Like a Dew Drop on a Rose Petal

Hosea 14:6

Repair is possible! Repentance is always an option, for the individual and the nation - this will be Hosea’s final word, a lasting idea that will become central to Jewish theology. 

Never give up. 

Even with despair upon the nation, Hosea keeps believing in the power of the possible, the courage to change, commitment to repentance and repair. 

Yes, there will be a disaster. 

But this will lead to a new chapter, and a process of spiritual and national reckoning and awakening, a collective Teshuva.  Redemption IS possible. 

Hosea, unlike other prophets, does not just talk about this option but also points the way for how to get back on the path, whether it’s an individual who has to change their ways, or the entire nation. 

He offers clear tools and specific pointers which is likely why this chapter was chosen as the additional liturgical reading, the Hafata for the Shabbat of the High Holy Days,  between Rosh HaShanna and Yom Kippur. This special Shabbat is known as Shabbat Shuva - the Sabbath of Repentance, thus named for the opening words of this closing chapter of Hosea. 

The chapter begins with the last words of the previous lament, yet another depressing depiction of how low they could go - and from here they will only have to rise again - 

(trigger warning:) 

תֶּאְשַׁם֙ שֹׁמְר֔וֹן כִּ֥י מָרְתָ֖ה בֵּאלֹהֶ֑יהָ בַּחֶ֣רֶב יִפֹּ֔לוּ עֹלְלֵיהֶ֣ם יְרֻטָּ֔שׁוּ וְהָרִיּוֹתָ֖יו יְבֻקָּֽעוּ׃ 

“Samaria must bear her guilt,

For she has defied her God.

They shall fall by the sword,

Their infants shall be dashed to death,

And their women with child ripped open.

Hosea 14:1

This horror image of a massacre, the future of Israel literally ripped open, is how the prophet paints the final fall of the kingdom of Israel. 

But then, one day in the future, deprived of everything, the people will get a chance to begin again, to restart, and Hosea’s precise words here matter a lot: 

שׁ֚וּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַ֖ד יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ כִּ֥י כָשַׁ֖לְתָּ בַּעֲוֺנֶֽךָ׃

Return, O Israel, towards the ETERNAL your God,

For you have fallen because of your sins.

Hosea 14:2

Reading this chapter is like a practical guide for the art of repentance. The historical process by which the people of Israel turned back to God was often depicted by the prophets as chaotic, and often short lived. Hosea suggests that we take it slower. Baby steps. 

The first step towards repair and reconciliation that he offers is not to go all the way to God - but to go gradually, to return ‘towards’ God - step by step towards our goals.

 The Hebrew word for ‘towards’ that he uses in this verse, is ‘Ad’ - and not ‘El” - and this indicates only the first step in a journey of change, not arrival at the destination. In other words, Hosea says, a real process of repentance and repair takes patience, and time, and small steps. 

The real return to the path of the sacred will not be in heroic leaps but will take generations. 

The first step is in recognition of the transgression - to name the problem and commit to repair. 

Rabbi Benny Lau reflects on this future vision: 

“This chapter is exceptional as it is built as a dialogue between God and the nation of Israel. This is not a conversation about but a dialogue with. The sense of intimacy and connection presents an invitation for an encounter based not in harsh judgment but in compassion and love. One of the terms for Israel in this chapter is ‘orphan’ - a stunning reversal of the way Hosea just described the relationship between God and the people of Israel a few chapters ago -  as that of parent and child. 

In this chapter Hosea also suggests reconciliation -- the orphaned children will be reunited with their parents and rebuilt their family and home together. 

The rabbis’ choice to designate this prophecy to the High Holy Days expresses the delicacy of this description of the option of return and the optimism within this promise. As an a-historical reading, this chapter now invites each of us to take on a personal process of transformative Teshuva, where and whenever we read these timeless words. 

And yet for Hosea, saying these words as Israel descends into the abyss, the call for hope seems distant. The people are orphans and the divine distance seems impossible to bridge. “

The book ends here, in a bleak moment, but will always contain the kernel of hope, a drop of dew. When one day in the future Israel will mend its ways, restart and come back to its core, the Divine promises to be there again: 

אֶהְיֶ֤ה כַטַּל֙ לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל יִפְרַ֖ח כַּשּׁוֹשַׁנָּ֑ה וְיַ֥ךְ שׇׁרָשָׁ֖יו כַּלְּבָנֽוֹן׃

“I will be to Israel like dew;

They shall blossom like the roses,

And shall strike roots like the tall trees of Lebanon.”

Hosea 14:6

With an image of a dew drop on a rose petal, fleeting but so gorgeous, Hosea wishes us to be among “The wise who will consider these words,the prudent will take note of them” and keep holding on to hope.  

Thank you Hosea, for the smoke and the dew, condemnation and consolations. 

Moving on to Joel - just four chapters of prophetic poetry to help us feel, deal and heal. 

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