(21) Turn us to You Adonai and we shall return; Renew our days as in the beginning!
Questions:
1 - Why is this verse used at the end of the Torah service in the liturgy?
2 - How would you understand the plain meaning of this verse? In the context of Lamentations? In the context of our moment?
3 - What does the first half of the verse have to do with the second half of the verse?
(כא) הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ ה' אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה, אָמְרָה כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל לִפְנֵי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם שֶׁלְךָ הוּא הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ. אָמַר לָהֶם שֶׁלָּכֶם הוּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלאכי ג, ז): שׁוּבוּ אֵלַי וְאָשׁוּבָה אֲלֵיכֶם, נְאֻם ה', אָמְרָה לְפָנָיו רִבּוֹנוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם שֶׁלְךָ הוּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהלים פה, ה): שׁוּבֵנוּ אֱלֹקֵי יִשְׁעֵנוּ, לְכָךְ נֶאֱמַר: הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ ה' אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה. חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם, כְּאָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, כְּמָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (בראשית ג, כד): וַיְגָרֶשׁ אֶת הָאָדָם וַיַּשְׁכֵּן מִקֶּדֶם לְגַן עֵדֶן. דָּבָר אַחֵר, חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם, כְּמָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (מלאכי ג, ד): וְעָרְבָה לַה' מִנְחַת יְהוּדָה וִירוּשָׁלָיִם כִּימֵי עוֹלָם וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמֹנִיּוֹת, כִּימֵי עוֹלָם, זֶה משֶׁה, דִּכְתִיב (ישעיה סג, יא): וַיִּזְכֹּר יְמֵי עוֹלָם משֶׁה עַמּוֹ. וּכְשָׁנִים קַדְמֹנִיוֹת, כִּשְׁנוֹת שְׁלֹמֹה.
(21) "Take us back, O Hashem, to Yourself, And let us come back (Lamentations 5:21)": The assembly of Israel said before the Holy One, blessed be He: "Master of the universe, it is up to you, "take us back"". He said to them: "It is up to you, as it is said: "Turn back to Me, and I will turn back to you—said Hashem (Malachi 3:7)". They said before him: "Master of the universe, it is up to you, as it is said: "Turn again, O God, our helper, revoke Your displeasure with us (Psalms 85:5)" and so it is said: "Take us back, O Hashem, to Yourself, And let us come back".
"Renew our days as of old!": Like Adam the first, according to what was written: "He drove the man out, and stationed east of the garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24)". Another interpretation: "Renew our days as of old!": According to what was written: "Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to Hashem as in the days of yore and in the years of old (Malachi 3:4)". "Days of yore": This is Moses, as it is written: "Then they remembered the ancient days, Him, who pulled His people out (mosheh) (Isaiah 63:11)". "Years of old": like the years of Solomon.
(טז) או יבואר, השיבנו ה' אליך ונשובה חדש ימינו כקדם. (איכה ה, כא) ויש דקדוק מאי כקדם. ויבואר על פי המדרש ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלקיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה (דברים י, יב) ואיתא במדרש (ב"ר כא) אין ועתה אלא תשובה, ופירוש כך הוא, משום דכל אדם ואדם מישראל מחיוב להאמין באמונה שלימה שבכל רגע ורגע מקבל חיות מהבורא ברוך הוא כמו שדרשו (ב"ר יא) כל הנשמה תהלל כל נשימה ונשימה תהלל י"ה (תהלים קנ, ו) שבכל רגע החיות רוצה לצאת מן האדם והקדוש ברוך הוא שולח לו בכל רגע חיות חדש. נמצא לפי זה מהני תשובה לכל אדם, כי בעת שעושה תשובה מאמין שהוא כעת בריה חדשה ובזה השם יתברך ברוב רחמיו אינו מזכיר לו עונות הראשונים. אבל אם חס ושלום אינו מאמין בזה חס ושלום לא מהני התשובה. וזה פירוש המדרש אין ועתה אלא תשובה, כיון שהוא מאמין שהוא עתה בריה חדשה מהני לו תשובה. וזהו פירוש הפסוק השיבנו ה' אליך ונשובה, ואיך נשובה חדש ימינו כקדם...
What is the explanation of the words, “of old,” in the context of this verse? . . . The explanation is thus. Every person in Israel is required to believe with full faith that in each and every moment, they receive vitality from the Blessed Creator, as the Rabbis expound: “Each soul (neshama) will praise Yah[1] - each and every breath (neshima) will praise Yah.”[2] For each moment, the vitality desires to leave a person, and the Blessed Holy One send back new vitality. We find that it is according to this principle that repentance (teshuva) works for every single human being. When a person engages in repentance, they demonstrate belief that they are, at that moment, an entirely new creation, and Hashem, may He be Blessed, in His abundant mercy, doesn’t recall the prior sins. But if, God forbid, a person does not believe in this, then repentance won’t work, God forbid. This is the explanation of the midrash, “every mention of the word, “now” [in the Torah] denotes repentance. Since a person believes that they are now a new person, repentance operates successfully. This is the explanation of the verse, “take us back, YHVH, to Yourself, and let us come back . . . .” How will a person come back? By having their days renewed like old. . . .
Questions:
According to R. Levi Yitzhak, what does "hadesh yameynu kekedem" refer to and how does this relate to teshuvah?
Post-Traumatic Growth (from the American Psychology Association):
"Resiliency is the personal attribute or ability to bounce back," says Taku. PTG, on the other hand, refers to what can happen when someone who has difficulty bouncing back experiences a traumatic event that challenges his or her core beliefs, endures psychological struggle, and then ultimately finds a sense of personal growth.
To evaluate whether and to what extent someone has achieved growth after a trauma, psychologists use a variety of self-report scales. One that was developed by Tedeschi and Calhoun is the Post-Traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) (Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1996). It looks for positive responses in five areas:
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Appreciation of life.
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Relationships with others.
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New possibilities in life.
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Personal strength.
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Spiritual change.
Rabbi Deborah Waxman on her podcast, "Hashiveynu"
... To better understand the terrain I’m exploring in Hashivenu, let me take a step back and frame the Jewish idea of resilience. The American Psychological Association defines resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats and even significant sources of stress.” Harvard University psychologist George Vaillant suggests that resilience can be understood as a “twig with a fresh, green living core” that springs back and continues to grow after encountering pressure.
Judaism, writ large, is about resilience. Across the span of Jewish history, Jews have experienced extensive trauma, even catastrophe, and we have survived – as a people and as a civilization. After each catastrophe, the prevailing paradigm was inoperable: we no longer knew how to understand ourselves in relation to God, to other Jews, and to other peoples. And, throughout our history, Jews have ultimately transcended catastrophe after catastrophe. We have repeatedly breathed new life into the Jewish people and the Jewish civilization and we have found pathways toward repair. From trauma, we have had to heal. We have had to recover and re-vision, regenerate and re-seed vital Jewish life. We have found ways to cultivate resilience, both individually and collectively.