Va'etchanan
What is possible for us by 'returning home`?
Reflection by Or HaLev teacher
and Israel Community Manager Adam Treistman
"Parshat Va'etchanan, one of the most moving and touching portions of the Torah, if only because of Moshe`s pleas to enter the promised land. The hidden ways of God in this parasha show us two opposing ends - on the one hand absolute law and judgment (Din) - God does not change his ruling despite the pleas of Moshe, the first prophet. On the other hand, in this parasha, we are reminded for the first time of a fundamental spiritual principle, one of the foundations of all creation, which is all about loving kindness and mercy; teshuva, return. The ability to return, to correct, to change our way of being in a profound way and to receive recognition for it from all creation.
Indeed, it is no coincidence that parshat Va'etchanan always comes after Tisha B`Av. After the difficult days of judgment, we get a glimpse and reminiscence about the possibility of repair – Tikun. The smell of the days of Elul, the month of repentance and forgiveness, is already beginning to waft through the air.
We cannot help but read the first verse of the Torah that mentions the principle of repentance in the context of `Avodat HaNefesh,` the work of your soul:
`Return to your God and listen to his voice`, (Deuteronomy 4:30)
'וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד ה' אֱלֹקֶיךָ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקֹלוֹ'
After all the harsh prophecies in the Torah portion, after we ignore, distance ourselves, forget our nature and behave in a way of self-harm and rudeness, we have no choice, sooner or later, but to go back and return to G-D. To return to the true, repaired and authentic nature within us. So also 'and you listen to his voice – or `in his voice`, the voice of G-d, is your innermost and most encapsulated voice. Returning home allows us to hear ourselves in the fullest, deepest and most vivid way.
It is a wonder that the midrashic texts on the parasha also deal quite a bit with the principle of repentance, and the well-known saying is mentioned: `The gates of prayer are sometimes open, sometimes are locked, but the gates of repentance are always open`(Devarim Rabbah 2:12).
Perhaps we can say that the gates of prayer, which represent the world of my requests and desires - to achieve, to develop, to reach, to receive. to enter the promised land, are not always open. Many of our prayers are not answered and we do not always experience an external movement of progress. But the gates of repentance, the inner movement, which also occurs during our practice, to return again and again to our treasures, to our true essence, this movement is always open to us."