The deeper meaning of ‘Return’ and how to truly do Teshuva
ב. וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ בְקֹלוֹ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם אַתָּה וּבָנֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ:
2. and you will return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will listen to His voice according to all that I am commanding you this day you and your children.
ח. וְאַתָּה תָשׁוּב וְשָׁמַעְתָּ בְּקוֹל יְ־הֹוָ־ה וְעָשִׂיתָ אֶת כָּל מִצְוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם
8. And you will return and listen to the voice of the Lord, and fulfill all His commandments, which I command you this day.
י. כִּי תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר מִצְוֹתָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו הַכְּתוּבָה בְּסֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה כִּי תָשׁוּב אֶל יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ:
10. when you obey the Lord, your God, to observe His commandments and His statutes written in this Torah scroll, [and] when you return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul.
In each of the above pesukim, as highlighted, there is the root ‘תשב’ – translating as ‘return’ or repentance. The Ohr Hachayim says that these three instances refer to three different types of תשובה.
The first one, ‘וְשַׁבְתָּ’ refers to תשובה על ידי תורה. As the pasuk says, ‘בְקֹלוֹ’.
The second one, ‘תָשׁוּב’ refers to תשובה as a מצוות עשה. As the pasuk says, ‘וְעָשִׂיתָ’.
The third and final one, ‘ כִּי תָשׁוּב’ refers to תשובה as a מצוות לא תעשה. As the pasuk says,’לִשְׁמֹר’. Proof of this reference is, we know that when the torah has previously said זכור שבת – it is a positive commandment but when it says שמור שבת it refers to a לא תעשה.
Now that we have that clear, what are they each inferring? R’ Minkus explains that these are the three ways to serve hashem, which are the following:
1. חתן לכלה - the relationship between a bride and groom where there shud be nothing in the world to come between them besides hashem is a ”דביקות” – cleaving to Hashem.
2. בן לאב - son to his father a role that is fulfilled through אהבה (love) and is therefore a מצוות עשה – “I go out my way for him”
3. עבד מלך - servant to his king which is a service done through יראה (fear) and is therefore a לא תעשה – “I don’t disobey him”.
When a Jew learns the torah, their נשמה - which is a חלק אלו-ה ממעל ‘a part of G-d’ - is interacting with its source of being.
In order for us to effectively and completely do תשובה, to truly ‘return’ to Hashem, we need to fulfil our responsibilities in this all important relationship. The same as the way a relationship will not survive if both partners do not fulfil their role, or if either of them become complacent, or if a son ceases to act as a son to his father or a servant rebels against his master or vice versa in each case - we cannot become complacent in our relationship with Hashem. We must be continuously re-evaluating our role and ‘returning’ to Hashem.
