Skip to main content

One Second, I am getting an invitation!

 שׁ֚וּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַ֖ד יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ כִּ֥י כָשַׁ֖לְתָּ בַּעֲוֺנֶֽךָ  (Hoseah,14:2- Haftara of Shabbos Shuva)

Return, O Israel, to the [Hashem] your God, For you have fallen, stumbled because of your sin.


Why are you doing Teshuvah?

Do I need a Navie to tell me to do Teshuvah because I sinned?


What does the word עַ֖ד mean in the verse?

עַ֖ד means to come toward. 


Therefore, שׁ֚וּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל Return, O Israel, is an invitation to reach toward Hashem, and not because you sinned but because you are down, so therefore the Navie says ,"just start the process".  If you are only doing Teshuvah because we are down it is still okay and that is this Nevuah, prophecy. 


That is why many people use this intention of coming toward Hashem, שׁ֚וּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַ֖ד יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ when taking the three steps up in Shmone Esray, the Amidah prayer.


First step: I am getting an invitation..שׁ֚וּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל, Return O Israel.  Hashem is reaching His hand   anthropomorphically out to us

Second Step: You come toward Me - עַ֖ד , Just start the process , one little step..

Third step: Hashem Elokecha, You have not lost Me.


It is not just an invitation to come back, but an invitation to fix the whole world!.


Why are you down? You know, just make a little bit better, and you will fix the whole world!  That is what is possible in Shabbos Shuva.


It's in that moment when you're in a world of Teshuvah,

A world in which you're approaching forgiveness, and atonement .

You don't have to give up hope completely because of an Aveira because we have this gift of Shabbos, which is your invitation to come back, and you can change the world.


Concepts Shared by: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg, n’’y 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TAKING IT WITH YOU-MISHPATIM-ALEINU

Our sages teach us, “On the Red Sea, God appeared to them like a young boy, while at Sinai, He appeared like an old man.” At first thought, this is extremely difficult to understand, since it is written, “You have not seen   any image (To see Deuteronomy 4:15).” We can explain this with an example. When a parent loves his child, this great love causes the child’s image to be engraved on the parent’s mind. It is therefore as if the child were actually standing in the presence of the parent. When the child is young, he exists in his parent’s mind in the image of a small child. Later, when he grows, the image in the parent’s thoughts is that of an older person.   It is known that, “Israel rose first in thought.” This means that they are constantly engraved in the Supernal Thought, just as a child is in its parent’s mind. When a child acts properly and does what its parent wishes, this is the image that is engraved in its parent’s thoughts. The same is true when the child goes aga...
Post a Comment
Read more

Goodness and Blessing

 “May it be Your Will, God, our Lord, and the Lord of our forefathers, that You inaugurate this month upon us for goodness and for blessing.” We pray for Moshe’s third trip even before we receive his report of his second. We pray assuming that we will not only be forgiven, but will be granted even more as Moshe ascends Sinai for a third time. We acknowledge God, that He is our Lord. We call on the merit of our forefathers. By: Rabbi Simcha Weinberg
Post a Comment
Read more

Consistent proportions ....

  Ketores   Ketores reminds me of stoichiometry, which is a fancy word in chemistry for proportions. Let’s take H 2 O (water)—it is a proportion of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen. No matter how much water I have, whether it’s the volume of a swimming pool, or a tiny drop, it has constant molecular proportionality; every water molecule in that pool or in that tiny drop is no more and no less than two hydrogens for every one oxygen. We have proportionality in the ketores: “1) Balsam, 2) onycha, 3) & galbanum 4) frankincense – the weight of 70 maneh each. 5) myrrh, 6) cassia & 7) spikenard & 8) saffron – [each] a weight of 16, 16 maneh. 9) costus – 12 maneh 10) aromatic bark – three [maneh] 11) cinnamon – 9 (maneh) [Added also were] Lye of Carsina – 9 Kavs (a measure), Wine of Cypres – 3 Seahs and 3 kavs- and if one did not find wine of Cypres – he brings old wine. Salt of Sodom – a quarter [of a kav.]… Rabbi Yehuda said “This is the general rule – if it is ...
Post a Comment
Read more