אִם יִרְצֶה הַשֵּׁם
Based on the Torah Haïm leaflet no. 11, Haazinou, from the teachings of Rav David Touitou, chlita
We are in Chabbat Shuvah, between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Parashat Haazinou is read during the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah. This year, Moshe does not merely rebuke Israel: he sings. Song is the language of the soul. It reaches what words alone cannot touch.
The Rose: 90% Thorns, 10% Petals
Life is hard: educational, financial, family, social tests. We do not even know where to rest. Yet Hashem makes us a promise.
Step back and look at your life: it resembles a rose. A rose is 90% thorns, stems covered with spikes. As long as you have not reached the end, you see only the pricks. But at the top there are petals: only 10%, and yet they give the rose its beauty, its fragrance, and what it represents: love.
This is what the Torah teaches. The tests are the stem and its thorns. But Nitsavim tells you: you will remain standing. Vayelekh: you will move forward. Vezot Haberakhah: in the end, blessing prevails. If you do what is yours to do, b'ezrat Hashem, at the end of the thorn you will find the petals.
The Torah Is Like Rain and Dew
"Ya'arof kamatar likhi, tizal katal imrati": "May my teaching drop like rain, may my word flow like dew." (Devarim 32:2)
The Torah is compared to rain and dew. Rain falls with force and penetrates the earth deeply. Dew is much finer: it settles gently and also gives life.
The Sforno explains that the Torah can reach different levels of people. One who is prepared to understand deeply will receive deep understanding. Even one who is not yet at that level can receive something from the Torah and begin to recognize his Creator.
This is a beautiful idea for Chabbat Shuvah. We sometimes think teshuvah must be spectacular. A person must change completely. Pray enormously. Study enormously. Make twenty decisions.
But the Sforno reminds us that the Torah sometimes acts like dew. A small amount. A small change. A sentence that stays in the mind. A decision made quietly. A conversation with Hashem. And that small thing can eventually make something grow.
The real question of Chabbat Shuvah is not: "Have I become a tzaddik?" But: "Has something begun to grow inside me?" If yes, then teshuvah has already begun.
Remember the Days of Old
"Remember the days of old, understand the years of the generations."
The Sforno explains that Moshe asks Israel to look at history and see all that Hashem tried to give humanity and Israel throughout the generations.
This gives us another form of teshuvah. Teshuvah is not only looking at what I did wrong. It is also looking at all that Hashem has already done for me.
Sometimes this second reflection is even more powerful. A person can regret a fault for five minutes. But when he begins to think of the dozens, the hundreds of times Hashem helped him, protected him, lifted him, sent the right person at the right time, or opened an unexpected door, the heart naturally begins to change.
Rachi's Insight
"Haazinou hashamayim va'adaberah": "Give ear, heavens, and I will speak."
Rachi explains that Moshe, being mortal, takes heaven and earth as witnesses. They will endure forever and can testify before all generations that Israel was warned.
Why "haazinou" (give ear) for heaven, and "tishma" (let it hear) for earth? Because Moshe was close to heaven and farther from earth. We use "give ear" for what is close, and "hear" for what is distant.
"Ya'arof kamatar likhi": Rachi compares Moshe's teaching to rain. His words must penetrate the heart and produce their effect, as rain makes the earth live.
"Hatsur tamim po'alo": "The Rock, His work is perfect." Rachi teaches that even when Hashem brings punishment, His work remains perfect and His judgment is just. There is nothing to criticize in His conduct.
Speaking to Hashem in Your Own Words
"Ribono Shel Olam, this is where I really am. This is what I cannot seem to change. This is what I regret. This is what I would like to become."
In Likutei Moharan II, 25, Rabbi Nachman teaches hitbodedut: to set aside a regular time to be alone with Hashem and speak to Him simply, in the language you naturally speak.
Why is this especially fitting for Chabbat Shuvah? Because there is a difference between reciting teshuvah and speaking about your teshuvah.
We know the words. We say them every year. But there is a moment when we must close the book and say to Hashem: "Ribono Shel Olam, this is where I really am. This is what I cannot seem to change. This is what I regret. This is what I would like to become. This is what I am afraid of. This is what I ask of You for this year."
This is not a replacement for the established prayer. It is a space where our relationship with Hashem becomes personal. And Rabbi Nachman goes further: even when a person cannot find any words, the very fact of standing before Hashem already has value.
Practical exercise for this week: before Yom Kippur, let us simply take 10 minutes. Not an hour. Not something impossible. Ten minutes. And let us speak to Hashem as we would speak to someone before whom we can finally be completely honest. That conversation can be the beginning of real teshuvah.
Do Not Judge: Everyone Has a Different Starting Point
A Hasidic story: The Admur, the son of the Baal Hatanya, once arrived in a village and entered into a discussion with a great Hasid. With every argument of the Hasid, the Admur refuted him.
The Hasid finally stopped: "There is no justice in what you are doing with me. You, your father chose for you a soul of exceptional height. You come from a pure father, a pure mother. Everything was prepared to receive a royal soul. I, my work is to run at night to sign contracts. I must frequent places not suitable for a Hasid, sit with clients, drink with them. Everything I obtain, I obtain through deep effort. You, everything you have is a gift from Heaven, matanah min haShamayim."
Some time later, the Baal Hatanya came to thank this Hasid: "You have given me a new son." For his son, understanding that everything had been given to him from above, came to tell him: "Papa, I want to become an Oved Hashem through my own effort."
The lesson: You can never truly judge someone. You do not have the same starting conditions. Each person is judged according to his starting point, his tests, and his means.
Humility and Prayer in Action
The leaflet presents two giants.
Rav Yehouda Tsadka (1910-1991), Rosh Yeshivah of Porat Yosef, author of Kol Yehouda. When he became Rosh Yeshivah, a new sign was placed on the door of his room: "Rav Yehouda Tsadka, Rosh Yeshivah." He immediately asked that it be removed. He did not want his new title to become part of his identity. Before Hashem, all labels fall. What remains is simply: Who am I really?
Rav Mordekhai Eliyahou (1929-2010), former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel. When he was still a young dayan in Beersheba, he noticed a woman who remained outside the rabbinical court, praying with her Tehillim. She was an agunah: her husband had disappeared in Morocco and his death had never been established with certainty. Rav Eliyahou took her file, looked for people who might know the story, and traveled to Dimona. The person he had been directed to had unfortunately died a few days earlier. But during the condolence visit, Rav Eliyahou explained the reason for his visit. Then a man present in the house stood up and said: "I am the other man you are looking for. I am the one who buried that man in Morocco." His testimony allowed the rabbinical court of Beersheba to free this woman from her status as an agunah. Rav Eliyahou summarized it: "This is the power of prayer, hers and mine."
The lesson: Prayer is not passive waiting. True prayer can give a person the strength to rise and act. Before Hashem, all titles fall. And true prayer does not merely wait: it becomes action.
Halakha: Before Yom Kippur
Kapparot: Perform Kapparot before Kippur. Your donation feeds a family in need and sweetens the decree.
Erev Yom Kippur: There is a special obligation to eat and drink during the day. The Gemara says that one who eats on the ninth day is considered as having fasted on the ninth and the tenth.
Sick people: Consult a doctor well in advance. If a person is not permitted to fast, it is strictly forbidden for him to fast. One should eat according to the halakhic quantities, after consulting a rabbi.
Sukkot: Begin building the sukkah immediately after Yom Kippur, as much as possible. We go "from strength to strength": a person goes from one mitzvah to another.
To Remember
Heaven and earth are witnesses to the covenant. The Torah of Moshe is not reserved for one generation. It speaks to us today, provided we give ear.
On this Chabbat Shuvah, teshuvah may not be about changing everything at once. It may be like dew: a small decision, a conversation with Hashem, a look at all He has already done for us. And at the end of the thorns, the blessing.
Chabbat Shalom. May the year that is ending carry away its curses, and may the new year be sweet.