|
From the Rabbi:
This week it is very easy to view Shabbat as simply being the third day of Rosh Hashanah. Sandwiched between Rosh Hashanah and the anniversary of October 7, this year Shabbat Shuva is hardly the main event on the forefront of anyone's mind. And that's OK. That's kind of built in to the character of Shabbat, always being there for us, gently and patiently waiting all week, and being full of love for us even when we're not paying attention. And when we finally arrive, all she asks is from us to enjoy her presence. Shabbos is always happy to see us.
Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the sixth day of creation, the day on which Hashem created Humanity. The day which we had an unpleasant interaction with a snake, ate an apple (without honey), hid from God, heard His voice calling us, got dressed for the first time, stood in judgement and received our prescriptions for fixing the world. Then what happened? Hashem invited us to stay in the Garden for Shabbat. And so, every Shabbat we're invited to return to Gan Eden to spend 25 hours with God as if everything is perfect and nothing has ever disrupted our intimacy with God and each other.
Shabbat Shuva isn't an afterthought, but it is above thought. We ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. But God didn't. On Shabbat Shuva, God doesn't look at us with eyes of commendation or condemnation. Rather Shabbat Shuva is a manifestation in time of the unconditionality of God's love for us. A refuge from the intensity of deciding the fate of the world on Thursday and Friday and remembering the horrors of the past year the following week. And that's exactly what Shabbat Shuva should be, a time to just enjoy being together. That itself is the essence of Teshuva, simply letting Hashem enjoy your presence.
Shana Tova, and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shlomo
Classes This Week
NOTE: The Thursday evening class is paused until further notice.
| 
