Shabbat Nugget: Parashat Vayeilech and Yom Kippur

We are just a few days away from Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement.  The main theme of Yom Kippur is Teshuvah- which means to return to G-d.  This returning to G-d has two aspects, the first is asking G-d to forgive our sins since our sins are an interference with our relationship to G-d.  The second dimension of Teshuvah is a general request to return and be closer to G-d for the new year.

We can learn a lesson how our Teshuvah should look like from this week’s Torah portion. The overall context of the book of Deuteronomy is the book of Teshuvah -return to G-d.  This week’s Torah portion is called Vayeilech which means “To Walk”.  When a person walks, each step lands him in a totally different place. Thus, in employing the metaphor of walking the Torah is teaching us that our Teshuvah /Return should be a truly transformative experience, which makes us into new people, who have left their former selves behind.