{"id":52055,"date":"2019-03-25T19:47:52","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T17:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=52055"},"modified":"2022-10-17T17:42:45","modified_gmt":"2022-10-17T14:42:45","slug":"turn-and-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/turn-and-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn And Return"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Knowing that his life\u2019s journey will end before the people enter the land of Israel, the chapter opens as Moses gathers the people for one final address – a beautiful, poetic, and moving description of return to the covenant with God through Torah along with a parallel return from exile to the land of Israel. <\/span><\/p>\n

The passage continues (v. 11-12), \u201c<\/span>For this mitzvah which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach<\/span>.\u201d \u2018<\/span>It is not in heaven<\/span>,\u2019 and \u2018<\/span>it is not too baffling<\/span>.\u2019 This command – whatever it is \u2013 is right in front of us and is easy to grasp.<\/span><\/p>\n

This mitzvah? In the singular? Shouldn\u2019t it say all the mitzvot? What about the rest of the Torah? Which mitzvah are we talking about? <\/span><\/p>\n

For 13<\/span>th<\/span> century Spanish commentator, Nachmanides, the answer is easy. He points out that the verb <\/span>lashuv <\/span><\/em>\u2013 to return \u2013 the same root as the word <\/span>teshuvah<\/span><\/em>, repentance<\/span> – appears again and again. In fact, there are seven different instances of the word, referring both to the Jewish people returning to God and God\u2019s word, as well as God approaching and bringing us back to the land of Israel. Consequently, Ramban understands this drama of loss\/return and exile\/redemption as the essence of the commandment to do teshuvah; to repent, to mend our ways, to assess and improve our behavior. <\/span><\/p>\n

To do teshuvah is more than simply recounting wrongdoings or begging for leniency from others or God. Rather, says Ramban, actions and misactions are both part of who we are. Missteps are acts done when we are locating ourselves in a place other than home. The Hebrew words for these misactions support this understanding. <\/span>Chet<\/span><\/i> (sin) is best understood \u201cto miss a target.\u201d <\/span>Averah<\/span><\/i>, like the English word \u201ctransgression,\u201d means \u201cto cross a boundary, to enter forbidden territory, to be in a place one should not be.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In our most honest of moments, we know that sometimes our actions do alienate us, distancing us from ourselves, others, and God, leaving us in a place different than we would like to be or even should be. We become like aliens, living in a land that is no longer our own. <\/span><\/p>\n

With this insight, it is not so difficult to see the Torah\u2019s image of exile as the extreme outcome of such misaction. But, we don\u2019t have to stay there. Through honest engagement, we make possible new decisions, new behavior that returns us to the intrinsic purity of soul. And, we play out our own return to God. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor this mitzvah which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.\u201d \u2018it is not in heaven,\u2019 and \u2018it is not too baffling.\u2019 \u00a0This command, whatever it is, is in your grasp and is right in front of you. <\/span><\/p>\n

Now is the time and the invitation is ours. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":52056,"id":52056,"title":"dt30-return","filename":"dt30-return.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-return.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/turn-and-return\/dt30-return\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt30-return","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":52055,"date":"2019-03-25 17:46:23","modified":"2019-03-25 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