30 Sep SHABBAT SHUVA TESHUBA & TORAH LEARNING

The famous Haftara
read on Shabbat
Shuba – the Shabbat
in between Rosh
Hashanah and Yom
Kippur – comes from the Book of Hoshea,
and begins with the prophet calling to the
people, “Return, O Israel, unto Hashem
your G-d, for you have stumbled through
your sin” (14:2). Hoshea then instructs us
how to embark on this road of repentance:
“Kehu Imachem Debarim Ve’shubu El
Hashem” – “Take with yourselves words,
and return to G-d” (14:3).
Rav Aharon Kotler (1892-1962) explains
that these “words” are the words of the
Torah. In order to properly repent, one
must devote time to the study of Torah.
In truth, this is stated explicitly in the
Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni, 935), which
teaches: “If a person stumbled upon a sin
for which he liable to death at the hands
of G-d, what shall he do so he may live?
He should involve himself in Torah. If
he was accustomed to reading one page,
he should read two pages; to learn one

chapter, he should learn two chapters.”
The Midrash tells us that one can avoid
the repercussions of his wrongdoing by
increasing the amount of time he spends
learning Torah.
Why is Torah learning a crucial component
of Teshuba? The Rambam famously
lists the four elements that comprise the
process of repentance – discontinuing the
sinful behavior, remorse, confession, and
committing not to repeat the sin in the future.
All these stages are readily understandable,
as they relate to the sin itself. But how does
this additional component – Torah study –
relate to the process of Teshuba?
The answer can be found in a well-known
Mishna in Pirkeh Abot (3:6) which teaches
that whenever somebody learns Torah, the
Shechina (divine presence) is with him.
Each and every time we open a Torah book,
or listen to a Torah class, G-d is present.
We are all very enthusiastic when we have
the privilege of meeting with a famous
Sadik for five minutes; but in truth, every
time we learn Torah, we are together with
G-d throughout the entire period we spend

learning. He is right there with us
each and every time we study Torah.
Sin creates distance between us
and G-d. It severs the connection
between us. We all become frazzled
when we are somewhere without
a Wi-Fi connection, or without
cellphone reception. But losing
our connection with G-d is much
more serious. G-d is the source of
all blessing and goodness in our
lives; when we lose our connection
to Him, we lose our connection to
everything that we need and want.
Teshuba literally means “return.” As
we cited earlier, Hoshea calls to us
and pleads, “Return, O Israel, unto
Hashem your G-d.” Teshuba is the process
of rebuilding our connection with Hashem
after having severed that connection
through our misconduct.
As we think about the way we need to
grow and improve during this period
of repentance, let us include as well as
resolution to increase the amount of time
we devote to Torah learning. Our efforts

to “return” to G-d, to rebuild and enhance
our connection with Him, must include
a commitment to Torah learning, which
brings Hashem into our lives and brings us
closer to Him. Let us make Torah study
an important part of our Teshuba process
during this season, and we will, please G-d,
be worthy of being inscribed in the Book
of Life and of being blessed with a year of
joy, success and prosperity, Amen.