Samuel was the first of the great circuit riders, answering questions, setting up courts of justice and educating the next generation. He did not wait for the people to come to him. Samuel, Hebrew Shmuʾel, (flourished 11th century bce, Israel), religious hero in the history of Israel, represented in the Hebrew Bible in every role of leadership of his day—seer, priest, judge, prophet, and military leader. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Hebrew-prophet

Teshuvah, repentance, signifies circular motion. When one finds oneself on the circumference of a large circle, it sometimes seems that the starting point is becoming farther and farther removed, but actually it is getting closer and closer. “At the return of the year,“ on Rosh Hashanah, a new calendar year begins, and with every passing day one gets farther and farther away from the starting point, the New Year.

But every passing day is also a return, a drawing nearer to the completion of the year’s cycle, the Rosh Hashanah of the next year. “And his return was to Ramah.“ Samuel went in circuit. The moment he left Ramah, with the goal of making a full circuit of Beth-El, Gilgal and Mizpah, he was already returning to Ramah, for it was there that he made his home; there, in Ramatayim Zofim, lived his mother Hannah; there he had spent his childhood; there were his roots. Samuel was a leader and a judge for all Israel; he made a circuit of all Israel’s scattered living places, but everywhere he went, he was heading for home.

• What has gotten scattered this year in your own self?
• How might you connect back to your roots - not necessarily physically, but emotionally, and spiritually?

He belonged to all of Israel, for the land of Israel was his home, but his true home was only in one place, in Ramah, as it is written, “for there was his home.“ Only there could you construct the altar of his life to God. “And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.“ Samuel served as leader and judge in many different places, but the force of his leadership and judgment stemmed from Ramah, from his home: “there he judged Israel.“ No matter how great a man may be, he cannot leave his ancestral home. All of his judgments are derived from there.

This is the secret source of Teshuvah, repentance. An individual Jew cannot sever himself completely from the Holy One. The community of Israel cannot travel in a straight path away from God. It is always on the path to return and repentance – of going away from God and coming back to Him. “In your distress when all these things are come upon you… You will return to the Lord your God.“ The circle may be very large, it may have an immense radius, but those who follow its path always move in a circular direction. [...]

Man may wander about in circles and become entangled in all sorts of vain causes and pursue empty ideas. [...] He makes a circuit of Beth-El, Gilgal and Mizpah, he searches for gods, overturns worlds, and it may appear to him that he can see ahead and is heralding a new and better future – but always and ever “his return is to Ramah, for there is his home.“ [...W]illingly or not, he will return to Ramah, to his home, where his mother Hannah welcomed him with her longing and supplication, where he lay in his cradle and absorbed the affectionate dulcet melodies sung to him by his mother.

Hashiveinu Adonai Elohecha, nashuva, chadesh, yameinu k'kedem.