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Tag Archive for: Nitzavim

Nitzavim – נִצָּבִים (Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Nitzavim – נִצָּבִים (Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20)

525,600 Minutes: How do you measure a year?

Nitzavim begins on Moses’ final day on earth. Rashi explains that Moses knew the day he was going to die, so he knew that this day, “Hayom” in Hebrew, would be his last chance to address his people. The medieval Spanish scholar Ramban describes Moses’ speech as a repetition or summary of the Israelite’s sacred relationship with God. In the first six verses of Moses’ speech, the word Hayom (today, or this day) appears five times. This is significant, as Parsha Nitzavim always arrives on a Shabbat in the season of Teshuva: the weeks leading up to the High Holy Days. This repetition coupled with the timing of Moses’ words gives a sense of urgency and newness to his words. Moses is in the unique position of holding advanced knowledge about when he would die. Moses knows that on this momentous day, his people will listen more deeply and intently to what he has to say. This was his chance to make a greater impact than he could have made on any other day of his life. If you knew ahead of time when your last day on earth would be, how would you act? What would you do with your remaining time? Obviously, none of us knows when that time will come, which makes the placement of Nitzavim amidst our season of Teshuva especially poignant. The process of teshuvah is one of realigning ourselves each day with the honesty and integrity we would have if we knew we were living our last day. Every year we have the chance to reevaluate our lives. Nitzavim challenges us to live each day as Hayom: to engage with each day as if it were our last, living each moment to the fullest, speaking words of sincerity, and focusing on what is truly important. Jonathan Larson’s, z’l famous “Seasons of Love” from RENT declares “Five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes

How do you measure the life of a woman or a man? It’s time now to sing out -Though the story never ends.” How do you want to measure your life in this season of Teshuva?

Parsha Nitzavim – נִצָּבִים Torah Summary:

Moses tells the assembled people that God’s covenant speaks to them and to all of the generations who will follow. (29:9–14) God warns the Israelites that they will be punished if they act idolatrously, the way the inhabitants of the other nations do. (29:15–28) Moses reassures the people that God will not forsake them and that they can attain blessings by following God’s commandments. (30:1–20) Nitzavim – נִצָּבִים

Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Nitzavim – נִצָּבִים (Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20)

This week’s Torah Portion, Atem Nitzavim, begins: 

You stand here this day before Adonai your God: you, your leaders, your tribal chiefs, your elders, your magistrates, every man of Israel, your children, your women, and the converts in your camp – from your woodcutters to your drawers of water. All of you have entered into this covenant before Adonai your God…  And it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant.  I am making it both with those who are standing here with us today before Adonai our God, and with those who are not here with us today.

Having listed every possible member of the community of Israel, the Torah tells us that all had a part in the making of God’s covenant, even those who were not there that day. So, who could the Torah be referring to? Who were the Children of Israel who were  “not here today”? The midrash teaches us that the Torah refers here to the generations of Israel yet to come. In other words, the Torah refers here to us.

We, all of us, stood at Sinai that awesome day. We, all of us and the generations yet to come, stood there – along with every generation of our people – as we set our feet upon the path of Torah which has carried us forward even unto this day.  We relive this moment each High Holy Days when again we read these words and stand together as one, just as we did once long ago at Sinai, to begin again on the path of Torah, to begin again on the path to the building of a better world.

This year we may not all be able to physically stand together as we read these words, within the sacred walls of our congregation, but this year, as we do every year, all of us, we stand together as one.

Parsha Nitzavim Torah Summary:

Moses tells the assembled people that God’s covenant speaks to them and to all of the generations who will follow. (29:9–14) God warns the Israelites that they will be punished if they act idolatrously, the way the inhabitants of the other nations do. (29:15–28) Moses reassures the people that God will not forsake them and that they can attain blessings by following God’s commandments. (30:1–20) Nitzavim Moses tells the assembled people that God’s covenant speaks to them and to all of the generations who will follow. (29:9–14) God warns the Israelites that they will be punished if they act idolatrously, the way the inhabitants of the other nations do. (29:15–28) Moses reassures the people that God will not forsake them and that they can attain blessings by following God’s commandments. (30:1–20) Nitzavim

Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20)

“All of you are standing today before Adonai your God – you leaders, elders, officials, and all the men of Israel, your children, wives, and the Strangers in your midst … I am making this covenant,  … not only with you … But also with those who are not here today” (Deuteronomy 29:9-14). All of us are part of the covenant between Adonai our God and everyone who was there in Sinai when the covenant was made. Even if we were not there in body, our spirits were there and we are part of it.

This Week’s Torah Portion: Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20)“All of you are standing today before Adonai your God— you leaders, elders, officials, and all the men of Israel, your children, wives, and the Strangers in your midst…I am making this covenant, …not only with you…But also with those who are not here today” (Deuteronomy 29:9-14). All of us are part of the covenant between Adonai our God and everyone who was there in Sinai when the covenant was made. Even if we were not there in body, our spirits were there and we are part of it.

Nitzavim Summary:
Moses tells the assembled people that God’s covenant speaks to them and to all of the generations who will follow. (29:9–14)
God warns the Israelites that they will be punished if they act idolatrously, the way the inhabitants of the other nations do. (29:15–28)
Moses reassures the people that God will not forsake them and that they can attain blessings by following God’s commandments. (30:1–20)