A New Understanding of ‘Shabbos Shuva’ 

As we all know, there is always one ‘plain’ Shabbos between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. That is to say, there could be two Shabboses that fall out during the Aseres Y’mai Teshuvah (the ‘Ten Days of Teshuvah’) between the first of Tishrei (when RH begins) and the tenth of Tishrei (when YK falls) – but only one of them will be a ‘regular’ Shabbos (not concomitant with either RH or YK). And, of course, this Shabbos is known as Shabbos Shuva – most conveniently translated as ‘the Shabbos of Teshuvah’, since it comes during the Ten Days of the year when doing teshuva is the dominant theme. That would be the simplest, most direct way to understand this term and the appellation applied to this particular Shabbos.

However, I think that the connection between ‘Shabbos’ and ‘Teshuvah’ is deeper than this and there may be a new way of understanding this combination of terms.

So many of our greatest thinkers and commentators have written extensively about doing teshuva and what is entailed in the observance and performance of this basic and most essential of the Torah’s mitzvos. Because doing teshuva is nothing less than ‘returning’ to our Jewish roots and coming closer to G-d and an appreciation of the role which He plays in every aspect of our lives and existence – both before being born into this temporal world, during our relatively short stay here, and after leaving behind our temporal bodies and moving on to a much greater spiritual reality.

Once we’ve arrived here in earthly mode which is defined and limited by both time and space, the spiritual goals set before our temporal transformation are easily forgotten by our body-soul partnership, and we get caught up in the more material ‘business-as-usual’ activities which often define the much greater part of how we spend our lives. So we must ask:  How does one do teshuvah; how, in the midst of all the distractions our material world has to offer, does a person start to think, “Wow, this is crazy and my life lacks true meaning; I’ve got to somehow reassess my priorities. There has got to be a greater spiritual reality where I can find real meaning in my life. If there is a G-d, I want to find Him.” Even for those who are already ‘religious’, there is a persistent need to come even closer to the spiritual source which our souls know is all around us. What is the key ingredient to doing teshuvah?

Teshuvah can only take place when a person finally makes a conscious decision to cease their heedless running, to come to a halt, grind their heels into the dirt, hold both hands out to the surrounding world and say “Stop!” And that is the essence of Shabbos kodesh: the ability to imitate G-d in His cessation of creative activities, to call a halt to the everyday activities of the mundane world, and to take time to reassess just what this life is all about. It is truly an island in time, giving us opportunity to think about living (instead of just living), and to use this precious time to come closer to our spiritual roots – that is, to do teshuvah. Think about it:  Shabbos has in its Hebrew roots both the concepts of shev – to ‘sit’ and/or ‘stop’ one’s normal activities, and shuv – to ‘return’ to that which defines the essence of our soul’s desire.

In the Psalm Mizmor Shir l’Yom HaShabbos [Psalm 92, which we say as part of the Shabbos prayers], King David writes, “For you have gladdened me, Hashem, with Your deeds; at the works of Your hands I sing glad song. How great are Your deeds, Hashem; exceedingly profound are Your thoughts. A boor cannot know, nor can a fool understand this” [vs. 5-7]. Just who are this ‘boor’ and this ‘fool’ who don’t know or understand G-d’s greatness? Are they people lacking basic intelligence, who don’t have the mental ability to contemplate a spiritual reality in a mundane world? Or, are they simply people who never take the time out to contemplate what their life is truly about? Are they not boors and fools because they never stop to reassess, never taking advantage or what Shabbos kodesh has to offer?

In one of the main stitches of the Shabbos Shmoneh Esrei (also found in the SE of the Shalosh Regalim), we find the following requests: “Sanctify us with Your commandments and grant our share in Your Torah; satisfy us from Your goodness and gladden us with Your salvation, and purify our heart to serve You sincerely…” Is this not the essence of teshuvah, of coming closer to Hashem? And how will this be accomplished? By accepting “Your holy Sabbath as heritage; and may Israel, the sanctifiers of Your Name, rest [i.e. cease and desist from normal activity] on it.

It is through the medium of Shabbos that we are able to experience teshuvah and take small steps in coming closer to G-d and to our spiritual roots. When the prophet tells us, “If on Shabbos you will restrain your feet (from doing the mundane) and if you honor it by not doing your (normal) ways, or seeking your needs, or speaking the forbidden – then you shall be granted pleasure from Hashem” [Isaiah 58:13-14] – then you will have used the golden opportunity of Shabbos kodesh for doing teshuvah! It is not just bad form to speak and act on Shabbos as if it were a weekday; it’s totally missing a main point [=chet] of what Shabbos is all about.

So, perhaps we can say that Shabbos Shuva is not just the Shabbos that falls during the Ten Days of Teshuvah; rather, we can say that the term Shabbos Shuva is telling us that the essence of teshuvah is through the medium of Shabbos – always and throughout the year.

A Deeper Understanding of ‘Shalom Zachar’

Just as there is always one Shabbos between RH and YK, there is also always one Shabbos from the time a baby boy is born until the eighth day and the performance of the mitzvah of bris milah. On the Friday night of that Shabbos after the baby’s birth, we hold a ‘shalom zachar’ in the baby’s honor (whether the baby is present or not), ostensibly to ‘welcome’ the baby ‘boy’ – which is the plain meaning of shalom zachar.

There is fascinating Midrash that tells us that all the time the baby boy is in the mother’s womb, a malach sits and learns with him, teaching him the entire Torah. When the baby is born and emerges into a world which has the potential to overtake our souls with mundane pursuits, the baby’s soul cries out to the angel, “You took me away from spiritual bliss and the beauty of Torah for this – to become a part of this world!? What will become of me!?” And at the Shalom Zachar (which is always held on Shabbos kodesh), the malach tells the baby’s neshamah, “See? You don’t have to worry, because there is always Shabbos kodesh, a time when you will be able to remember why you are here, a time when you will be able to do teshuvah and return to your roots, a time when you will be able to achieve a level of shleimus (wholeness) – without which it would be impossible to do in this world.”

So, the Shalom Zachar is not just a way to say ‘hi’ to the new kid on the block. Rather, it is a reminder to us – as well as to the baby – that we must remember [zachar = zecher] our true goal in the world, and use Shabbos kodesh to find peace and wholeness [shalom] for our souls who otherwise might be cast adrift. Shalom Zachar now has a deeper level of meaning – with the additional message that Shabbos is a key for doing teshuvah.

Asher kidshanu b’mitzvosav, v’tzivanu lai’shev ba’succah

We have already mentioned that the Shalosh Regalim (the three ‘Pilgrim Festivals’, as well as the other Yom Tovim) have the ability to effect teshuvah in the same way as Shabbos kodesh. This is especially true on Succos, following the tremendous teshuvah already afforded by both RH and YK, when we have achieved a state of heightened simcha (joy) which makes our neshamas even more receptive to coming closer to Hashem. Sitting inside the mitzvah of the succah; sitting under the schach and its impermanent status; having faith that G-d will take care of us within the tzailta d’haimnusah, the ‘shade of faith’ – all these things make us feel closer to Hashem and to our spiritual roots. On Succos, we have a weeklong opportunity to cease and desist from our mundane activities and spend more quality time davening with kavanah and learning Torah. We make a special bracha when sitting in the succah, “Blessed are You, O L-rd our G-d, Who has sanctified us in His commandments and has commanded us to sit [lai’shev] in the succah”. If you change just the vowels in the word lai’shev, then you have the more comprehensive idea that here is the perfect opportunity to do teshuvah and to return to Hashem: la’shuv [to do teshuvah] while dwelling in and observing the mitzvah of succah.

‘Shemini Atzeres’ – Stay with Me Just One More Day!

Keeping all the above in mind, the final day of the holiday season - Shemini Atzeres [usually translated ‘The Eighth Day of Assembly’] also will take on new meaning. Even more than Shabbos, (which means to ‘stop’, ‘sit’, ‘cease’ and ‘desist’), atzeres [atzor] means to abruptly halt whatever you are doing (on a sliding scale, it’s a bit more intense than shev). This is what Hashem says to the Jewish people, “If you will just stay with me for one more day – going above and beyond the call of duty to stop your mundane pursuits and seek me out – then I will raise you to the level of shemini” What is the level of ‘shemini’? If six represents the physical world (six sides to a cube), and seven the spiritual dimension (Shabbos, the seventh day), then eight is l’ma’ala min ha’teva – that which transcends the physical and spiritual dimensions. It is the ultimate teshuvah experience.