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"Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God,
for He will freely pardon"
z hn why[fy
The concept of repentance is a well known one to us as believers in
Jesus. It forms the foundation of our faith. Without repentance there is
no forgiveness of sins and no access to the Almighty (Isa 59:2).
However, it is an old one and deeply rooted in the Old Testament and the
Jewish tradition. The word itself comes from the Hebrew equivalent :
"Hazara B’teshuva" (hbwvtb hrzx)
his is a combination of words which literally mean "to turn back
in return". A more precise paraphrasing will be "to
return and change direction". The word "return" is
based on the Hebrew root : "Shuv" (bwf)
which is also used in modern Hebrew.
The last month in the Jewish calendar (the eleventh month as it is
common today or the sixth month as in Old Testament times) is the month
of Elul (lwla). It is also known as
the "pledge of forgiveness month" (Hodesh Shel Slihot twxylñ
lf vdwx)
in which the people repent of their sins and prepare for an even more
intensive period of repentance called "the fearful days" (Hayamim
Hanoraim ~yarwnh ~ymyh)
which include the Jewish new year (Rosh Hashana hnvh
var), the Day of Atonement
(Yom Kipur or Yom Hakipurim ~yrwpykh
~wy) and the seven days in
between where the fear of judgement hangs over every human being. The
Day of Atonement (which is the tenth day of the month of Tishrai and
tenth day from the Jewish new year), probably more than any, signifies
the importance of repentance in the old testament (see Leviticus 16) and
considered to be the most significant day in the Jewish calendar. The
blood of sacrificed goats and bulls was used to atone for the sins of
the people. Once the second temple was destroyed the Day of atonement
became a day of fasting, a tradition which exists to this day. So
significant is this day that even many "non-religious" Jewish
people will still fast on it.
The Jewish biblical tradition recognises that the process of a person
going through Hazara B’teshuva includes turning away from the evil way
(Jonah 3:10) while expressing deep sorrow for his or her evil deeds and
deserting them completely (1 Kings 8:47). However, in the last two
thousand years the Jewish approach became very different and really
divorced itself almost completely from the truth of the scriptures.
Judaism was transformed from a living biblical faith to a burdensome
religious system. |
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The term Hazarah B’teshuva is nowadays used to describe the process
of becoming an orthodox Jew. True repentance is no longer required as
long as many tedious man-made rules are observed.
For us living in the modern world on the eve of a new millennium, the
implication is very significant when we attempt to share the truth found
in gospel with modern Israelis. Israel is a very secular society which
is plagued by religious parties attempting to enforce a non-democratic
religious system on a non religious community. The association that most
Israelis have with their Jewish roots starts with a long boring lifeless
bible lesson at school all the way to being stuck with no essential
public services when they really need them and very often culminating
with almost being stoned to death by a group of people in black who
resemble more some unfamiliar dark force from one of the Star Wars films
rather than representing the love and grace of God. The word "Hazara
B’tshuva" will automatically bring this association to the minds
of most modern day Israelis making them run as fast as they can in the
opposite direction.
I have personally witnessed and experienced attempts by Believers in
Israel to convince secular Israelis to do a "Hazara B’teshuva"
only to see the door closing when these words were mentioned. There is
even a booklet in circulation carrying the same title significantly
reducing its effectiveness.
We as followers of the true Messiah must be very careful in the words
we use (Proverbs 15:2) lest we fall and misrepresent our Lord and
Saviour, closing maybe the only door people have to hear the truth. We
should be wise and sensitive adjusting our message and terminology to
the group of people with whom we share this precious truth. We are
called to be wise and "season" our conversation (Colossians
4:5) so that we will be properly equipped for this important task of
telling the "Good News" to other people.
The apostle Paul took time to learn the societies which he visited
and to understand their cultures. He even took time to read their non
Christian literature (Acts 17:22-30) so that he could find this hidden
passage to their hearts, and all this was because he had the right focus
and priorities which were to bring them to the Messiah and save their
perishing souls from eternal torment.
So how shall we present Hazara B’teshuva to modern day Israelis ?
I do believe that we should concentrate on presenting Jesus as
Messiah and the way He made us turn away from our "old" sinful
life and return to the gospel of freedom and light. This way we could
avoid the label (of Hazara B’teshuva) but still deliver all the
contents.
Gil Alon
Contact Gil at : GilsMiniUlpan@bmja.net |
