My Weekly Drash (a mini D'var Torah) - Shabbat HaGadol
Posted by Daniel M. Kimmel on April 17, 2008 | Tags: Achrei Mot
This Saturday is Shabbat Ha-Gadol, the Shabbat just prior to Pesach which starts Saturday evening. The Haftarah for Shabbat Ha-Gadol is from the prophet Malachi, and contains a moving statement on redemption, most appropriate for the season in which the Israelites were redeemed from slavery. "For I am the Lord - I have not changed; and you are the children of Jacob - you have not ceased to be. From the very days of your fathers you have turned away from My laws and have not observed them. Turn back to Me, and I will turn back to you - said the Lord of Hosts. But you ask, 'How shall we turn back?'" (Mal. 3:6,7). This is an echo of what we hear on Yom Kippur: that the doors of repentance are always open; it's never too late to change one's ways. The Torah reading, Parshah Aharei Mot, focuses on Yom Kippur, and comes halfway through the year between the last and the next High Holiday observance. So in some ways Shabbat Ha-Gadol is the companion to Shabbat Shuvah, the Sabbath of Repentance. One emphasizes our need to turn to Torah, while the other declares that God is ready to welcome back those who do.
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Daniel M. KimmelJoined: October 2, 2007 Daniel M. Kimmel is a Boston area film critic, lecturer and author. He does these weekly mini-lessons for the Mishkan Tefila Brotherhood's newsletter. You are free to use them for similar purposes. Divrei Torah (117) |
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