Lent and Teshuva
Lent is the period of 40 days in which we ready ourselves for the mystery of Easter. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent. Symbolically, we journey with Jesus in the wilderness. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Ashes are crossed onto the forehead with the words “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” or “Repent and believe the Good News”. As we journey into lent with prayer, fasting, alms giving and other disciplines, we take with us a word and a song. The word is Teshuvah. The song is “Anthem” by Leonard Cohen.
Teshuvah, a word often translated as "repentance," is more accurately understood as turning back (shuv) to God. Teshuvah means return, repair and renewal. Teshuvah means to [Re]turn to the self you have always been meant to become. A good explanation of teshuvah is from Kalonymous Kalmah Shapira the grand rabbi of Piaseczno, Poland, written while he was imprisoned in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1941:
Teshuvah is a creative act,
not a simple return
We return to who we were meant to be
but have not yet become
Growth and possibility
Dormant, a sculpture lies hidden
in a brute block of stone
That is why the process of teshusvah,
as painful and
even as humiliating
as it can be
is in fact
a very joyous,
hopeful act.
Psalm 51 is sometimes called "Perek Teshuvah" – the great Chapter of Repentance. After King David was confronted with the truth of his crimes and the prospect of judgment, he returned to God for cleansing and forgiveness. David's teshuvah reveals that we also can return to God on the basis of His abundant compassion – God’s rachamim. Rachamim means compassion but a better translation says that it is the wombishness of God. From the very core of creation flows compassion, reminding us that we are loved. Rachamim and Teshuvah, go together. Here is a teshuvah from Cohen: The birds they sang at the break of day. Start again, I heard them say. Start again.
Anthem By Leonard Cohen
I can't run no more
With that lawless crowd
While the killers in high places
Say their prayers out loud
But they've summoned, they've summoned up
A thundercloud
They're going to hear from me
Ring the bells that still can ring…Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
You can add up the parts
But you won't have the sum
You can strike up the march
There is no drum
Every heart, every heart
To love will come
But like a refugee
Ring the bells that still can ring…Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in
As we begin lent, we may ask:
Where am I in this moment?
Whom have I become?
What has been my impact on others, on the earth?
What changes do I need to make?