Repentance and return -- the long way back: Vayelech 5786

We thank the Destiny Foundation for providing us with this essay by Rabbi Wein ztz'l

Vayelech is the parashah that contains the smallest number of verses—just 30—of any parsha in the Torah. It also usually coincides with Shabat Shuva, the holy Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Its words are part of the last testament of Moshe, uttered on the day of his passing from this earth. 

As is his wont, Moshe minces no words regarding the fate of the Jewish people. In this most powerful of parshiyot, Moshe warns his people Israel that the Lord will hold them accountable to the terms of the covenant of Sinai—a covenant that is irreversible and unalterable. It will take the Jewish people a long time and much twisting and turning before they accept the reality of covenantal responsibility. But Moshe assures them that eventually the message will set in, and that this will be the basis for the Jewish return to God and His Torah.  This is the essence of Vayelech’s content; the brevity of the parashah only serves to enhance the power of its message. 

Some truths are self-evident and need no extra words or explanations. This parashah gains in power and relevance as Jewish history unfolds over thousands of years. Every deviation from the covenant of Sinai has eventually brought with it angst and pain, if not disaster, in the Jewish world. Just dip into Jewish history and you will see how Moshe’s words are clearly vindicated by subsequent events. 

Repentance and return is far easier for individuals to achieve than for nations. The Jewish people, or at least a significant part of it ,has strayed far away from the covenant of Sinai. The situation here in Israel is far better than it is in the Diaspora where intermarriage, ignorance, alienation and false gods have eroded Jewish faith, family, self-identity and values.

So how is it possible to hope for a national return to the covenant of Sinai under such circumstances? Vayelech seems to indicate that it will be a process and not a sudden epiphany. The prophet in the haftarah warns that no such process will be complete without recognition that the false gods and temporarily popular ideals all have led nowhere. He echoes Moshe’s words in our parashah that return and repentance in a national sense can only occur if there is a realization how badly we have gone astray. 

The great challenge, of the modern culture around us, is how pervasive it is in every facet of our lives. The confusion that this engenders in the Jewish people prevents clear thinking, accurate judgment and honest assessment of true Jewish values versus current faddish correctness. 

Vayalech is short—but our way back is long and arduous. In the good and blessed year that we have just begun let us start—and then continue—that journey that leads back to Sinai, but forward to complete national redemption.