Weekly D'var

SHABBAT SHUVA / PARASHAT VAYEILECH
Peter Malnekoff

The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuvah, The Shabbat of Teshuvah because the haftarah reading from the Prophet Hoshea begins with the words Shuvah Yisrael and because Shabbat Shuvah always occurs during the Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur.

Shabbat is supposed to be a day of joy and spiritual upliftment yet none of the Shabbat prayers and hymns focuses on the work of teshuvah and which is why the viduy confession of sins is never said on Shabbat. So, is it possible for us to do teshuvah on Shabbat appropriately?

The answer to this question is that Shabbat Shuvah joins Shabbat and teshuvah so fundamentally that we sometimes forget the meaning of Shabbat. It is one of the ten commandments to observe Shabbat and We will learn today that Teshuvah is also a commandment. Teshuvah translates to the word return and also repentance, and is a key concept mentioned throughout the Torah, the Tanach, the Talmud and Rabbinic writings.

In my research for this drash about Shabbat Shuvah, I have compiled the passages from these sources to deepen our appreciation of what Teshuvah is truly about as we prepare to experience our communal teshuvah together on Yom Kippur. These passages help us understand Teshuvah and its importance…

It is written in Genesis 4:6–7: “And Hashem said to Cain, Why are you so angry and why has your countenance fallen? Surely if you improve yourself, you will be forgiven. But if you do not improve yourself, sin rests at the door and towards you is its desire yet you can conquer it.”

Hashem is instructing Cain to take action against sin. This is Hashem’s first instruction for Teshuvah and which will change Cain’s life if he listened to Hashem. Unfortunately, Cain did not listen to Hashem and we see the result shortly thereafter when Cain killed Abel and became the first recorded murderer. 

Written in Leviticus 26:40–45 (Parashat Bechukotai):
“They will confess their sin and the sin of their forefathers in their unfaithfulness to me…and then they will be humbled in their heart that is unyielding and then they will gain atonement for their sin…”

We learn from this passage that confession with humility opens the path for personal forgiveness.

Written in Numbers 5:6–7: “A man or a woman, when they commit any of the sins of mankind, by acting with treachery against Hashem, and guilty shall that soul become. They shall confess their sin that they committed …”

The Torah is instructing us to confess our sins as part of our personal teshuvah.

Written in Deuteronomy 4:29–31: “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find Him, if you search for Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the end of days you will return to Hashem your God and listen to His voice. For the Hashem your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you nor destroy you…”

Here we read that returning to Hashem with all your heart and soul brings forgiveness.

Written in Deuteronomy 10:12–13:
“And now, Israel, what does Hashem your God ask of you, but to fear Hashem your God, to walk in His ways, to love Him, and to serve Hashem your God with all your heart and soul, to keep the commandments…”

Written in Deuteronomy 30:2–10 (Parashat Nitzavim):
“And you shall return to Hashem your God and listen to His voice… then Hashem your God will restore your fortunes… and He will have compassion upon you… And Hashem your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love Hashem your God with all your heart and all your soul, that you may live… You shall return (TESHUVAH) and you shall listen to the voice of Hashem and you shall perform his commandments that I command you today.”

We learn from this passage that in loving Hashem and doing Teshuvah leads us to divine redemption and National return from exile.

Even King David did Teshuvah as written in 2 Samuel Chapter 12 verses 13-14: David said to the Prophet Nathan, “I have sinned to Hashem.” Nathan responded to David, “So too, has Hashem commuted your sin, you will not die. However, because you have thoroughly blasphemed the enemies of Hashem in this matter, the son that has been born to you shall surely die.” Here we see King David admitting his sin and guilt, by confession of the sin and earning Hashem’s forgiveness. Although there is no license to sin, his first son died but King David’s life was spared opening the door to the birth of his next son, King Solomon.

In 2 Chronicles Chapter 33:11–13, King Menashe of Judah is one of the most infamous kings in the Tanakh, remembered for his extreme idolatry, bloodshed & leading Judah to straying from Gods commandments. King Menashe was captured by the Assyrian army commanders, bound in chains and taken to Babylon. In captivity, he prayed and humbled himself before Hashem and his prayers and teshuvah were so deep and sincere that Hashem returned him back to Jerusalem and his throne. This teaches us that teshuvah and repentance is always available even for the most wicked.

As recorded in the book of 1 Kings 21:27–29 King Ahab of Israel committed the sins of Idolatry by following the practices of Jeroboam and He married Jezebel a Phoenician princess, The daughter of Ethbaal king of Sidon. They both continued the Baal worship and idolatry, persecuted and killed the prophets of Hashem and participated in the murder of Naboth and the theft of his vineyard. The Prophet Elijah confronted Ahab and pronounced God’s judgment: Hashem decreed that Ahab’s dynasty would be wiped out. When Ahab heard Elijah’s words of doom, his reaction was striking:

“When Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes, put sackcloth on his body, fasted, lay in sackcloth, and walked subdued.” Hashem noticed Ahab’s teshuvah: “Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘Do you see how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.’” This shows that his repentance delayed the punishment, but did not erase it entirely as His dynasty was still destined to fall as fulfilled in 2 Kings chapter 9, under Jehu.

In the book of the Prophet Isaiah chapter 38, King Hezekiah became deathly ill, And the Prophet Isaiah prophesied that that he would soon die. King Hezekiah repented with prayer and wept before God and Hashem remembered the King and the word of Hashem came to the Prophet Isaiah to tell Hezekiah That Hashem saw his tears and heard his prayers and that Hashem would add 15 years to his life for his teshuvah.

On Yom Kippur our Haftorah is from the Book of Jonah Chapter 3, The People of Nineveh were sinful with wickedness and corruption, and Hashem sent the Prophet Jonah to warn the people of Ninevah of Hashem’s judgment of forthcoming destruction for their wickedness and evil ways. The Prophet Jonah walked the streets of Ninevah and warned them of Hashem’s decision to destroy the city. The people of Ninevah listened to the word of Hashem through Jonah and they fasted, wore sackcloth, and they prayed for forgiveness. Even the King of Ninevah did teshuvah and sat in sackcloth and fasted as they all listened to the Prophet of Hashem and Hashem reversed his judgment and spared Ninevah. The lesson learned is that Hashem sends a Prophet to the Goyiim of Ninevah to cease their evil ways. Even the King of Ninevah did teshuvah along with his people & Hashem rescinded the destruction of Ninevah showing us that even Goyiim can do teshuvah and repent from evil. 

The Haftorah reading on Shabbat Shuvah is the Book of the Prophet Hoshea Chapter 14 verse 2, When the Prophet was warning the arrogant tribe of Ephraim: “Return Israel unto Hashem your God For you have stumbled in your iniquity. Take words with you and RETURN (TESHUVAH) to Hashem, Say to Him, “May you forgive all the iniquity and accept good, and let our lips substitute for bulls.” Here we are instructed by the Prophet Hosea to use prayer as a method of teshuvah as a replacement for the animal sacrifices.

The books of the Prophets have recorded that when the Kings of Israel and Judah did teshuvah their repentance was accepted by God. The Talmud also has commentaries on Teshuvah focusing on the key laws and spiritual principles that develop from the Torah and Tanach passages.

It is written in the Talmud Yomah 86 A,
•    “Great is Teshuvah, for it brings healing to the world.”
•    “Teshuvah reaches up to the Throne of Glory.”
•    Teshuvah from fear: Turns intentional sins into unintentional sins.
•    Teshuvah from love: Turns intentional sins into merits.

Yoma 86b records that true teshuvah is when a person encounters the same situation again and does not sin, demonstrating inner change.

Rosh Hashanah 18a records that Teshuvah Changes the Decree
•    “Even if a person is sealed for evil on Rosh Hashanah, Teshuvah and prayer can tear up the decree.”

We even learn about Teshuvah from Rambam, Maimonides, who wrote his book The Mishneh Torah in Hebrew between 1170–1180 in Egypt. The first book of the Mishneh Torah is called Sefer HaMadda or The Book of Knowledge. In the fifth section of The Book of Knowledge is an entire section with ten chapters about the laws of teshuvah Called Hilchot Teshuvah. The chapter names describe the process of Teshuvah in such great detail that I will read what Rambam named his chapters of Teshuvah to help all of us understand its meanings.

Chapter 1 – The Mitzvah of Teshuvah
•    Definition of the commandment of viduy (confession).
•    The steps of repentance (leaving the sin, resolving not to return, regret, and confession).
•    Distinction between atonement for different types of sins (against God vs. against another person).

Chapter 2 – The Process of Teshuvah
•    The stages of complete teshuvah (teshuvah gemurah).
•    The importance of humility, distancing from past sins, and changing one’s ways.
•    How teshuvah transforms a person’s relationship with God.

Chapter 3 – Divine Judgment of Sins and Merits
•    The concept of weighing merits and sins.
•    The judgment of individuals, communities, and the world.
•    The Days of Awe (Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur) as times of judgment.

Chapter 4 – Things That Hinder Teshuvah
•    Traits and actions that “block” repentance (e.g., causing others to sin, habitual sinning).
•    Factors that make teshuvah more difficult.

Chapter 5 – Free Will
•    Human beings have free will to choose good or evil.
•    No predestination in moral choices.
•    God does not force a person toward righteousness or wickedness.

Chapter 6 – God’s Foreknowledge and Human Freedom
•    The apparent paradox between God’s omniscience and human free will.
•    Rambam affirms both without contradiction, though the mechanics remain beyond human understanding.

Chapter 7 – God’s Mercy and the Power of Teshuvah
•    God’s patience and readiness to accept repentance.
•    Encouragement to return to God, no matter the sin.
•    Exhortation never to see oneself as beyond return.

Chapter 8 – The World to Come
•    The nature of the ultimate reward: Olam HaBa (the World to Come).
•    Difference between Gan Eden (paradise) and Olam HaBa.
•    The soul’s delight in closeness to God.

Chapter 9 – The Purpose of Mitzvot and the Reward for Righteousness 
•    How mitzvot bring merit and secure Olam HaBa.
•    Worldly rewards (peace, prosperity) as supports for doing mitzvot, not as ultimate goals.

Chapter 10 – Serving God out of Love
•    The highest level of serving God: not for reward or fear, but purely out of love.
•    Contrast between service out of fear vs. service out of love.
•    Rambam’s vision of the ideal relationship between Israel and God.

I strongly suggest everyone study Rambam’s Mishneh Torah As a guidebook for how to achieve Teshuvah and understanding Torah.

As another reference to Teshuvah as written in the Talmud Rosh Hashanah 10b–11a and Sanhedrin 38b, The world was created on 25th of Elul, and 6 days later is the first of Tishrei, Rosh Hashana. Rosh Hashana corresponds to the sixth day of Creation, the day when Adam and Eve were created. Talmud Sanhedrin 38b actually gives an hour-by-hour timeline of what happened to Adam on the sixth day of Creation, From the creation of Adam, the creation of Eve, Hashem’s instructions Not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge Good and Evil, the sin of eating from that tree and the exile from the Garden of Eden. All this happened on the sixth day of creation, The First of Tishrei. When Adam & Eve both ate from the Tree of Knowledge Good & Evil, evil became mixed with good Prior to which evil had been separated from good. When Hashem asked Adam Where are you in Gan Eden, Adam’s answer was to play hide and seek with Hashem, not admitting and confessing his sin to Hashem when asked. Adam did not take responsibility for his sinful action and instead he blamed Eve for deceiving him when they both disobeyed Hashem. They both deflected and did not accept responsibility for their actions.  

So, I ask this question for all of us to ponder: Could the Viduy confessions we quietly say on Yom Kippur Be an atonement and rectification for the sins of Adam and Eve For their refusal to confess their sins when Hashem asked them. 

On Yom Kippur, the viduy is said in the plural, not I have sinned but instead, We have sinned. 

This is because on Yom Kippur, we stand before Hashem not only as individuals but as members of a collective people because as written in Talmud Shavuot 39A, “All Israel are responsible for one another.” 

We read an alphabetical list of sins publicly to avoid public humiliation and to make it easier to confess those sins and feel that remorse. Viduy is said standing and the custom to beat one’s chest lightly at each mentioned sin comes from the Prophet Jeremiah Chapter 31 verse 18, “After I strayed, I repented, after I came to understand, I beat my chest.”

So, what have we learned from all these passages from the Torah, The Prophets, The Talmud, and Rambam?

The Key Themes that Hashem has commanded us to do:
•    Shabbat observance is an act of Teshuvah by following Hashem’s commandments to remember and protect the Shabbat. 
•    Teshuvah is a commandment for us and is always possible.
•    Viduy (confession) is a mitzvah and essential act.
•    During Viduy the action of beating our chest at each sin goes all the way back to the Prophet Jeremiah
•    Collective Teshuvah brings redemption.
•    Joy and closeness to God are the outcomes of sincere teshuvah.

So, as we join our fellow congregants and families on Yom Kippur, keep these Torah passages in your mind and in your hearts.

Shabbat Shuva is a bridge to Yom Kippur and teshuvah.

May you have an easy fast on Yom Kippur
(Gmar Chatimah Tovah) ……. Shabbat Shalom