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Shabbat Shuvah: Deuteronomy 32:1-32:52;

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32940 Middlebelt Rd‘

(At 14 Mile Rd. in the Broadway Plaza)

(248) 855-173

Farmington Hills, Michigan
www.greis.c

May the coming year be filled with
health and happiness for all our family and friends.
L'Shanah Tovah!

Gloria (oldie) &
Marvin Bookstein

11111•1'421111116-v-=-`

38 September 29 2011

Hosea 14:2-10; Joel 2:15-27; Micah 7:18-20.

T

his Shabbat is known as
"Shabbat Shuvah," the
Shabbat of return, in refer-
ence to the first words of the haftorah
reading. The 10 days from the first
day of Rosh Hashanah
through Yom Kippur are
known as the 10 Days of
Return, the Shabbat that
falls in the midst of these
10 days is the "Shabbat
Shuvah," the "Shabbat of
Return:'
The purpose of
teshuvah (returning) is to
remove obstacles. On Rosh
Hashanah, our potential for
the year is determined. It's
up to us to turn that poten-
tial into actual returns. The first step
for actualizing potential is removing
those obstacles — which is done
through a three-step process outlined
by Maimonides called "teshuvah."
A person who was convicted of
driving while intoxicated pleads to the
judge for clemency, saying he needs
a license to be able to earn a living.
The judge puts the errant driver on
probation, restricting the times he is
allowed on the road and the distance
he can drive, while also requiring a
second licensed driver in the vehicle.
Six months later, the judge determines
that he is a new man, and removes
all the driving restrictions, enabling
him to maximize his ability to earn
a living. "Teshuvah" is that process of
removing obstacles which impede our
potential.
One of the most dangerous miscon-
ceptions that we have in life is that "we
are who we are; people don't change!"
Teshuvah tells us that we can change.
In the days of the Temple, on Yom
Kippur, the high priest changes his
clothing as he transforms himself
with each service in his preparation to
enter the holy of holies. The thread on
the sacrificial he-goat changes colors
to represent the nation's atonement.
We, too, have an opportunity during
these 10 days to change.
The sages (Berakot 19a) state

that if a scholar committed a sin at
night, do not question his virtue the
day after, for he has surely repented.
Repentance means that you were
headed in one direction, and you
change and start heading
the other way. Perhaps I
was someone who talked
loosely about other people
... Starting today, I'm no
longer. Shabbat was just
another day ... Now, I turn
Friday night into Shabbat. I
used to get angry easily ...
No more. I was the king of
shrimp ... Starting today, I
only eat fish with fins and
scales.
Does the past really just
disappear? Yes, it does. Yom Kippur is a
day when, with a little help from "The
One Above we let go of the misguided
notions of who we are and who we are
not, and start heading in a new direction.
Yom Kippur is not a theme holiday.
Rather, it commemorates a historical
event. It's the calendar day that Moses
came down from Mt. Sinai with the
second set of tablets. This represented
a second chance for the Jewish people.
We made a mistake and built a golden
calf, and God forgave us. He allowed
us a second chance to start heading in
another direction. We made a change
and God accepted that.
Equally challenging to changing
ourselves is accepting our friends'
changes.
Your friend used to be so much fun;
she was the queen of gossip, now she
is so stuffy, and walks away whenever
the conversation gets juicy! Or maybe
your son has chosen a different life
than the one meticulously planned for
him starting with the tiny Michigan
kippah on his head at his brit milah!
Perhaps your friend wronged you and
sincerely would like to apologize. Be
open to that. Yom Kippur is the time
to make the changes in ourselves —
and accept change in others. II

Simcha Tolwin is director of Aish in the

Woods in Oak Park.