are not with us here this day. (29:13-14)” This is an eternal covenant that will last to future generations.

True enough, the wrath of God for forsaking the covenant is made explicit in the parasha. The fate of those who reject this covenant sounds awful. Those who reject God’s ways will be severely punished according to the text and those who follow the covenant will be rewarded. This is consistent with the Deuteronomic version of God that we have seen this past several weeks—giving blessing to those who observe the covenant and fulfill its terms and curses to those who reject God’s ways. This particular theology reaches its pinnacle in the words of this week’s parasha. A choice is given to the Israelites—“See I set before you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity. (30:15)” The power to choose the path is in the hand of the Israelite—with a strong admonition by God. “I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse, therefore Choose life, that you and your offspring may live. (30:19)”

It doesn’t seem like much of a choice—life or death. Who wouldn’t want to choose life and blessing? But things are not always that easy and clear cut.

Many people engage in all kinds of self-destructive behaviors. We drink too much, eat too much, and use too many drugs. We know better and yet time and again, we feel powerless to do anything but keep ourselves in the realm of adversity. We engage in all kinds of risky behaviors and relationships that will bring ourselves to the brink of ruin.

I see many people whose faith is so shattered and whose hopelessness and depression rule their lives. Usually these are people who have walked away from our covenant. They desperately search for meaning—looking everywhere but right here at home—in the bosom of the Jewish people.

That is indeed the message of the Torah as well. Our rich and wonderful covenant with God is filled with lessons and values for living life with a sense of purpose, mission and most importantly, holiness. We can reject that essential holiness by rejecting God and our covenant but then we must be prepared to suffer the consequences of a life filled with adversity or as the Torah says curses. For many, the rejection of our covenant, their lack of faith translates into a lack of hopefulness about the world. As the book of Proverbs teaches, (29:18) “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

So it is a choice every day how we live our lives. If we choose to live without hope, without direction, without higher purpose, by rejecting our covenantal responsibilities then indeed we choose a path that will be filled with difficulties. But if we choose wisely, choosing holiness, faith and yes, choosing our covenant, life can and I believe does unfold with purpose and meaning. And isn’t that the point after all? To live a life of purpose, meaning and yes, ultimately holiness.

As we enter this final week of the old year and anticipate the new year ahead, we pray for a world at peace, for poverty and illness to be banished from our midst, and a new year of health and sweetness, meaning and purpose for all.

Shanah Tovah