Parshas Ki Seitzei
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
“Return , O Israel unto the L-ord, your G-d …” (Hosea 14:2)
Rabbi Yehudah Leib Lazerov ZT”L tells a wonderful mashal (parable) on this verse that is very appropriate for this time of year:
There once was a farmer who had a son who was boorish, unsophisticated and uncouth – a boy who you might call a real ‘country bumpkin’ – who never left the village he lived in his entire life.
When the time came to find the son a suitable match, his father went to the big city and ‘talked him up’ in the ears of a well-respected family who lived there. The family members were interested in pursuing the match further and asked the boy to join them later in the week for a short visit at their home.
The farmer, who knew that his son didn’t know Chumash (Bible), Mishnah, or even Derech Eretz (“Proper Manners”) - spending most of his time in the company of cows and chickens – now began to teach him the courteous and proper way to act in formal company.
The father thus instructed his son: “When you first meet the family, and they greet you with ‘Shalom Aleichem’ (lit., ‘peace unto you’; Welcome!), you should extend your hand and say back to them ‘Aleichem Shalom’ (lit.,‘unto you peace’) - and then ask them ‘Mah Shlomchem?’(How are you?). When they ask you how the trip went, say ‘Baruch Hashem!’(Thank G-d!). When you see the beautiful room that they set up for you, say ‘Todah Rabbah!’ (Thanks a lot!). When you go to sleep, say ‘Erev Tov’ (Good Evening!). When you wake up in the morning, say ‘Tzafra Tava’ (Good Morning!); and so on …
Since the farmer was worried that his son would say the wrong thing, he made him repeat the appropriate greetings many, many times – until the son knew them cold.
The big day came and the young man traveled to the big city to the home of his prospective father-in-law. There he stood to meet many close and distant family members – all who came to see the farmer’s son from out of town.
As the young man entered the house and saw the Baal Habayis (host), he held out his hand and said with full confidence: “Aleichem Shalom!” “Mah Shlomchem!” “Baruch Hashem!” “Todah Rabbah!” “Erev Tov!” “Tzafra Tava!”…
The potential father-in-law’s face turned white, while our country bumpkin simply turned to the next person standing there and repeated his ‘greeting song’ – much to the great horror and consternation of everyone present!
My friends, we are very much like the ‘country bumpkin’ in this parable.
You see, making an accounting of the many sins we have committed throughout the past year – as part of the teshuvah (repentance) process - is not an easy task. Figuring out in which areas we are doing well and in which others we need improvement – and then coming up with strategies how to avoid committing the same sins again next year - requires much time and effort.
For this important job of reflection, introspection and moral reckoning, we were given the entire Hebrew month of Elul (which we are in presently), the days of Selichos (special penitential prayers traditionally recited after midnight during the week leading up to Rosh Hashanah), the “Ten Days of Repentance” (i.e., the ten-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in which G-d is especially close to us and listens to our prayers for teshuvah and forgiveness), and, of course, the holy day of Yom Kippur itself when we stand in front of G-d adding extra prayers and confessions for forgiveness.
There are many holy Jews out there who know just how to take advantage of the various time periods leading up to Yom Kippur to do a proper teshuvah.
Unfortunately there are also many others who – like the country bumpkin – tend to cram everything together at the end, often with less than positive results.
This – explains Rabbi Lazerov ZT”L - is the simple but powerful teshuvah message of the Prophet Hosea to the Jewish people: “Return , O Israel unto the L-ord, your G-d …” Don’t wait to do teshuvah when you are already standing in front of G-d in prayer and confession on Yom Kippur . Rather, return unto G-d, i.e. before Yom Kippur comes and you still have time!
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=726