Readings for Saturday, September 27, 2025 Shabbat Shuva

 

Readings for Saturday, September 27, 2025

Shabbat Shuvah (Sabbath of the Return)

Vayeilech (And he went)

31:1-30 Devarim (Deuteronomy)

Vayeilech is the ninth sedrah in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy).  The sedrah takes its name from the first Hebrew word in the first sentence of the portion.  Due to a quirk of linguistics, the first Hebrew word is the second English word and vice versa.  “Moshe went (Vayeilech) and spoke these words to all of Israel.”  Vayeilech contains only thirty verses and is the shortest of them all.  When it is read alone, Vayeilech is the sedrah for Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Return also called Shabbat T’Shuvah, the Sabbath of Repentance.  This is the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  Moshe has finished the third and final discourse.  According to some commentators, this is the last day of Moshe’s life.  To better appreciate the sedrah, close your eyes.  Envision Moshe walking through the camp, stopping and visiting with each tribal group much as somebody would do if he or she were leaving a large gathering to go on a long trip.  While we have not finished with the Torah, we have finished with the commandments.  Vayeilech contains the last two commandments bringing us to a full complement of 613 Mitzvoth.

Themes

Commandments

612.      The obligation of the entire Israelite community to assemble every seven years to hear the Torah read publicly (31:10-13).

613.      The commandment that each Jew should write a Torah scroll during his lifetime (31:19).

Biblical Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin as edited by this author.

Transition

In verses 1-6 and verse 14, Moshe’s departure is stated in obvious language.  He is still upset about not going into the Promised Land, but this time there is no arguing or blaming as we saw earlier.  This is consistent with the behavior of a dying man who has made peace with himself.  Moshe set standards on how to live and how to die as well.  He is Moshe Rahbeynu, Moses the Teacher, in the truest sense of that term.  Beginning with verse 7, we see Moshe advancing Joshua as his successor.  This transition is consistent with what seems to be a Jewish passion for bringing order to what seems like a chaotic universe.  The concept of lineage is extremely important in establishing intellectual and religious credibility as can be seen, for example, in the opening verses of the Pirke Avot, the Sayings of the Fathers. 

Torah

The sedrah contains only two commandments and they both concern the Torah.  Moreover, these are the last two commandments in the Torah.  Placement would seem to be an indication of importance.  The first commandment has to do with the public reading of the Torah, the second with the need to write one.  Interestingly, we appear to have expanded the public reading aspect.  This probably began with Ezra the Scribe after the return from the Babylonian Exile.  According to some, it was really Ezra who began the real work of democratizing the Torah and making it available to all of the Israelites.  At any rate, we have gone from reading the Torah once every seven years to reading it three times a week as well as on festivals and holidays.  At the same time we appear to have lessened the writing requirement.  The requirement for fulfilling the command about writing a Torah has gone from writing a whole scroll, to writing one letter, to purchasing books of Jewish learning.  Of course, many congregations have taken advantage of this and have used the purchase of a letter, or a line or a sedrah as fundraising activity for the repair or purchase of a Torah.  We should also note that women as well as men were to hear the reading of the Torah.  Obviously from Moshe’s point of view, our modern practice of educating women is the right thing to do.  One can see from the text that the Torah is at the core of Judaism since it was to be placed just outside of the Holy Ark.  There are some interesting commentaries on the significance of placing the scroll of the law just outside of the Ark, which contained the Tablets.  If you accept the view that the words on the Tablets are the unique utterances of God, then the physical positioning of the Torah outside of the Ark may carry the image of the Torah as the bridge or pathway for man to reach up to the Divine and the Divine to reach down to man.

Predestination

Starting with verse 16, God tells Moshe that the Israelites are going to sin and suffer accordingly.  In verses 27 and 29, Moshe repeats this.  How do we square this with the message of choice or free will that we read in the previous sedrah?  Moshe is basing his prophecy on past performance.  But we do not have to be prisoners of our past.  There is great deal written about this apparent contradiction in concepts.  Rabbi Akiva says, “Everything is foreseen, yet freedom of choice is given; and the world is judged by grace, yet all is according to the amount of work.”  (Pirke Avot, III: 19)  Rabbi Hertz says that this verse “is among the most important in the Avot and lays down a fundamental doctrine of practical religion…God’s foreknowledge and the freedom of man’s will are reconcilable; so are God’s mercy and justice in His dealings with man.”

Where is God?

Verses 17 and 18 have been challenging for commentators over the centuries.  The concept of God hiding his face has taken on an even more troubling manifestation since the Holocaust.  If you want to pursue this topic, I suggest you might try The Trial of God by Elie Wiesel.  Since this is set in the seventeenth century Ukraine, it is obvious that this issue transcends the Holocaust.  I heard the following story.  Supposedly it actually happened.  God was put on trial in one of the camps during the Shoah.  This was done by the observant, not the scoffers.  They had difficulty finding a defense attorney for God.  The trial lasted three nights.  At the end of the trial, the court found God guilty.  After announcing the verdict, the chief rabbi stood and announced, “Gentlemen, it is time to say the evening prayer.”  In other words, you may be angry with God.  But you cannot stop believing in Him.  Issues like this and Predestination versus Free Will may be a form of Intellectual Chukat.  In other words, they are issues that will not really be resolved until the coming of the Moshiach.

Torah as the Foundation for a Modern Jewish State

Micah Odenheimer finds the command that the Jewish people gather every seven years to hear the reading of the Torah should serve as the blueprint for a modern Jewish state.  In a Jewish state i.e., Israel, the ethical teachings of the Torah should infuse all aspects of statecraft.  In other words, in a modern Jewish state religious leaders would work to ensure the existence of institutions designed to guard against income disparity that would guarantee the well-being of the weak as well as the strong and would have leaders who behave in the best possible manner.  Odenheimer decries the fact that the so-called Religious leaders of Israel have traded this role of meaningful ethical arbiter for a few political crumbs such as a Religious Ministry that gives them control, in the narrowest sense of the term, of things like marriage ceremonies, rules for divorce, and who can pray where at the Western Wall.

Shabbat Shuvah - Sabbath of the Return

The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuvah or the Sabbath of the Return.  Shabbat Shuvah is part of the Ten Days of Penitence.  In Judaism, we repent by turning or returning to God and his Torah.  On Rosh Hashanah we ask to be written into the Book of Life.  On Yom Kippur, we ask to be sealed in the Book of Life.  According to some, Shabbat Shuvah gives us an opportunity to show that we are in fact turning or returning.  Therefore, we are worthy of God’s mercy, which will take us from being written to being sealed.  The special haftarah reading described below further emphasizes this motif.

Haftarah

Hosea 14:2-10

Joel 2:11-27

Micah 7:18-20

The Men/The Book:  This is the haftarah for Shabbat Shuvah or the Sabbath of the Return.  This is the haftarah that is usually read when Vayeilech is not combined with another sedrah.  Customarily, the haftarah is supposed to come from the book of one prophet.  However, the writings of these three prophets are included in one book called Trei Asar or The Twelve.  These twelve prophets are also known as the Minor Prophets because their literary output is smaller than that of the Three Major Prophets.  According to the Talmud, the writings of the twelve prophets were gathered in one volume out of fear that otherwise they would be lost.  Hosea was the first and most prolific of the Minor Prophets.  He preached in the Northern Kingdom during the end of the eighth century B.C.E. and the first half of the seventh century B.C.E.  He died some time before the exile of the Ten Lost Tribes in 721 B.C.E.  He is best known for his marriage to the harlot, Gomer.  This marriage provided the literary motif for much of Hosea’s writings.  The Israelites were the unfaithful wife, Gomer, while God was the long-suffering “husband” who would redeem His errant spouse.  Each day, when we don the Tefillin, we are reminded of Hosea’s preachings.  When we complete the final wrapping around the middle digit and across the hand, we say, “I will betroth you to Me forever, and I will betroth you to Me with righteousness, justice, kindness and mercy.  I will betroth you to Me with fidelity, and you shall know the Lord.”  (2:21-22)

Joel is the second of the Minor Prophets.  His writings consist of a mere four chapters.  Since there is no biographical information available about him, we can only speculate as to when he lived and prophesied.  Some commentators contend that he lived in the Southern Kingdom since he mentions Judah and Jerusalem but not the Northern Kingdom.  The famine he mentions would indicate he was a contemporary of Amos.  His mention of the miraculous deliverance of Jerusalem remind the reader of the words of Amos and Isaiah which would mean that he lived during the seventh century B.C.E. prior to the destruction of either of the two kingdoms.  There are commentators who believe that these writings are a product of more than one author and were produced during the early days of the Second Temple.  Those of you who are Debbie Friedman fans will recognize Joel’s most famous lines, “Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.”  (3:1).  In other words, “youth shall have the knowledge of age, and age the enthusiasm of youth.”  As Rabbi Hertz points out, this “rejuvenation of the soul and renewal of the spirit” is the main purpose the Ten Days of Penitence.

Micah was born in Judah, but addressed his prophecies to both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.  Micah was a contemporary of Amos, Hosea and Isaiah.  The prophecies of Micah must have been well known in ancient times, since Jeremiah refers to them in his preachings.  Micah may have been the first prophet to warn the Jews that possession of Jerusalem would not save them from divine punishment.  In other words, he was the first to prophesy the possible destruction of the City of David and the Temple itself.  Unlike some of the other prophets, those in power heeded Micah’s words of warning.  King Hezekiah was moved by Micah’s preaching to pray to God for a reprieve from impending destruction.  Micah is best known for the line “It hath been told thee o man what is good and what the Lord doth require of thee:  Only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.”  But he also authored words that are more often credited to his famous contemporary, Isaiah.  “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”  (4:2)  “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation.  Neither shall they learn war any more.”  (4:3)

The Message:  Hosea begins by calling upon the Israelites to return to the ways of God.  God will accept the penitent Israelites nurturing them in all their needs.  Joel calls for a day of fasting from which none are exempt.  As Plaut puts it, in Joel’s vision, the people will return to God, which will cause God to return to Israel.  Micah closes with an image of an ever-forgiving God who will keep faith with His people as he promised the Patriarchs He would.

Theme-Link:  The connection is with the calendar and not with the weekly portion.  The haftarah is read on the Sabbath of the Return which falls during the Yamim Nora’im or the Days of Awe.  These are the Ten Days of Penitence that start with Rosh Hashanah and end with Yom Kippur.  So it is fitting that each prophet should invoke a High Holiday related motif in his preaching.  The haftarah begins with the word Shuvah or Return as in “Return (Shuvah) O Israel, to the Lord your God” (Hosea 4:2) which is a fitting beginning for a haftarah chanted on Shabbat Shuvah.  The portion from Joel begins with a High Holiday motif - “Blow the shofar in Zion, Sanctify a fast, call a Solemn Assembly.…”  (Joel 2:15)  The portion from Micah includes the following, “You will cast off (Tashlich) all their sins into the depths of the sea.”  (Micah 7:19)  This reference later gave rise to the ceremony of Tashlich, or Casting-off Sins that began some time during the Middle Ages.