Is it possible to change? Can we actually make the world, or others, or even ourselves better?
A well-known folktale from our Jewish tradition tells of a king who had a wayward son. In anger and frustration, the king banishes his son from the kingdom. As one might expect, after some time has passed, the king regrets this decision, and sends messengers to ask the son to return home. Sadly, the son, embittered and hurt, refuses. Hearing this response, the king then sends the messengers once again, this time with the message, “Return as far as you are able, and I will come the rest of the way to meet you.”
In Parashat Netzavim-Vayelech, this week’s Torah portion, we read Moses’ message to the ancient Israelites, urging them to change: “should you then return to the Eternal your God, and you and your children heed God’s command with all your heart and spirit…then the Eternal your God will restore your fortunes and take you back in love.”
Our tradition teaches that return is always possible, and thereby change is always possible as well. In Hebrew, returning is “teshuvah,” or “repentance.” This returning, this repentance, is the foundation upon which our rapidly approaching High Holidays are built.
I don’t love the fact that the king in our story banished his son out of frustration, and I don’t love the fact that the king thought that he could simply send messengers to bring him back. I do admire, though, his ultimate humility and his willingness to recognize that, if he wanted his son back, it would be he who must do the repentance.
We cannot simply will another to do teshuvah. We can ask, implore, plead and hope. But this tale lets us know that, “if it is to be, it is up to me.” If I want things to change, I must do the work and reach out and make the difference. Gandhi is said to have taught that one should “be the change you wish to see in the world.” In fact, though Gandhi probably never said this exactly, what he did say is “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.” If we could acknowledge with humility our own need to change, to return, to do teshuvah, the world around us would be transformed. Change is possible. It is simply up to us.
This, I believe, is what our approaching High Holy Days are all about. These days are not about the rote recitation of prayers, litanies of sins, nor about public declarations and pronouncements of our faith. These sacred days, with all of their pomp and circumstance, are about each of us, as individuals, taking stock of our own lives, doing a “Cheshbon Nefesh,” a “spiritual accounting” and making change in ourselves. Transforming from within.
Imagine the world we could create if we would all do this together, all at once. A world seemingly out of control, spiraling into oblivion and chaos, would be created anew. We can make the change. It is up to us. Shanah Tovah — may this be a good year, a year of change.
