This Shabbat we read Parashat Ha’azinu: Listen. It is Moses’ final song to his people, calling them to remember who they are and their covenant with God. It is also Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat of Return. As Shabbat ends, we stand at the threshold of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.
Shuv means to return, but it also means again. At our Rosh Hashanah dinner, Rabbi Abrams shared a Hasidic teaching that God’s contract with us is good for one year. Each year, only after reviewing what has passed, He renews His covenant with us, individually and collectively, for another term. We, too, can choose again: to walk His path, or to wander down the roads to nowhere.
We do not return only because we have erred or wandered. We do not return out of fear or intimidation. We return because we choose Him again.
שובה ישראל עד ה׳ אלהיך
Return, Israel, to the Lord your God.
Hosea 14:2
Listen. Return. Choose wisely.
גמר חתימה טובה
The Rabbi
