The Special Angels That Visit Us on Shabbat Shuvah

The Arizal taught us that the Ten Days of Repentance ( עשרת ימי תשובה ) have the power to atone for the sins we committed on each of the seven days of the week during the previous year. Leaving out the two days of Rosh Hashanah and the day of Yom Kippur, the period of עשרת ימי תשובה consists of seven days, and each of these seven days, the Arizal taught, is able to correct the mistakes made on that day during the year. On the Sunday of עשרת ימי תשובה , for example, we are able to atone for our sins committed on Sunday throughout the year. Each day of the week poses its own challenges, and we are prone to certain mistakes on each day of the week, and the period of the Ten Days of Repentance affords us the opportunity to correct the mistakes that we have made on each day. Accordingly, on Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we are able to earn atonement for all the mistakes made on the most important day of the week – Shabbat – throughout the year. And thus we should all be especially vigilant on Shabbat Shuvah to ensure that we observe Shabbat properly, both by avoiding all forms of forbidden activities (the שמור aspect of Shabbat) and by conducting ourselves with a level of kedushah that is appropriate for this sacred day (the זכור aspect). The unique importance of Shabbat Shuvah can be seen in a beautiful insight that I recently came across regarding the Shalom Alechem hymn which we traditionally sing on Friday night upon returning from the synagogue. In this hymn we greet the angels that have come into our home on Shabbat, and it is commonly understood that these angels represent the yetzer hara (evil inclination) and yetzer hatov (good inclination), the two forces within us that try to lead us, respectively, to sin and to good deeds. These angels come into our homes on Shabbat, and we hope that the angel representing the yetzer hatov blesses us and the angel representing the yetzer hara then answers “amen” to that blessing. But I saw a different interpretation, one which is based upon the well-known comment in Pirkeh Avot that every mitzvah we perform produces a protecting angel. Normally, although we create these angels, we do not earn the privilege of having these angels close to us. On Shabbat, however, the special sanctity of the day renders us worthy of having these angels which we have produced accompany us and join us in our home. These are the angels which we greet when we sing Shalom Alechem on Friday night. Understandably, the more significant and powerful the mitzvah is, the more distinguished and special the angels are. And thus when we sound and hear the shofar , we create especially powerful angels. The mitzvah of shofar is observed in a very special way, as everyone is together in the synagogue, concentrating intently and thinking thoughts of teshuvah . Indeed, the moments of the shofar blowing are among the most moving and serious times of the year in the synagogue. We can imagine, then, that the angels produced by our fulfillment of this mitzvah , which is done with such feeling, concentration, and thoughts of teshuvah , are particularly powerful. In fact, there is a Yehi Ratzon prayer which many people recite before the shofar blowing requesting that the angels created by the shofar sounds should ascend the heavens. It is told that Rabbi Efrayim Laniado, a Rabbi in Aleppo, Syria, would blow the shofar each year in the synagogue, but when he got older and did not have the strength to blow, he delegated this duty to his son, who was also experienced in sounding the shofar . Rav Efrayim prayed at home, and when he saw people returning from the synagogue, he asked them how his son blew the shofar . They told him that his son at first seemed anxious, and the sounds did not come out properly, but gradually the blowing grew stronger and steadier. The Rabbi asked his son about it when he came home, and his son explained that when he began blowing the shofar , he saw angels coming out of the shofar , and this worried him. “There is no need to worry,” the Rabbi said. “I see those angels every year.” We cannot even imagine the spiritual power of the shofar blowing and the feelings of teshuvah that accompany it, which is capable of producing very special angels, even more so than the other mitzvot that we perform. And these angels join us in our home on Shabbat Shuvah. Of course, we should endeavor to conduct ourselves properly every Shabbat, knowing that we are hosting angels in our homes. (It should be noted that according to one version of the Shalom Alechem text, we say not צאתכם לשלום – which indicates that the angels are leaving already then – but rather בצאתכם לשלום – “When you leave in peace” – in which case the angels do not necessarily leave then. It stands to reason that they remain in our homes throughout the entirety of Shabbat.) As we want these angels to grant us their blessing – as we sing, ברכני לשלום – we must certainly conduct ourselves on the highest standard possible. But this is especially vital on Shabbat Shuvah, when we are privileged to host in our home the angels of the shofar , the most distinguished and most powerful angels. Let us treat this Shabbat in a special way as we recognize that we are hosting these special angels, and thereby correct and elevate all the Shabbatot of the previous year. And through our observance we shall be deserving of complete redemption, as our Sages teach that our proper observance of two consecutive Shabbatot brings us our nation’s final redemption. תזכו לשנים רבות