Choosing Teshuvah

The King is in the Field. That is how Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the 18th century Chassidic master and first Lubavitcher Rebbe, described the month of Elul. Ordinarily, he teaches, the king resides and works from his palace. Holed up in a fortress, making decisions, setting policy, for his subjects. Doing so, all from a great distance. But once a year, the king makes a surprise visit to the field. To spend time with his people, to spend time among his people. Typically, it would be difficult for someone to meet the king. And nearly impossible to spend time with the king, talk, connect. But when the king comes to the field, the distance falls away, and the king who is usually extraordinary, becomes ordinary, approachable, familiar.

This Shabbat is also Rosh Chodesh Elul. The king has come to the field. Elul, we know, is the month that initiates our spiritual preparations for the High Holidays. Elul begins our individual and communal journeys of introspection, teshuvah, and repair, and gives us that special gift of time, so we can arrive at Tishrei– at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur– with a sense of focus, direction, and excitement about the year ahead.

 This week’s Torah Portion, Re’eh, begins as follows:

See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: blessing, if you obey the commandments of your God יהוה that I enjoin upon you this day; and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of your God יהוה, but turn away from the path that I enjoin upon you this day and follow other gods, whom you have not experienced.

The parsha continues in the way so many of the parshiot of Devarim do: by laying out the guidelines, conditions, and stipulations for successful life in the land of Israel. In fact, in this week’s portion, we read about the future construction of the Temple, sacrifices, how to identify a false prophet, as well as information about which birds are permitted and which are forbidden. We learn about Maaser, tithing, and the three pilgrimage festivals: Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. We also learn about the importance of Tzedaka, and the Shemitah, the Sabbatical year.

And the result for following, for living by these commandments? Fruitful life in the Land, and closeness with the Divine. But the parshiot of Deuteronomy offer far more than just a long list of rules. And while at first glance it may seem as though the Israelites have little agency over the direction of their lives, what the opening verses of Re’eh teach us is that choice is fundamentally at the center of ours and their journey forward.

Choose to obey these laws, and you will be blessed. Choose to disobey, and you will be cursed. We are perhaps more in control of our destiny than we’d like to believe. We have the power to choose our path, to choose who we want to be, both individually and collectively. And that can be a terrifying reality to grapple with, especially for the Israelites on the eve of such a tremendous transition. I have always been curious about how the Israelites perceive or feel about this moment. Do they feel liberated and enlightened by the possibility of choice? Or do they feel weighed down, burdened by their own freedom?

Rabbi Shalom Noach Berezovsky, the Netivot Shalom, teaches that Shabbat is a crucial starting point for teshuva, for the process of introspection and repentance. He goes on to say that each time we sin, each time we fail to live up to our potential, there is a distance that is created between us and the Divine. Sin distances us from G-d. Sin creates a barrier between us and our maker. But Shabbat, teaches the Netivot Shalom, is the bridge that reconnects us.

 This teaching is perfect for this Shabbat of Rosh Chodesh, precisely because it captures simultaneously, the power of Shabbat and its relationship to the work of Elul– the work of repair, of repentance, and of return. The essential journeys of Teshuvah.

 But the Netivot Shalom takes this idea a step further, and says that we are incapable of repairing that separation from G-d on our own, we cannot cross that barrier, that chasm by ourselves. And so G-d created Shabbat, and in doing so, created a choice for us. We can either embrace the gift we have been given, take those first shaky steps onto the bridge, and decide to draw close once more. Or, we can make a different choice. Or perhaps even reject the choice entirely. With Shabbat, teaches the Netivot Shalom, G-d extends to us an opportunity to grab hold of something larger than ourselves. In fact, the Netivot Shalom uses the word יאחז, to grab hold of or grasp, to explain what it is we are meant to do with and on Shabbat. We are meant to grab hold of this sacred opportunity, as if holding on to a rope, or a life-preserver. In Elul, and on Shabbat, G-d extends those gifts to us once more– the gifts of choice, of closeness, and of return.

 Parshat Re’eh reminds us of the choices we are given, and the opportunities G-d gives to forge our own path forward. As we welcome in this new month of Elul, remember the acronym within its name: Ani L’Dodi V’Dodi Li– I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. We have officially begun our countdown to the High Holidays, to a period of intimacy, closeness, and exploration with the Divine.

So what choice will you make? Will you choose to take hold of this Shabbat, like the buoy that it is? Will you join me in going out to the field to meet our beloved, to meet the Divine, so we may go forward together?

 May this month of Elul bring us the clarity that we need to make the right choices– to choose blessing over curse; relationship over division; intentionality and introspection over complacency and self-satisfaction.

 Let’s take those first steps over the bridge, and out into the field together.

 Shabbat Shalom!