This
Shabbat falling between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is Shabbat
Shuvah although many rabbis call it Shabbat teshuvah, return and
repentance. It is one that is spiritually charged where we are
dealing with many spiritual battles.
In
this week's readings, Moshe is telling us that we would be fighting
many battles with our enemies but to have courage, not to be afraid
for G-d would go with us and fight for us. That He would neither
fail us nor forsake us. The word for fail is jpry (yarpecha) which
has the same root as heal… a very strong word. Rabbi Shaul
cries out in anguish to G-d "what a wretched man I am! Who
will rescue me from this body doomed to death? G-d - thanks be
to him". He knew that what he didn't want to do, that he did
and what he wanted to do, that he didn't do. (Romans 7:14-8; 1)
In
Judaism there are two schools of thought concerning our natural
tendencies: one is predestination or determinism and the other
is free will or indeterminism; this complex idea is linked to various
concepts in religious thoughts such as Divine Providence, Divine
Justice, reward and punishment; the ideas of casualty and probability
in the philosophy of science, obligation in the realm of ethics
and liability and punishment in legal theory.
In
this way, it would make us wonder if we truly have the capability
to even repent for our sins on our own. There are two extremes
of peoples…sociopaths who have no morals or values as opposed
to the super-righteous to whom there are no grey areas; they think
in only black and white. Most of us however live in the grey areas.
In Pirke Avot 3:15, Rabbi Akiva wrote that everything is "tzafui"
- predestined and foreseen by G-d. Rabbi Mordecai Yosef however
came from the school of determinism and Rabbi Maimonides from the
school of free will where we can choose how we live; however both
in the end agree that G-d always has the last word and it is He
who is in control.
At
the root of many philosophical studies lies the question- if G-d
knows why bad things happen, then why does He allow them?
Let's
get back to basics. It is important to understand that first and
foremost, He is the Creator and we are simply the creatures. We
only have the ability to act upon what He has given to us.
Moses
charges us in D'varim 31: 12-13 to "Gather the people together,
men, women, children and the foreigner living among us, that they
may hear and learn and fear the Lord your G-d and observe to do
all the words of this law…" He was specific that generation
to generation they were to listen and obey. It is to be a training
process similar to how an athlete trains hard to perfect his particular
sport. The more often he works at it, the better he gets. G-d wants
us to flex our spiritual muscles so He allows us to go through
trials and tribulations in order to strengthen our faith and build
our trust in Him.
When
we do something that is wrong, the best thing to do is to acknowledge
it before G-d and to deal with it. Justification will never bring
growth; it only allows the person to continue to have an excuse
to do it again. Once we admit and ask G-d to help us change the
patterns, He is faithful to do that. This is true teshuvah. The
desire to change needs to come from within.
How many times have you tried to stop doing something on your own,
only to succeed for a short time and then fall back into the same
pattern at the first sign of stress? That is because you are acting
in your own strength and efforts which are usually short-lived.
When we know we have addictions, we need to ask G-d to help and
then run from the addiction. We simply do not have the ability
to change it on our own. "Know yourself, avoid areas where
you are weak and depend on G-d in areas you are strong…in
other words, always depending on G-d.
Yom
Kippur is the time to confront our inner demons and to bring them
to G-d. To do true teshuvah, we must be humble, admit our failures
as we approach G-d. Ask G-d to search your heart and to reveal
to you the false teachings, wrong ideas that you may not realize
still pervade your mind and allow you to live in false paradigms.
Moshe
left some of his spirit to successor, Yehoshua (Joshua) who would
take over after he left. Moshe had spent time helping to develop
leadership in Joshua.
In the Biblical understanding of community, our actions affect
one another…we are our brother's keepers. G-d has called us
to come together as community on Yom Kippur for a holy assembly.
He will judge our hearts and our actions need to match the heart.
Our walk with G-d should not be mechanical or like a politician
who tries to please everyone.
How
many of us are still trying to do things our own way? Let us ask
G-d to help us in areas where we are weak and He is strong, remembering
that our actions affect one another.
There
is a story about Rab Dov Bar who was walking in the middle of the
town when he saw some children playing hide and seek. Suddenly
a little girl was behind a tree, crying in very loud voice. The
Rab asked her, "Why do you cry little girl?" And she
answered him: "I hid myself and I have been waiting for them
to come and find me." But his talmidim (disciples) asked him,
"Rab why do you cry?" And he said: "G-d has hidden
his Presence (Sar Panim) from us and we also are not looking for
Him!"
At
this present time, G-d is hiding his face from us and He will not
reveal His redemption to us until the time of the Goyim has ended
and we start seriously looking for Him; then we will see Him (Sar
Panim); our eyes will be fully open, and we as a nation will do
teshuvah, Zechariah 12:10.
Before
you come together to stand before G-d on Yom Kippur, be sure that
you check your hearts to see that you are not holding anything
against each other in this community. We have the power to forgive
each other and we do not have the right to judge one another. Let
us do teshuvah and return to G-d. He will never reject us if we
turn back toward Him. May we be agents of change in our community
and in our world.
May
G-d add blessings to His Word!
Rabbi
Percy Johnson
Netanel
ben Yochanan
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©
2008 Use by Permission
Kehilat
She’ar Yashuv
