Before Yom Kippur, Listen

This Shabbat falls at an extraordinary moment on the Jewish calendar.

We read Parshas Ha’azinu, one of Moses’ final messages to the Jewish people, and just one day later, on Sunday evening, we enter Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.

The very first word of this week’s Torah portion is:

Ha’azinu - “Listen.”

That may be exactly the instruction we need before Yom Kippur.

Before we speak.

Before we apologize.

Before we make resolutions.

Before we ask for forgiveness.

Listen.

A Song Worth Hearing

Near the end of his life, Moses delivers his message not as an ordinary speech, but as a song.

It is a complicated song.

It speaks about gratitude and blessing, but also about people losing their way. It describes mistakes, consequences, distance, and ultimately reconciliation.

There are difficult verses.

But they are not the whole song.

Perhaps that is one reason Moses asks us first to listen.

When we hear only one note, we can misunderstand an entire melody.

The same is true of people.

The same is true of ourselves.

We can become so focused on one mistake, one disappointment, one disagreement, or one painful chapter that we forget there is a larger story.

Sometimes we need to stop long enough to hear it.

Listening Before Responding

We live in a world filled with noise.

Notifications.

Deadlines.

Opinions.

Arguments.

Responsibilities.

And often, when another person is speaking, we are already preparing our answer before they have finished.

Ha’azinu offers a different instruction:

Listen.

Listening does not mean agreeing with everything we hear.

It means being present enough to understand.

Maybe someone close to us has been trying to tell us something we haven't really heard.

Maybe an employee, colleague, spouse, child, friend, or family member needs our attention more than our advice.

Maybe there is feedback we have been resisting because it is uncomfortable.

And sometimes, the voice we have stopped listening to is our own.

The Quiet Before Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur will ask us to look inward.

But perhaps Ha’azinu prepares us by asking us first to become quiet enough to do so honestly.

What have I been avoiding?

Where have I become too defensive?

Who deserves more of my attention?

Is there a relationship I have allowed to drift?

Have I been so busy moving forward that I have not stopped to ask whether I am moving in the right direction?

Those questions do not require immediate answers.

Sometimes the first step is simply allowing ourselves to hear them.

Hear the Whole Person

There is another lesson hidden in the idea of a song.

A song contains many notes.

Some rise.

Some fall.

Some are beautiful on their own.

Others only make sense when we hear what comes before and after them.

People are like that too.

We should be careful not to define someone by one bad moment.

A colleague is more than one mistake.

A child is more than one difficult day.

A marriage is more than one argument.

A person struggling is more than the struggle we happen to see.

And we are more than our own worst moment as well.

That does not mean ignoring wrongdoing or avoiding responsibility.

It means seeing the entire person.

True listening allows us to do that.

One Question Before Yom Kippur

As this Shabbat leads directly into the day before Yom Kippur, perhaps there is one question worth carrying with us:

What do I need to hear before I can become better?

Maybe the answer comes from someone else.

Maybe it comes from our conscience.

Maybe it comes from prayer.

Maybe it comes in the quiet moment when we finally stop running long enough to notice what has been waiting for our attention.

The Torah portion does not begin with “speak.”

It begins with Ha’azinu - listen.

Before Yom Kippur asks us what we will change, Ha’azinu asks whether we are willing to hear.

And sometimes, the most meaningful change begins there.

May this Shabbat give each of us the space to listen a little more deeply, to G-d, to the people around us, and to the best part of ourselves calling us forward.

Shabbat Shalom, and G’mar Chatimah Tovah!

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