Parashat Ha’Azinu – Shabbat Shuvah (September 19, 2026)

By Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields

Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat of return between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, sits at a moment of intense spiritual listening and reflection. It takes its name from Shuvah Yisrael—“Return, O Israel”—calling us back toward God and toward our truest selves. In this liminal space, Parashat Ha’azinu offers its final poetic message from Moses: “Ha’azinu ha’shamayim—Give ear, O heavens.” The Torah itself becomes a song of listening.

This connects deeply to Shema Koleinu—“hear our voice.” In these Days of Awe, we stand between speaking and listening: we speak through prayer and confession, and we listen through reflection and conscience. Ha’azinu emphasizes that even creation is called to listen; heaven and earth become witnesses to our covenant. Shema Koleinu turns that dynamic around—we ask God to listen to us, even as we are called to listen more deeply ourselves.

There is a beautiful reciprocity here. Moses calls on the heavens to hear, while we call on God to hear us. Shabbat Shuvah reminds us that teshuvah, repentance, begins in that mutual attentiveness. We return not only by changing our actions, but by becoming more careful listeners—to God’s voice, to Torah, and to the quiet truths within ourselves.

Together, Ha’azinu, Shema Koleinu, and Shabbat Shuvah teach that return begins with hearing. When we listen more deeply and trust that we are heard, we open the possibility of healing, repair, and renewed relationships in the year ahead.