 |  | Parshat Ha’azinu teaches us, “You neglected the Rock Who begot you. You forgot the God Who labored to bring you forth” (Devarim 32:18). What does it mean that we have forgotten God? The Dubner Maggid tells the following parable: Once, Reuven fell down on his luck. He borrowed money from many people in order to help get back on his feet, but try as he might, Reuven could not make any financial breakthroughs. After some time, the people returned to Reuven and demanded their money back. They would call non-stop, bang on his door and send him letters day in and day out. Reuven was at his wits end. At last, he turned to his friend, Shimon, and asked him what he should do to make the people go away. “It’s simple,” said Shimon, “just pretend that you’ve lost your mind, and they’ll leave you alone.” Sure enough, Shimon’s advice worked. Whenever one of the lenders came by, Reuven jumped up and down, he screamed and shouted. Every lender that came his way was so startled, that they thought it best not to bother Reuven again. Now, during this time, Reuven also borrowed some money from Shimon. After a few months, Shimon came by to collect his money. What did Reuven do? Well, he jumped up and down, he screamed and shouted. Upon seeing this, Shimon exclaimed, “What do you think you’re doing?! Don’t you remember that I was the one who taught you that little trick?!”
God granted us the ability to forget. And sometimes, forgetting can be a gift, especially when the past can impede or even destroy our future. Comfort from pain always contains a little bit of forgetfulness. Recovering from anger always requires just a bit of forgetfulness. However, if we use that gift of forgetfulness to forget the One Who made us, then we forget the essence of our very being.
On Shabbat Shuva, every Jew is called to return in repentance, as the Prophet Hosheiya says, “Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God” (14:2). At its core, teshuva, repentance, means to return. But return to what? According to Rav Kook, “When a person returns to him or herself, to his or her spiritual root, then immediately, he or she will return to God, to the Soul of souls. That person will progress onward, moving higher and higher in sanctity and purity.” The first step on the road of teshuva is simply to remember. To remember what? To remember that you are, in fact, a creation of God, that your soul is divine, and that there exists in you a piece of the Eternal. We must remember that we are all created for a purpose, and that we all have a unique mission in this world. However, if we forget who we are, how will we ever recall our Maker?
Thus, on Shabbat Shuva, we are all called to remember who we really are, in our heart of hearts – to try to remember the root of our souls, and through the process of remembering, we will come to discover our true selves, and in so doing, we will rekindle the love and closeness, the light and warmth of our connection with the “Rock Who begot you” (Devarim 32:18). This Shabbat, let’s make this our priority: More than words, more than action, if we can just try to remember our true selves, we can start to walk the long path towards our True Source, and in so doing, we will fulfill these words, “I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember Your wonders of old” (Tehillim 77:12).
Shanah Tova and Shabbat Shalom!
- Rabbi Dan
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