A Word of Torah about Shabbat Shuvah

This evening, we will begin Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Repentance, which is the name of the Shabbat that falls between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Only a few days thereafter, we will beat our chest as we recite Ashmanu, an alphabetic litany of sins that we have transgressed communally. Frankly, the process can be overwhelming and sounds self-deprecating, if not depressing. 

Rambam’s Hilchot Teshuvah is based on a familiar model which asks us to list our missteps, acknowledge them, regret them, and promise never to return to such actions. Maimonides goes as far as to suggest that once true repentance is achieved, the penitent should change their name, because they are no longer the same person. Well, I don’t know about you, but to me this doesn’t sound so uplifting, and it may make it impossible for us to ever learn each other’s names!

An alternate model of Teshuvah comes from the school of thought of Rav Kook.

He describes Teshuvah as a rediscovery of the natural tendency towards goodness through which Hashem created the world:

In the great channel in which the life-sustaining force flows,

there is revealed the unitary source of all existence,

and in the hovering life-serving spirit of penitence,

all things are renewed to a higher level of the good, the radiant, and the pure.

Teshuvah is a “return” to our mandate: we should never miss out on our potential to make the world a better place.  Rav Kook looks forward, rather than backwards, and encourages us to seek out new possibilities.

Each day, when our faculty and staff interact with our students, we personally observe their inherent goodness and abilities to bring light, joy, nachas, laughter, and goodness into the world. As we wish their families and friends a year of blessings, I am confident that they will continue their paths of personal righteousness and growth in Torah so that they can bring the world to its intended place, L’eyla U’le’eyla, Higher and Higher. 

G’mar Chatimah Tovah.