D’var Torah: Shovavim

Written by Rabbi Josh Levy — 21 February 2020

What have you been speaking about since mid January?

Probably, all sorts of things – politics, community, what your friends are up to – the quotidian details of human life.

For some parts of the Jewish community, the last six weeks will have been a period when they were especially careful not to engage in this sort of conversation.  Indeed, for some, whole days – especially Shabbat – have involved avoiding any superfluous speech apart from words of prayer and Torah.

This is what is known as a ta’anit dibbur – a fast from words.  It is also a feature for some of Yom Kippur, when instead of using the day to catch up with old friends, or complain about the acoustics/temperature/sermons, they limit their words to those that are strictly necessary to focus on the day.

But why over the last few weeks?
It is a feature of a little known – and quite new – six week period in the Jewish calendar, Shovavim, which ends today.

Shovavim is an acronym for the six weekly Torah portions:
Shemot, Va’era, Bo, B’Shallach, Yitro and this week’s portion, Mishpatim.  The word Shovavim is taken to refer to a verse in Jeremiah – Shuvu vanim shovavim – ‘return, wayward children’, sometimes translated ‘mischief makers’.

Through this link it becomes a period of teshuvah – of repentance – in parts of the Jewish world, especially those influenced by kabbalistic innovations.

It is treated as a period for reflection on behaviour, especially in our most intimate personal relationships, taking us up to the month of Adar, when we allow ourselves the freedom of the celebration of Purim.

Hence, for some, it is a time of extra prayer, of fasting, and of ta’anit dibbur – concentration on how we speak.

Shovavim is not a part of the rhythm of our year.  But it is a reminder that we can’t delay all of our self-reflection about how we are with one another, how we speak to and about each other; that we can’t leave it all to a 10 day period in the autumn.  So, this evening, as we mark the end of Shovavim, let us take a moment to reflect on our aspirations for ourselves, how we want to be.

As we do so, let us sing words with which we began our Yamim Noraim on Erev Rosh Hashanah last September from Rav Kook…
“Ascend towards the heights, ascend! For you have the strength. You have wings of spirit, wings of mighty eagles.”