Sermon for First Morning of Rosh Hashanah 5785
October 3, 2024
Rosh Hashanah is the start of Aseret Ymei Teshuvah – The Ten Days of Teshuvah – which culminate with Yom Kippur nine days from now.
Teshuvah is often translated as “repentance” but its more basic meaning is “return”. So, these are the ten days of return.
“Repentance” and “return” --- Those concepts seem to suggest looking backwards and, indeed, that’s a big part of what these High Holy Days are about: Reflecting on the year that has passed, and on how we conducted ourselves in our relationships with God and with one another.
But Rosh Hashanah is also a beginning. A new start.
As we sang after each set of Musaf Shofar blasts today – HAYOM HARAT OLAM – TODAY THE WORLD IS BORN.
Indeed – our tradition teaches that, not just Rosh Hashanah, but, in fact, every single day is a time of rebirth.
As the traditional language of our liturgy declares –
הַמֵּאִיר לָאָֽרֶץ וְלַדָּרִים עָלֶֽיהָ בְּרַחֲמִים וּבְטוּבוֹ מְחַדֵּשׁ בְּכָל־יוֹם תָּמִיד מַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית
Bringer of light to the earth and its inhabitants in mercy and divine goodness, renewing each day continually the work of Creation.
Or as the contemporary author, poet and teacher, Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg expresses it –
Every day, Creation is renewed.
Wake up and see unfolding
In the spreading light of dawn,
The world and all it contains
Coming into being, new, fresh.
Filled with divine goodness and love
Every day, Creation is renewed.
Reflected in the great lights
We see a new day,
One precious day,
Eternity.
No matter how stressful yesterday may have been, today is a new start.
And if that’s true from day to day – how much more so for the start of a new year.
In this spirit, it seems odd that Jewish tradition doesn’t assign the first chapter of Genesis, the story of the creation of the world, for this first morning of the Jewish New Year.
Instead, we read Genesis 21 from Torah portion Vayera, and, as our haftarah, we read the opening chapters of the First Book of Samuel.
One explanation for this practice is that each of these passages speaks of God’s faithfulness in our times of trouble.
When Sarah was struggling with infertility, Torah reassures us
וַֽה' פָּקַ֥ד אֶת־שָׂרָ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמָ֑ר וַיַּ֧עַשׂ ה' לְשָׂרָ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֵּֽר׃
“Adonai took note of Sarah as [Adonai] had promised, and did for Sarah as [Adonai] had spoken.”
And in this morning’s haftarah, when Hannah was similarly in despair,
וַֽיִּזְכְּרֶ֖הָ יי
--- “Adonai remembered her” (1 Samuel 1:19), prompting Hannah to sing
עָלַ֤ץ לִבִּי֙ בַּֽיי
“My heart exults in Adonai” (1 Samuel 2:1)
And, more to the point, the choice of these texts is also related to the statement in the Talmud, Masechet Rosh Hashanah page 11a:
רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר:... בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה נִפְקְדָה שָׂרָה רָחֵל וְחַנָּה
“Rabbi Yehoshua says … On Rosh Hashanah Sarah, Rachel and Hannah were remembered.”
Indeed, the traditional text of the Machzor frequently refers to Rosh Hashanah as “Yom Hazikaron” – “The Day of Remembrance.”
(And, by the way, we’ll meet up with Rachel in the haftarah for the second day of Rosh Hashanah tomorrow.)
………………..
We all know that life can be difficult.
Life can be challenging.
Life can be painful.
The events of the past year, especially since last October 7th, lends credence to this observation.
But Judaism encourages us to persevere with hope and optimism --- to cultivate within ourselves the faith that God, however we may understand the nature of God, remembers us, and takes note of us – as Torah teaches God did for Sarah, Rachel and Hannah.
And as the psalmist instructs us:
קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־ה' חֲ֭זַק וְיַאֲמֵ֣ץ לִבֶּ֑ךָ וְ֝קַוֵּ֗ה אֶל־ה' ׃
Hope in the Eternal
be strong and of good courage!
Hope in the Eternal.[1]
For, as Jews, we understand that -- whatever befalls us -- we are not alone.
At the start of this dvar torah I spoke of how Rosh Hashanah is the start of the “Aseret Ymei Hateshuvah”/“The Ten Days of Teshuvah”. And how the word “teshuvah” can be translated as either “return” or “repentance”.
The understanding of “teshuvah” as “return” is more characteristic of its use in the Biblical period.
The understanding of “teshuvah” as “tepentance” is more characteristic of the subsequent Rabbinic and Medieval eras that followed the destruction of the Second Temple.
For us, almost two thousand years later, we might well combine the two definitions and think of “teshuvah” as being about “returning to our better selves”.
We do this, as Paul McCartney would say – “with a little help from our friends”
And we do this, as generations of our ancestors have taught us --- with faith in the unfailing presence of God, Tzuri ve-Go’ali – “my rock and my redeemer.”[2]
Just this past Shabbat, our Torah reading from Parashat Nitzavim, from Deuteronomy Chapter 30, included an extended passage incorporating various forms of the verb “to return” seven times in close succession. One particular verse from that parasha strikes me as perhaps the most poignant verse in the whole Torah, at least as it is filtered through the commentary of the Talmud and Rashi.
As it says in Deuteronomy 30:3
וְשָׁ֨ב ה' אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ אֶת־שְׁבוּתְךָ֖ וְרִחֲמֶ֑ךָ
(veshav Adonai Elohekha et shevutekha verichamekha)
The Jewish Publication Society translation in the Plaut Torah Commentary translates this as: “Then the Eternal your God will restore your fortunes”
However, as with so many passages in the Tanakh, the Hebrew is somewhat ambiguous and capable of multiple interpretations.
We can also translate the phrase
וְשָׁ֨ב ה' אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ אֶת־שְׁבוּתְךָ֖ וְרִחֲמֶ֑ךָ
As “Adonai will return your returnees and be merciful to you.”
Or, to use the more poetic language of the old King James Version:
“The LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee.”
This idea that the word “shevutekha” refers to the return of Israelites who have been exiled and in captivity is the version favored by the Talmud.
And, in doing so, they notice an anomaly in the grammar.
If it were about God acting to cause the Israelites to return from exile and captivity, the verb should have been in the causative form “veheyshiv” (והשיב) rather than the simple form “veshav” (ושב).
The Torah saying “veshav” rather than “veheyshiv” implies that, as it were, God is also, Godself, returning along with all of the exiles as they return from exile back to the Land of Israel.
As Rashi, citing the Talmud, comments:
הָיָה לוֹ לִכְתֹּב "וְהֵשִׁיב" אֶת שְׁבוּתְךָ, רַבּוֹתֵינוּ לָמְדוּ מִכָּאן כִּבְיָכוֹל שֶׁהַשְּׁכִינָה שְׁרוּיָה עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּצָרַת גָּלוּתָם, וּכְשֶׁנִּגְאָלִין הִכְתִּיב גְּאֻלָּה לְעַצְמוֹ — שֶׁהוּא יָשׁוּב עִמָּהֶם.
Scripture should have written, וְהֵשִׁיב ה׳ אֶת שְׁבוּתְךָ (veheyshiv Adonai et shevutekha) [with the verb וְהֵשִׁיב (veheyshiv) being in the causative conjugation, meaning “to bring back”]. But our Rabbis learned from [the simple conjugation of the verb] here [which alludes to God, Godself, returning], that the Shechinah (the Divine Presence), as it were, resides among the Jewish people in the suffering of their exile. And when they are redeemed [from their exile], God writes [in Scripture an expression of] redemption for Godself, that God, as it were, returns along with them.[3]
I know that for theological skeptics among us, I’ve just thrown at you a lot of God-centered language. And I realize that sometimes it’s easier to go with it when it’s in Hebrew rather than in the vernacular.
But all of the above is not inconsistent with a more naturalistic style of spirituality, the kind of spirituality that says that God is present in our relationships with one another.
That God is experienced in community.
And that God, as it were, works through us as we strive for Tikkun Olam, the repair of this decidedly imperfect world.
And that, as we seek comfort, and meaning, and inspiration from our sacred tradition – and from our sacred bonds with one another --- we can say in humble piety:
בְּיָדוֹ אַפְקִיד רוּחִי, בְּעֵת אִישַׁן וְאָעִֽירָה:
וְעִם רוּחִי גְּוִיָּתִי, ה' לִי וְלֹא אִירָא:
(Beyado afkid ruchi, be’yet Ishan ve’a’irah, v’im ruchi geviyati, Adonai li velo ira.)
Into [God’s] hand I entrust my spirit [both] when I sleep and when I awaken.
And with my spirit my body [too], Adonoy is with me, I shall not fear. [4]
© Rabbi David Steinberg
Rosh Hashanah 5785/ October 2024
[1] Psalms 27:14
[2] Psalms 19:15
[3] Rashi on Deuteronomy 30:3 citing Megillah 29a
[4] These words are from the closing stanza of the hymn “Adon Olam,” traditionally attributed to Solomon Ibn Gabriol (1021–1058), though its actually origin is uncertain.
