Created by Wendie Bernstein Lash and Lex Rofeberg
This portion includes the last words of Moses to the people. The first passage is about teshuva (return and turning).
(א) וְהָיָה֩ כִֽי־יָבֹ֨אוּ עָלֶ֜יךָ כָּל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה הַבְּרָכָה֙ וְהַקְּלָלָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ֙ אֶל־לְבָבֶ֔ךָ בְּכָל־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר הִדִּיחֲךָ֛ יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ שָֽׁמָּה׃ (ב) וְשַׁבְתָּ֞ עַד־יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֣ בְקֹל֔וֹ כְּכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם אַתָּ֣ה וּבָנֶ֔יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ (ג) וְשָׁ֨ב יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ אֶת־שְׁבוּתְךָ֖ וְרִחֲמֶ֑ךָ וְשָׁ֗ב וְקִבֶּצְךָ֙ מִכָּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֧ר הֱפִֽיצְךָ֛ יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ שָֽׁמָּה׃
(1) When all these things befall you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you take them to heart amidst the various nations to which YHVH, your God, has banished you, (2) and you return to YHVH, your God, and you and your children heed God's command with all your heart and soul, just as I entreat you this day, (3) then YHVH, your God, will restore your fortunes and take you back in love. God will bring you together again from all the peoples where YHVH, your God, has scattered you.
Questions for reflection:
1. This passage seems to assume that we will absolutely miss the mark/do something wrong and need to do teshuva (turning/returning). How do you feel about that - is it positive or negative; comforting or challenging? Does that help you in offering forgiveness to others who have caused you harm? Does it help with asking for your own forgiveness from others?
2. The passage also says that YHVH (God) will "take you back in love." How are love and forgiveness connected for you?
3. Martin Luther King, Jr. also connects love and forgiveness. He said, "We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies." Do King's words help you to forgive, or help you to love the person who needs your forgiveness better? Can these words help you to ask for forgiveness from someone you have hurt?
4. Mahatma Gandi said, "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Do you agree that forgiveness is from strength? How might holding on to a grudge for a past harm weaken you?
(19) I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life - so that you and your descendants will live.
Questions for reflection:
1. Where are you choosing blessings over curses in your life? Where are you choosing curses over blessings? Is choosing blessings related to forgiving others? And if so how?
2. Reflect on the quotes below on what our choices in life mean. Do you agree?:
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
"We are our choices." - Jean-Paul Sartre
"People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead." - James Baldwin
(11) Surely, this instruction which I entreat you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. (12) It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” (13) Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” (14) No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.
For Reflection
This passage implies that doing teshuva (forgiveness; returning to a connection to YHVH - the holy that underpins all life) is not that complicated. In fact it is right in your heart. Do you agree or disagree and why?
For Further Consideration and Practice:
A. Rabbi Shefa Gold teaches that teshuva has three aspects:
- Turning away from that which is draining us of Life-force, and turn towards that which Life-giving.
- Returning to a sense of belonging, authenticity, and connection to the whole of Creation.
- Surrendering to the Great Mystery (YHVH) that is holding us, transforming us and loving us unconditionally.
Shefa wrote this lovely chant about teshuva/return. You might want to sing or listen to it as you approach Rosh Hashanah and throughout the High Holy Days to help open your heart to ask for or offer forgiveness.
B. The Gerer Rebbe wrote: "In order to accomplish the tikkun – the repair of both the universe and the heart – for which a person has come into the world, one must find the sparks of the Divine in one's faults, as well as in one's virtues. All of oneself is needed to accomplish the great tikkun." What do you think about the idea that your teshuva and offering teshuva to others might be repairing the world?