This week is called Shabbat Shuva, meaning the Shabbat of return, but where are we returning to? Micha, the navi of the haftarah, tells us that if we repent we can return to Israel; however, I feel that it is more than just returning to Israel. When he says “Israel return,” he could be expressing that teshuva (repentance) is us returning to the time of our sin that we made. Part of the teshuva process is to say what you did wrong, regret it and try your hardest not to do it again. The only way that we can do that is by returning to that moment and actually thinking about what we did. Teshuva is not easy because sometimes we try to bury events that we don’t want to remember in the back of our minds, but we need to let them return so that we are able to feel bad about our sins. Once we are able to do that, then we can learn and try not to make those mistakes again, allowing us to bring Mashiach, build the Beit Hamikdash and return to Israel. Wishing everyone the capability to return to their past mistakes and the ability to return to Israel.

By Shira G. Sedek