Haazinu

Shabbat Shuva 5783

Shuva Yisrael

The opening words of this week’s haftara are: Shuva Yisrael ad Hashem E-lohecha ``Return, klal yisrael unto Hashem your G-d”. The Navi Hoshe’a is teaching us that through teshuva a person can reach “until Hashem '', and Chazal infer from this that teshuva has the ability to reach the kisei hakavod.
Let us try to understand what message is contained in this statement of Chazal. Imagine a person who has transgressed an aveira, and not just an aveira but an intentional aveira where he intended to rebel against Hashem, and through teshuva even such a person has the ability to raise himself to the lofty spiritual level of “until the kissai hakavod” itself. And this is even said about a person who, while performing the aveira, was ignoring or denying the presence of Hashem. 

Teshuva and Feeling Embarrassed
Various sefarim mention that the word shuva (“return”, which denotes teshuva) is made up of the same letters as the word busha (embarrassment). In other words, one of the fundamentals of teshuva is feeling ashamed of what one has done and a person realising the magnitude of an aveira, and of acting against retzon Hashem. 
Rabbeinu Yona, in his classic work Shaarei Teshuva describes that there are three basic components of teshuva; viduy (confession), feeling regret and resolving to completely abstain from the aveira. These components are the procedure for performing teshuva, but ultimately the foundation that a genuine and sincere teshuva is built on is busha, of feeling ashamed of what one has done. And by contemplating the greatness of Hashem one can develop this emotion of feeling ashamed and embarrassed of the aveirot that one has done.

Ashreichem Yisrael
The closing Mishna in Massechet Yoma brings a statement of Rebbi Akiva who proclaimed: “Ashreichem Yisrael! Fortunate are you, klal yisrael! Who is purifying you? Your Father in heaven. And the passuk says that Hashem is the mikvah of klal yisrael. Just as a mikvah purifies the tamei, so too Hashem purifies klal yisrael “.
This statement of Rebbi Akiva needs some explanation. What message is Rebbi Akiva imparting to us that we did not already know?
Obviously it is Hashem who accepts our repentance and purifies us? And what deeper meaning is there in the analogy to a mikvah?

Kapara and Tahara
We would like to suggest that Rebbi Akiva was not discussing the element of kapara – of atonement from sin; rather Rebbi Akiva was discussing the element of tahara – of purification from sin, that Hashem does not only accept our teshuva and atone for our aveirot, Hashem also “cleanses” us from the grime of sin and purifies us after atoning for our sins. This is what Rebbi Akiva is coming to emphasize, that we should not fool ourselves into thinking that “we” have done teshuva and “we” have repented. Rather, it is Hashem who, in His abundant mercy and infinite kindness accepts our teshuva, and not only atones for our sins but even grants us purification after we repent. 
 The metaphor that Rebbi Akiva uses to describe this purification is the tahara of a mikvah. The Sefer Hachinuch (Mitzvah 173) explains that the purification of a mikvah is the rebirth of a person. And just as before the world (as we know it) was created, the world consisted of water, so too a person who has sinned and now repents and wants to start afresh must immerse in a mikvah and thus “create himself anew” as a new creature, without sin. 
This idea complements what we have discussed about teshuva and busha. When a person feels ashamed and embarrassed because of his aveirot and wishes that he had never sinned, these feelings and emotions also bring him to “create himself anew” as per the tahara of a mikvah, and this cleanses him from his aveirot. 

*Complete Immersion?
And another important idea that we can learn from the analogy to a mikvah is that just as a mikvah is only effective if the person immersing ensures to immerse their entire body, and if even one hair is not completely immersed the tevila is completely ineffective, so too when a person feels remorse and does teshuva it must be a complete teshuva with every fibre of his being.

Shabbat Shuva
This Shabbat is called Shabbat Shuva, and the letters of “Shabbat” themselves also spell “shavta” “you have returned [and performed teshuva]” and this is what the Abir Ya’akov zy”a writes in many places, that the essence of Shabbat is that everything returns to it’s source, and we can also suggest that the letters of Shabbat also spell out “boshet” “embarrassment” because the greatness and beauty of Shabbat can cause a person to feel embarrassed and ashamed of his misdeeds. 

 May we merit to use the potential of these special days of the aseret yemei teshuva, and particularly Shabbat Shuva to do a genuine teshuva, to return sincerely to Hashem and to merit His tahara. 

Shabbat Shalom & Gmar Chatima Tova.

Rabbi Gad Bouskila