Shabbat Shuvah—A Prophetic View
October 7, 2016
It’s all about, “Teshuvah,” or repentance, the meaning of the High Holiday season. Actually, the Hebrew word “Teshuvah” or “repentance” comes from the infinitive “La Shuv,” or to “return/go back.” “Returning” or “going back” means getting forgiveness from God and one’s fellow human beings for the sins of the past year. In Judaism, following the laws in the Torah constitutes the path of returning to goodness.
The 10 days between Rosh Ha Shanah and Yom Kippur do not exist in a vacuum. They are called the “Aseret YeMay Teshuvah,” the Ten Days of Repentance. The Rosh Ha Shanah liturgy states that God passes judgment over every individual but reserves, seals the final judgment on Yom Kippur. The 10 days of Repentance are regarded as one’s last chance, through one’s actions, to get a final judgment to be sealed in the Book of Life for the coming year. One can take this idea of a Book of Life literally, as many did in ancient times, or metaphorically, that with our own choices, we often aid in sealing our own destiny. For this reason, the holiday greeting for Rosh Ha Shanah, “Le Shanah Tova Tikatevu,” “May You be inscribed in the Book of Life for good,” is changed as Yom Kippur approaches to “G’mar Chatima Tova,” “May you be sealed in the Book of Life for good.” During the 10 Days of Repentance, many Orthodox congregations recite some of the penitential prayers said on the night of Selichot. In addition, in all Jewish congregations, lines are added in the key 18 Benedictions or Amidah prayer, recited three time a day. These lines ask God to “write us into the Book of Life.” These lines emphasize God as the Holy King and Judge, and also ask for life and mercy from Him.
The Sabbath between Rosh Ha Shanah and Yom Kippur that falls during the 10 Days of Repentance period is considered special. It goes by the name, “Shabbat Shuvah,” the Sabbath of Repentance/Return. Traditionally, the rabbis only gave sermons on two Sabbaths, the one preceding Passover, called “Shabbat Ha Gadol,” the “Great Sabbath,” and “Shabbat Shuvah.” On “Shabbat Shuvah,” the rabbis called upon their congregants to think about the approaching Yom Kippur holiday. They mainly exhorted their congregants, often with strong oratory, to repent their sins so that God would grant them life. Of course, today, rabbis give weekly sermons. Many congregations discuss the meaning of the Haftorah, the Prophetic portion, assigned to Shabbat Shuvah and its connection to the repentance/return theme.
There is a special Haftorah assigned to Shabbat Shuvah. Ashkenazic Jews, those whose ancestors came from Germany and Eastern Europe, read from sections of three Prophets, Hosea(14:2-10), Joel (2:15-27), and Micah(7:18-20). Sephardic Jews, whose ancestors came from Spain, North Africa, and the Near and Middle East, read only the sections from Hosea and Micah. The opening verse comes from Hosea 14:2, and states, “Return (‘Shuvah’), O Israel, to the Lord your God, for you have fallen because of your sin,” the reason for naming this Sabbath, “Shabbat Shuvah.” These three prophets are part of the Twelve Minor Prophets, (the “Trei Asar”). They are considered minor only because what we have left of their texts is far smaller than those of the Major Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.
The Prophet Hosea lived prior to the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel to the Assyrians in 722-721 B.C.E. He preached a message of repenting one’s sins and coming back to God. Although the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom were scattered and lost to history, some of their people were able to flee to the Southern Kingdom of Judea and bring their traditions with them, including Hosea’s writings, which were later put into the Biblical canon. The rabbis regarded the splitting up of the Israelite Kingdom after Solomon’s death as a great tragedy and always hoped for the two groups to be reunited. The High Holiday liturgy and the Haftorah on the second day of Rosh Ha Shanah emphasize God’s love for Ephraim, a major Northern tribe, who becomes a symbol for the entire Jewish People (See Jer. 31:20).
Hosea has a very unhappy marriage to a woman named Gomer, who becomes a prostitute. She ends up as a slave-concubine. Hosea, still in love with her, buys her back, takes her home, and subjects her to a period of probation hoping she will reform herself. Hosea is led by God to understand that the Kingdom of Israel has, like a wayward spouse, gone astray. In the Shabbat Shuvah Haftorah, Hosea reminds his listeners that no political power will save the people Israel, only repenting from their sins and turning back, becoming close to God.
The Prophet Micah (750-690 B.C.E.) was a contemporary of the First Isaiah (Is. 1-39). Micah’s prophecies about the end of days “when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” are identical to Isaiah’s (Mic. 4:1-3, Is. 2:1-4). Micah spoke out against the oppression of the poor. In the Shabbat Shuvah Haftorah, Micah states that God will not be angry forever and will pardon sin and iniquity. He speaks of God “casting all their sins into the depths of the sea (Mic. 7:19).” These same verses from Micah are also said after reading all four chapters of the entire book of Jonah at the Yom Kippur Minchah/Afternoon service just before the final Neilah prayers end that holiday. The term for “casting sins into the sea” is called in Hebrew “Tashlich.” In the late afternoon on the First Day of Rosh Ha Shanah, many observant Jews go in groups to a lake of flowing water. There, they recite Micah 7:19 along with several psalms and throw bread crumbs from their pockets into this water, as if ridding themselves of sin. If the first day of Rosh Ha Shanah comes on the Sabbath, Tashlich is done on the afternoon of the second day.
The Prophet Joel probably lived in the first half of the fifth Century B.C.E. That was the time when the Jews returned to Judea from the Babylonian Captivity. He prophesied at the time of the Second Temple period and was, therefore, one of the last of the Prophets along with Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. In the verses chanted on Shabbat Shuvah, Joel spoke of how after the people fasted, repented, and prayed to God, a threatened plague of locusts is averted. “God has pity on his people” and answers their prayers (Joel 2:18-20). In other verses, not in this Haftorah, but immediately following them, Joel foresees a day when God will “pour out my spirit upon all flesh; And your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions (Joel 3:1).” This verse was viewed as the main purpose of Yom Kippur, rejuvenating the soul and renewing the spirit. For everyone observing Yom Kippur, may you also be rejuvenated in mind and body. Have an easy fast. “G’ mar Chatimah Tov,” “May you be sealed in the Book of Life for good.”