Tsom Shovavim

 

For a few years now, I’ve been trying to promote a renewal and reconstruction of an obscure Jewish fasting practice called Tsom Shovavim. Tsom Shovavim seems very suited to our times, offering a ritual practice for the very necessary turn from despair to hope. It’s so easy to beat ourselves up! So easy to give up! And here, hiding in the corners of Jewish tradition, is a practice of discovering that beating ourselves up is itself the sin to repent of, a practice of cleansing ourselves of despair.

 

The story associated with Shovamim (in my sort of reconstructed version): After AdamAdam is the first human being created by God. Symbolizes: Creation, humankind. and EveEve, according to the book of Genesis, is Adam's wife, the first woman to be created. ate the fruit and were expelled from the garden, and Cain killed Abel, Adam gave up. He thought he and the whole human enterprise were doomed. So he refused to lie with Eve for a hundred thirty years. God thought that was terrible. It damaged the world. The tikkun (the repair) began much later in Egypt. The Israelites had been there also a hundred thirty years and Moses’ mother, Yocheved, was a hundred thirty years old, when she gave birth to MosesThe quintessential Jewish leader who spoke face to face with God, unlike any other prophet, and who freed the people from Egypt, led them through the desert for forty years, and received the Torah on Mt. Sinai. His Hebrew name is Moshe.. She dared to reclaim God’s hopefulness from the days of Eden by seeing that Moses “was good – ki tov,” in spite of Pharaoh’s decree that he was so dangerous he should be thrown in the Nile. Over the next six TorahThe Five Books of Moses, and the foundation of all of Jewish life and lore. The Torah is considered the heart and soul of the Jewish people, and study of the Torah is a high mitzvah. The Torah itself a scroll that is hand lettered on parchment, elaborately dressed and decorated, and stored in a decorative ark. It is chanted aloud on Mondays, Thursdays, and Shabbat, according to a yearly cycle. Sometimes "Torah" is used as a colloquial term for Jewish learning and narrative in general. portions, Moses (with God’s help) will defeat Pharaoh and teach the Israelites and the world that it is possible to build a society that is good and just.

 

Those six Torah portions have names that form the acronym “Shovamim,” which means “wayward” or “rebellious.” There’s a passage in Jeremiah in which God says, twice, “shuvu banim shovavim – return wayward/rebellious youth.” In what way are we “wayward?” Rebbe Nachman says in our believing about ourselves that we’re somehow separated from God, the SOURCE OF HOPE. And so we’re called to return, as Yocheved and Moses did. I’m also interested in the translation “rebellious.” In one sense, it might be read as calling those who rebel against God to return to God. But we might also understand it as a call to return to rebellion – against modern Pharaohs and the forces of despair. ‘Come back, rebellious youth! We need you!’

 

So the practice: Over the six weeks of Shovavim, the first six Torah portions of the book of Exodus, one might fast from dawn to sunset each Monday and Thursday. (There are alternative versions in the tradition that replace fasting with going vegetarian, giving tzedakahCharity. In Hebrew, the word tzedakah derives from the word for justice. Tzedakah is not seen as emanating from the kindness of one’s heart but, rather, as a communal obligation., or fasting from un-useful talk.)

 

And why fasting? In Judaism, fasting is associated with return (teshuvah). In general, fasting is a powerful spiritual practice that promotes awareness, purposefulness, and the sense that one has some control over their own life. I first discovered Tsom Shovavim when seeking a Jewish tradition that might offer some of the spiritual benefits I noticed Muslim friends deriving from the extended fasting of Ramadan in Islam.

 

I’ve created a short liturgy to recite each morning of the fast. It understands that passage in Jeremiah as rejecting un-useful shame, urging a “just do it” attitude of return to God, truth, justice, and equity. My liturgy follows. I’d be really interested in your suggestions.

 

Jeremiah 3:22-4:2
“Return, ye backsliding, rebellious children, I will heal your backslidings.”
“Here we are, we have come to You; For You are the HOPEFUL our God.
Truly the hills have proved false, The mountains a confused uproar; Truly the salvation of IsraelLit. ''the one who struggles with God.'' Israel means many things. It is first used with reference to Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel (Genesis 32:29), the one who struggles with God. Jacob's children, the Jewish people, become B'nai Israel, the children of Israel. The name also refers to the land of Israel and the State of Israel. lies in the LIBERATING our God.
But shame has devoured our parents’ labor since our youth; Their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters:
‘Let us lie down in our shame, [they said,] “and let our confusion cover us; For we have sinned against the ETERNAL our God, we and our ancestors, From our youth even unto this day; And we have not hearkened to the voice of the ETERNAL our God.’”
“If you would return, O Israel, says the ETERNAL, return unto Me; And if you would remove your detestable things from My sight, and not waver. You shall swear, The ETERNAL lives in truth, in justice, and in equity; and the nations shall become blessed by It, and by That One will they become praised.”
(כב) שׁ֚וּבוּ בָּנִ֣ים שׁוֹבָבִ֔ים אֶרְפָּ֖ה מְשׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֑ם הִנְנוּ֙ אָתָ֣נוּ לָ֔ךְ כִּ֥י אַתָּ֖ה ה’ אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ׃ (כג) אָכֵ֥ן לַשֶּׁ֛קֶר מִגְּבָע֖וֹת הָמ֣וֹן הָרִ֑ים אָכֵן֙ בַּה’ אֱלֹקֵ֔ינוּ תְּשׁוּעַ֖ת יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (כד) וְהַבֹּ֗שֶׁת אָ֥כְלָ֛ה אֶת־יְגִ֥יעַ אֲבוֹתֵ֖ינוּ מִנְּעוּרֵ֑ינוּ אֶת־צֹאנָם֙ וְאֶת־בְּקָרָ֔ם אֶת־בְּנֵיהֶ֖ם וְאֶת־בְּנוֹתֵיהֶֽם׃ (כה) נִשְׁכְּבָ֣ה בְּבׇשְׁתֵּ֗נוּ [אמרו] וּֽתְכַסֵּ֘נוּ֮ כְּלִמָּתֵ֒נוּ֒ כִּי֩ לַה’ אֱלֹקֵ֜ינוּ חָטָ֗אנוּ אֲנַ֙חְנוּ֙ וַאֲבוֹתֵ֔ינוּ מִנְּעוּרֵ֖ינוּ וְעַד־הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה וְלֹ֣א שָׁמַ֔עְנוּ בְּק֖וֹל ה’ אֱלֹקֵֽינוּ׃ {ס}         (א) אִם־תָּשׁ֨וּב יִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל ׀ נְאֻם־ה’ אֵלַ֖י תָּשׁ֑וּב וְאִם־תָּסִ֧יר שִׁקּוּצֶ֛יךָ מִפָּנַ֖י וְלֹ֥א תָנֽוּד׃ (ב) וְנִשְׁבַּ֙עְתָּ֙ חַי־ה’ בֶּאֱמֶ֖ת בְּמִשְׁפָּ֣ט וּבִצְדָקָ֑ה וְהִתְבָּ֥רְכוּ ב֛וֹ גּוֹיִ֖ם וּב֥וֹ יִתְהַלָּֽלוּ׃

Rebbe Nachman:
Gevalt! Do not despair! The main thing is to be as strong as you can, for there is no despairing in the world!
Have mercy on us and hear us crying out! And let us merit to bring forth awareness and knowledge and  redemption for all!

When Adam despaired of the human project, supposing his and Eve’s descendants would be nothing but sinners and murderers, he refused to lie with Eve for a hundred thirty years. But Eve did not give up.  She inspired Adam to come back and gave birth to Seth and the rest of the human race.

 

When Pharaoh decreed that all Israelite boys be thrown in the Nile when they were born, Amram despaired and divorced his wife Yocheved and all the men followed his lead. Their daughter MiriamMiriam is the sister of Moses and Aaron. As Moses' and Aaron's sister she, according to midrash, prophesies Moses' role and helps secure it by watching over the young baby, seeing to it that Pharaoh's daughter takes him and that the baby is returned to his mother for nursing. During the Israelites' trek through the desert, a magical well given on her behalf travels with the Israelites, providing water, healing, and sustenance. did not give up. She told her father, “You’re worse than Pharaoh. He decreed only against the boys, but you’ve decreed against all the children.” Amram remarried Yocheved and, at age one hundred thirty, she gave birth to Moses, through whom the Israelite slaves were redeemed. Although Pharaoh decreed that Israelite boys were a danger to the nation and should be killed, Yocheved, like God in the six days of Creation, saw her son Moses “that he was good.” She didn’t give up but placed the boy in a basket and conspired with Miriam and Pharaoh’s daughter Bityah to save the boy’s life.

 

When Pharaoh responded to Moses’ initial efforts at freeing the slaves by worsening the oppression, Moses took his complaint all the way to God. He didn’t give up. Moses and God came back to the struggle ten times until the slaves were free.

 

When Naomi had despaired of the possibility of a future for her family, her Moabite daughter-in-law RuthAn important female biblical character with her own book. The Book of Ruth, read on Shavuot, tells the story of Ruth’s devotion to her mother-in-law, Naomi, and their return to Israel. Ruth’s story is often read as the first story of conversion. Ruth is the grandmother of King David. insisted on being her loving family. “Wherever you go, I will go,” Ruth said, “your people will be my people.” Ruth’s bold hope and loyalty inspired Boaz to marry her, and they became the ancestors of the royal line of David.

 

When David knew that he had gravely sinned to get Batsheva for a wife, and the two had lost a child, they didn’t despair. They brought Solomon into the world. And Batsheva ensured that Solomon, the wise king who would build a Place for Shechinah to shine into the world, would reign after David.

 

When America was mired in racism and war, and Judaism was mired in habit, AbrahamAbraham is the first patriarch and the father of the Jewish people. He is the husband of Sarah and the father of Isaac and Ishmael. God's covenant - that we will be a great people and inherit the land of Israel - begins with Abraham and is marked by his circumcision, the first in Jewish history. His Hebrew name is Avraham. Joshua Heschel didn’t despair. He opened a generation’s eyes to awe, and, with Martin Luther King, his feet led their feet in marching for justice.

 

When the freed Israelites came to the Sea and faced water before them and Pharaoh’s army behind, they despaired and wouldn’t move forward. But Nachshon did not despair. He strode forward into the sea. Moses was praying and God rebuked him: “My children are drowning and you’re praying?” “What should I do,” Moses asked. “Lift your staff and split the sea. And tell the Israelites to journey forward!”

 

When Israel had been at war with its neighbors for its entire existence, Prime Ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzchak Rabin didn’t despair of peace.  They invited their enemies to negotiate and signed peace treaties that have saved many lives. Like the crossing of the Sea, their efforts were only the beginning of the journey.

 

Monday of Parashat Yitro:
When Haman planned to kill all the Jews of Persia, EstherHeroine of the Purim story and Megillat (the scroll of) Esther. She is married to the king by her cousin Mordecai and ultimately saves her people from execution. and Mordechai rejected despair. They maintained hope, defied royal protocols, and saved their people.

 

When Rome was besieging JerusalemLit. City of peace From the time of David to the Roman destruction, Jerusalem was the capital of Israel and the spiritual and governmental center of the Jewish people. During the long exile, Jews longed to return to Jerusalem and wrote poems, prayers, and songs about the beloved city. In 1967, with the capture of the Old City, Jerusalem was reunited, becoming "the eternal capital of Israel." Still, the longing for peace is unfulfilled. and Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai knew it would fall, he didn’t despair. He had himself carried out of the city in a coffin and asked the Roman general for one thing, “Yavne and its sages.” In this way, he revolutionized Judaism and saved the Jewish people.

 

When Jews faced pogroms and oppression and it seemed that human beings were hopelessly alienated from one another and from the natural world from which they sprang, A.D. Gordon didn’t despair. He took up both hoe and pen in Eretz Yisrael and at Deganiah, teaching by word and example that Jews could be free people without being the enemies of their neighbors, that humans could participate in the ever-renewing creative labor of nature, and flourish in cooperative life.

 

When garment workers in New York faced impossible conditions of long hours, low pay, unsafe conditions, and humiliating treatment, and the older, male workers’ leaders seemed to be interested only in talk, young Clara Lemlich didn’t despair. She demanded to be heard at a mass meeting and in short order sparked the “Uprising of the 20,000,” which gained union contracts for higher pay, shorter hours, and safer conditions for most of New York’s garment workers. She and her comrade Rose Schneiderman continued to organize and struggle, playing important roles in legislating rights for workers and for women, including the right to vote.

 

(Continue here:)
Come back, rebels! Come back, youth!
Merciful One who answered Eve, answer us!
Merciful One who answered Miriam, Yocheved, and Bityah answer us!
Merciful One who answered Moses, answer us!
Merciful One who answered Ruth, answer us!
Merciful One who answered David and Batsheva, answer us!
Merciful One who answered Abraham Joshua Heschel, answer us!
Merciful One who answered Nachshon, answer us!
Merciful One who answered Menachem Begin and Yitzchak Rabin, answer us!
Merciful One who answered Esther and Mordechai, answer us!
Merciful One who answered Yochanan ben Zakkai, answer us!
Merciful One who answered AaronBrother of Moses, chosen as Moses' interlocutor. His Hebrew name is Aharon. David Gordon, answer us!
Merciful One who answered Clara Lemlich and Rose Schneiderman, answer us!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לְחַוּה, עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לְמִרְיָם, לְיוֹכֶבֶד, וּלְבִתְיָה עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לְמֹשֶׁה עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לְרוּת, עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לְדָוִד וּבַת-שֶׁבַע, עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לְאַבְרָהָם יְהוֹשֻעַ הֶשֶׁל, עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לְנַחְשוֹן, עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לִמְנַחֵם בֵּגִין וּלְיִצְחָק רַבִּין, עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לְאֶסְתֵּר וּמָרְדֳּכַי, עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לְיוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי, עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לא”ד גוֹרְדוֹן, עֲנֵינָן!
רַחֲמָנָא דְעָנֵי לִקְלָרָה לֶמְלִיך וְרוֹז שְׁנַיידֶרְמַן, עֲנֵינָן!

 

Let us return, I-WILL-BE, to you, to cleave to that Godliness that dwells with us. And then, we – You and I, as it were – will return
השיבנו [ה’] אליך להתדבק בזה האלקות ששוכן עמנו ואז נשובה – כביכול אני והוא-Sfat Emet (ShabbatShabbat is the Sabbath day, the Day of Rest, and is observed from Friday night through Saturday night. Is set aside from the rest of the week both in honor of the fact that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. On Shabbat, many Jews observe prohibitions from various activities designated as work. Shabbat is traditionally observed with festive meals, wine, challah, prayers, the reading and studying of Torah, conjugal relations, family time, and time with friends. Shuvah)

הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ ה’ אֵלֶיךָ וְנָשׁוּבָה חַדֵּשׁ יָמֵינוּ כְּקֶדֶם:
Hashivenu adonai eleha venashuva hadesh hadesh yamenu kekedem
[Bring us back to you, POSSIBILITY, and we will come back. Make our days new as before.]

“Return, ye rebel children; I will bring healing to your rebellion.”
שׁ֚וּבוּ בָּנִ֣ים שׁוֹבָבִ֔ים אֶרְפָּ֖ה מְשׁוּבֹתֵיכֶ֑ם