DRASH – HA’AZINU – SHABBAT SHUVA

Rabbi Sam Zwarenstein

Emanuel Synagogue

Ha’azinu Shabbat Shuva – 5787

There is an insightful difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is passive and consists of a biological response to sound waves hitting the eardrum. Listening, on the other hand, involves active coordination and requires intention, silence, and a readiness to be altered by what comes into our awareness.

The distinction is at the very heart of Shabbat Shuva (which is literally the Shabbat of Return), since this Shabbat occurs exactly within the Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuvah). This year, on this special Shabbat, when we are at the holy threshold between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we read Parashat Ha’azinu.

The parasha begins with Moses making a dramatic, celestial appeal; “Give ear, O heavens, let me speak; let the earth hear the words I am going to say!” (Deuteronomy 32:1).

The term Ha’azinu derives from the Hebrew root “ozen” (ear). It doesn’t simply mean asking someone to hear background noise, it is a clear instruction to turn one’s ear, to tune oneself, to give deep and concentrated attention.

Moses refers to the heavens and the earth as witnesses to this covenant. Symbolically, the ‘heavens’ stand for our highest spiritual aspirations, our moral principles, the purpose of our soul, and our link with the Divine. In contrast, the ‘earth’ stands for our physical realities, our daily habits, our actions, and how we treat other people in the material world.

Moses is pointing out a basic principle of teshuvah. Genuine return is only possible when our physical and spiritual lives are brought into harmony through active listening.

If you look at the way these Days of Awe have developed, the main commandment on Rosh Hashanah is Lishmo’a Kol Shofar (hearing the blasts of the shofar). The shofar functions as a spiritual alarm clock in that it is a crude, wordless cry designed to startle us out of our routine and reach us from the outside, breaking our complacency.

When we come to Shabbat Shuva, the focus changes from external stimulation to internal integration. The alarm has already gone off. The question at this point is, what do we actually hear?

On Shabbat Shuva we turn our attention inwards. We stop the unrelenting noise of everyday life, including the headlines, the distractions and the constant digital chatter, so as to make a quiet place inside our being. It is in that silence that we finally hear what the prophet Elijah referred to as the Kol D’mama Dakah (the “still small voice”) of our own conscience.

Our soul speaks to us throughout the year. It gives us a soft reminder each time we fail to show kindness, compromise our values, or accept a life less important than the one we were meant to live. Yet, in too many cases, the noise of the world silences that gentle message. We may hear the noise, but we do not take in the message.

The prayers offered during the High Holy Days contain a great deal of ancient poetry and strong liturgical content, but merely hearing the words is not enough to bring about change. The message of Shabbat Shuva is simple, but at the same time, demanding. Don’t just take in the words of the Machzor, pay attention to what your soul has been trying to say to you all year.

Teshuvah has nothing to do with becoming a different person, rather it is about returning to the state of who you really are. It starts when we turn our attention to the Divine within us and to the earth under us, incorporating our most important values into our ordinary actions.

May this Shabbat Shuva give us the quiet strength to cease merely hearing the world and instead begin to listen to our souls.

Shabbat Shalom, Shana Tova, and G’mar Chatimah Tovah.

Rabbi Sam Zwarenstein