“You Don’t Have To Be Perfect”

That’s what I tell our B’nai Mitzvah students. “You don’t have to be perfect. It’s OK if you make mistakes. But you have to strive for excellence.” And that little bit of advice comes to mind as I think about the High Holidays and Shabbat Shuvah, which we mark this Friday evening.

The Hebrew word Shuvah sounds like the Hebrew word for repentance, teshuvah, because both words come from the same Hebrew grammatical root, Shin, Vav and Bet. Shabbat Shuvah is literally a time to return to the teachings of Torah and to the path of the good and right.

Our Haftarah reading this Shabbat includes a selection from the book of the prophet Hosea, which gives Shabbat Shuvah of Return its name. Hosea calls out to us, “Return, O Israel, to the Eternal your God.” For God says, “’I will heal their affliction, generously will I take them back in love.” This call to return is not a demand for perfection, but a call to be one’s best. Many of our Hebrew Bible’s most important personalities fail terribly at life, even as God takes them in with love. Their acceptance, despite their imperfections, serve as an example and model for us.

These High Holidays, our prayers fill with hope for a more peaceful and safer world, for us as individuals, as families, and as Jews. In the spirit of Shabbat Shuvah, we hope to return to what Rabbi Morris Adler, z”l called, “the peace of former days.” We each contribute to that spiritual restoration by seeking, not perfection, but ourselves at our best.

With wishes for a peaceful, healthy, and fulfilling New Year!

Rabbi Dennis Ross