Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech, Deuteronomy 29:9-31:30

This parasha is sponsored by Elizabeth Coopel in memory of her mother, Anna Simonoff Coppel, whose 100th birthday would have been on August 29, 2010.

Wholehearted repentance requires a change in both thought and action.

It has been quite a number of years since I have "devoted" large chunks of time to playing computer games, perhaps because of my experience with a wonderful game called "Myst". To the accompaniment of beautiful graphics, a compelling soundtrack, and logical puzzles, the player "explores" an interactive world. It took the better part of a few days and a combined husband-wife effort to solve the game. Then we remembered we had children who needed to be looked after, a home to be maintained, and work to be done. In later years when my children were playing computer games, I tried my hand at "Civilization" but managed to avoid making game-playing a career. The memory of enjoying these games came back to me the other day when I was at the drugstore checkout. On the rack next to me was a computer game that desperately wanted to come home with me. (I resisted.) It was called "Brain Game" and was meant to exercise the minds of those of us who remember life before computers.

There are numerous ways to exercise the mind, and many have been around for a long time: crossword puzzles, visual puzzles, language games, riddles. Certainly one of the oldest puzzles consists of the question: Which came first: the chicken or the egg? A few years back science answered that age-old query, though I don't recall that the solution made many headlines. Perhaps that's because a similar answer had been provided close to 2,000 years ago. The chicken-egg puzzle was first recorded by Plutarch in an essay called "Table Talk," which appeared in a work entitled Symposiacs (Book 2, Question 3). In addition to being an interesting mealtime diversion and a great "brain game," the question represents a philosophical conundrum regarding causality (cause and effect).

A Jewish question of causality, having nothing to do with chicken soup or hard-boiled eggs, is found in the Talmud (Sanhedrin 97b-98a). At issue is which comes first: repentance or redemption? Rabbi Eliezer says that repentance precedes redemption. Quite the opposite according to Rabbi Yehoshua, who holds that redemption may occur first. The two scholars argue back and forth quoting verses from the Bible to support their respective positions. Finally, Rabbi Yehoshua quotes Daniel 12:7, which shows that exile has an expiry date, whether or not the people have repented. (In fact, gratitude for redemption may bring about repentance.) After this Rabbi Eliezer is silent: Yehoshua 1, Eliezer 0.

However, support for Rabbi Eliezer can be found in this week's double parasha, Nitzavim-Va-yelech. The first ten verses of Deuteronomy 30 contain seven variations on the word shuv (turn, repent). (How appropriate that this parasha is read this Shabbat, since Selichot services take place after this Shabbat ends.) Clearly the gist of this teaching is that repentance precedes redemption.

When all these things befall you — the blessing and the curse that I have set before you — and you take (hashevota) them to heart amidst the various nations to which the Lord your God has banished you, and you return to (ve-shavta ad) the Lord your God, and you and your children heed His command with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin upon you this day, then the Lord your God will restore (ve-shav) your fortunes and take you back in love. He will bring you (ve-shav) together again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. … You, however, will again (tashuv) heed the Lord and obey all His commandments that I enjoin upon you this day. And the Lord your God will grant you abounding prosperity in all your undertakings, in the issue of your womb, the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For the Lord will again (ya-shuv) delight in your well-being, as He did in that of your fathers, since you will be heeding the Lord your God and keeping His commandments and laws that are recorded in this book of the Teaching — once you return to (tashuv el) the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

Deuteronomy 30:1-4, 8-10

Notice that the expression "return to" (in boldface above) appears twice verbatim in the English, but that the Hebrew equivalents are dissimilar. While both Hebrew verbs "return" are from the same root shuv, each is followed by a different preposition. Verse 2 reads ve-shavta ad (turn toward, or unto) and verse 10 reads tashuv el (return to). The variation between ad and el has led many interpreters to understand teshuva, repentance, in different ways.

Sforno draws directly on the word ad found in verse 2. He says that the sole reason to perform repentance is to do God's will; this is a complete turning to God with no selfish motivation. According to Sforno, this is what the Talmud means when it teaches "Great is repentance, for it reaches up to (ad) the Throne of Glory, as it is said [Hosea 14:2]: Return, O Israel, unto (ad) the Lord thy God." (Yoma 86a, Soncino translation)

Elie Munk takes this one step further by declaring that the word ad emphasizes that repentance ideally lifts one spiritually towards God, hence "it reaches up to (ad) the Throne of Glory" as stated in Yoma 86a. Munk adds that the purest form of repentance is done out of complete love of God rather than fear.

Malbim explains ad and el as a two-step process. First one turns to God, then one returns to God. The Etz Chayim Commentary (p. 1139) summarizes his explanation: "The first stage is a realization that our behavior is wrong and requires a change of direction. This is 'turning toward.' The second stage is coming into the presence of God as the result of one's new way of life 'returning to' God." From this perspective ad (turning toward) is repentance which is followed by el (returning to) which is redemption.

These explanations reveal the important components of teshuvah: Wholehearted repentance requires a change in both thought and action. Here's our conundrum: Which comes first? A change in behaviour affects one's outlook; yet a change in attitude leads to a behavioural adjustment.

Ultimately, the starting point is not important. What is crucial is that both aspects must be present if we are to reach "up to the Throne of Glory." This leaves us with no excuse to procrastinate when it comes to teshuvah. Focusing on one element will lead us towards the other. So what are we waiting for? Selichot is after this Shabbat, Rosh HaShana is next week, Yom Kippur ten days after that.

Rabbi Tarfon says: The day is short, the task is great, the workers are lazy, the reward is great, and the Master of the house is insistent.

Avot 2:20

Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Michal Shekel