Feature Tidbit for Shabbat Shuva

When Rosh HaShana is Monday-Tuseday or Tuesday-Wednesday, then there will be a Shabbat between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. In such cases, Nitzavim and Vayeilech will be separated, and we will read Vayeilech on Shabbat Shuva. Ha'azinu is read on the Shabbat between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. That happens in 39.5% of years. More often, 60.5% of the time, Rosh HaShana falls on Shabbat-Sunday (as it did last year, 5760, and does this year, 5761) or on Thursday-Friday. When this happens, there is no Shabbat between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, Nitzavim and Vayeilech are combined, and Shabbat Shuva is Ha'azinu. In other words, Ha'azinu is always juxtaposed to Yom Kippur, being read either on the previous Shabbat or the following Shabbat.

Today is the first day...
Our Sages point out the significance of their being exactly seven days between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, exclusive. It means that there is one Sunday, one Monday, one Tuesday... and one Shabbat. And these unique days become the templates, if you will, for their counterparts throughout the coming year. The Wednesday of Aseret Y'mei T'shuva (the Ten Days of Repentance) is the prototype for all the Wednesdays of 5761. Same for the other days of the week. The concept of a Tuesday being a template or model for future Tuesdays might not be that significant, but for Shabbat there is great significance. 
You know the saying. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Well, Shabbat Shuva is the first Shabbat of the rest of your year. And that presents a challenge. Use Shabbat Shuva to help make all your Shabbats better and more special than they have been in the past, for you and your whole family. 

Do you cut corners with the basic laws of Shabbat? Do you do things on Shabbat that you know you really should not be doing, but they seem trivial to you? If so, Shabbat Shuva is there for you. Take things slow, but make some forward progress. Decide not to turn lights on and off this one Shabbat. Then see if you can keep it going for one more Shabbat. And another.

That was just an example. Let's say that you are Shomer Shabbat. And the answer to the question about cutting corners is NO. You keep the Shabbat. You abstain from all manner of Melacha, including all the Rabbinic restrictions as well. Nice. But do you REALLY keep Shabbat the way it should be kept? And honor it? And enjoy it? How do you spend your "free" time on Shabbat? Do you have quality time with your family? Do you invite guests regularly? Do you learn Torah and sing Zemirot at the table? Are your discussions at the table on a level that honors the Shabbat, or is it about baseball, the stock market, shopping, and the like? Napping is good, but is that all there is? How about a leisurely walk with your spouse and/children? A family review of Parshat HaShavua? And what about the preparation for Shabbat? Is the day before Shabbat, Friday or Erev Shabbat, if you follow the difference. The same thing goes for Saturday night or Motza'ei Shabbat. Which is yours?

Shabbat Shuva is the Shabbat between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. It's a one of a kind. We each have our own davening and thinking agendas for Rosh HaShana and Yom Kipur themselves. But the Shabbat between them is a "regular" Shabbat. And that's the challenge. People usually succeed in having a special and meaningful Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. But those special days come once a year. Shabbat is every single week. Use this first one to raise your TSO (total Shabbat observance) a couple of notches. Then work on maintaining and improving on honoring and enjoying the most special and precious of days - Shabbat.

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