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 MosesÂ’ 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.
Posted by Lee at September 19, 2004 04:29 PM
