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Photo: Efi Sharir
A recipe for Teshuva
The five letters of the word Teshuva each stand for a different part of Teshuva
The Shabbat preceding Yom Kippur, called Shabbat Shuva, is marked by the Haftorah that begins with the words “Shuva Yisroel” Return O Israel to Your Lord. This Haftorah is connected to the Torah reading of Parshat Haazinu which relates what Moshe Rabbeinu said and did before he returned to his Maker.
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Rav Dov Ber of Mezerich explained the verse “and you shall return to the Lord your God”, that our Teshuva needs to reach the level of the four letter name of God, which represents God as being unlimited, for us to completely return to God. The requirement of Teshuva is to return to God beyond the nature of earthly existence.
Rav Meshulam Zusha of Anipol, known as Reb Zushe, felt that this level of Teshuva was unattainable for him, and therefore decided to break down the parts of Teshuva to make it easier to fulfill.
The five letters of the word Teshuva each stand for a different part of Teshuva.
The first letter, Tav, stands for Tamim, to be complete and wholehearted with God (Deuteronomy 18:13). The second letter, Shin, stands for Shiviti, as in Shiviti Hashem L’Negdi Tamid (Tehillim 16:8), to constantly have God in your presence and frame of mind.
The third letter, Vav, stands for V’Ahavta, as in V’ahavta L’Rei’eicha Kamocha (Leviticus 19:18), you shall love your neighbor as thyself. The fourth letter, Bet, stands for B’Kol D’racheihu Da’eihu (Proverbs 3:6), you shall know God in all your ways.
Finally, the fifth letter, Heh, stands for Hatzneah Lechet (Micha(6:8 , walk modestly with God. When we are cognizant of these five ideas, we can be more assured of coming close to Hashem.
Perhaps these five steps relate to the five prayers of Yom Kippur, of Kol Nidrei, Shacharit, Mussaf, Mincha and Neila. Perhaps this is also related to the five immersions that the Kohen Gadol would do doing the course of the day on Yom Kippur in the Beit Hamikdash as part of the service of the day.
The Zohar says that each Jew has five levels in their soul, and the Midrash gives five names to the soul, Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama, Chaya, and Yechida. It is written than on the ten days of repentance the source of each neshama is revealed to each person.
May we merit to have a happy and sweet new year and come close to God to be able to celebrate the rest of the year for good.
Rabbi Yehoshua Hecht is the rabbi of Beth Israel Synagogue of Westport/Norwalk, Norwalk, Connecticut.
Courtesy of the Orthodox Union Take Five for Torah program
