[Ashkenazim/Sefardim:
Hoshea 11:7-12:12
Yemenite
Jews: Hoshea 11:7-12:14]
Our
Haftarah presents us with two types of repentance: repentance unto
Hashem and repentance to Hashem.
In
his rebuke of the Nation of Israel, who was deeply entrenched in sin, the
prophet Hoshea proclaimed: "Israel, return unto Hashem your G-d for
you have stumbled in your iniquity. Take
words with you and return to Hashem" (Hoshea 14:2-3). This linguistic pair “unto/to” is repeated
numerous times, showing us that it has special significance (and in general,
there is nothing fortuitous in the Tanach).
We see this doubling in other places: "Yet even now, says Hashem,
return unto me…and return to Hashem your G-d" (Yoel
2:12-13). And we read about the prophet
Yirmiyahu: "Let us search and examine our ways, and return unto
Hashem, Let us lift up our heart with our hands to G-d in heaven"
(Eichah 3:40-41). When we turn to the
Oral Torah, we find a statement from our Sages that proper behavior which is
not for its own sake reaches unto the heavens, while proper behavior for
its own sake reaches to the heavens (Pesachim 50b). In order to complete the list, we turn to the
Torah itself: "And you will return unto Hashem your G-d…when you
will return to Hashem" (Devarim 30:2-11).
It
is quite clear that there is a distinction being made here, and we must try to
figure out what these words mean with regards to repentance. For this purpose, we permit ourselves to use
the language of mathematicians. The word
"unto" ("ad" in Hebrew) means that the borders are
not included and "to" ("el" in Hebrew) means that
the borders are included. Therefore,
repentance unto Hashem does not include Hashem Himself. But is repentance without Hashem possible?
Based
on the theory of Maran Ha-Rav Kook, this type of repentance is seen in the
Zionist movement, which has shaken the Nation of Israel over the last one
hundred and twenty years. He wrote at
the end of his book "Orot Ha-Teshuvah" that the awakening of the
Nation to return to its Land, its identity, its spirit and its character truly
contains the light of repentance in it.
And this phenomenon is fully clarified by the Torah's expression:
"And you will return unto Hashem your G-d…when you will return to
Hashem" (Orot Ha-Teshuvah 17, 2).
Is
it possible to find a rational explanation for a movement that causes the
return of the Nation of Israel to its Land?
At the time of Maran Ha-Rav Kook, this movement was at its modest
beginnings. In our time, we have a
state, an army, an economy, a living language and many of the fundamentals
which contribute towards our national revival.
There are those who will protest: Zionism is a completely secular
movement! But do they know what is
hidden in the recesses of the soul of Israel?
Have they penetrated our national sub-consciousness?
Maran
Ha-Rav Kook (ibid.) concluded that this is inner repentance that is “covered
over”, but there is absolutely no impediment which can prevent the supreme
light from appearing upon us.
Secular
Israelis envisioned for themselves a Holy Land without holiness, a holy
language free of holiness, a Kingdom of Hashem on earth without Hashem, an army
of Hashem without a King on High, even a Tanach free of Torah. But we are not led astray by this. We see the immeasurable self-sacrifice which
allowed the national revival of the Nation of Israel. We know with full confidence that the Jewish
soul – including the pioneers before the establishment of the State and the
soldiers after the establishment of the State until this very day – yearns for
this return to, this inner repentance.
We
are therefore optimistic. We are
confident that the Jews who repented unto Hashem will eventually repent to
Hashem and everyone will be transformed into lovers of Torah. And then all of the lovers of Zion will also
become lovers of the G-d of Zion.
