Where Did Moses Go鈥攁nd Why?
Sep 27, 2024 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh | Rosh Hashanah
Keli Yekar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz, 1550鈥�1619, Prague) articulates our question as follows: 鈥淎ll the commentators were challenged by this 鈥済oing鈥� because the text does not mention where he [Moses] went . . . 鈥� But before I get to his teshuvah (repentance)-centered interpretation and how it can inform our own behavior as we approach the Days of Awe, I will share the explanations of three other commentators.
Read More
Returning with God
Sep 8, 2023 By Mychal Springer | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh
This week鈥檚 Torah Portion, Nitzavim, speaks profoundly about聽teshuvah, the literal and figurative struggle to return to God. When we turn back to God 鈥渨ith all [our] heart and soul,鈥� the parashah tells us, then God 鈥渨ill bring you together again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you鈥澛�(Deut 30:3). Being scattered is a state of disorientation and disconnection.聽Teshuvah聽represents a coming home.
Read More
The Courage to Hope
Sep 30, 2022 By Rabbi Ayelet Cohen | Commentary | Shabbat Shuvah | Vayeilekh | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur
Shabbat Shuvah represents the place between hope and fear; between transformation and unrealized aspirations. We may have made big promises on Rosh Hashanah, resolving to make significant changes in our lives, entering the year with a sense of excitement and optimism. But as Yom Kippur draws closer, we become more attuned to our own shortcomings. So much is beyond our control. Changing old patterns is arduous, the path uncertain. Confronting our own limitations, we can feel afraid and alone. The spiritual work of this moment lies in discerning the difference between acknowledging our limitations and succumbing to fear.
Read MoreShabbat Shuvah Torah Reading
By 麻豆原创 | Collected Resources | Ha'azinu | Shabbat Shuvah | Vayeilekh
The Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat of Return. The Torah portion can vary depending on the timing of the calendar. Ashkenazi Jews read聽Hosea 14:2-10聽and聽Joel 2:15-27, while聽Sephardic聽Jews read聽Hosea 14:2-10聽and聽Micah 7:18-20. The first word of Hosea is “Shuvah” (return) and led to the naming of this Shabbat.
Read More
Moses鈥檚 Journey, and Ours
Sep 9, 2021 By Shuly Rubin Schwartz | Commentary | Shabbat Shuvah | Vayeilekh
Whenever I read the opening verse of this week鈥檚 parashah, I recall the other parashah that opens with the same verb: 诇讱志诇讱 (鈥淕o forth鈥�). Told to go, Abram heeded God鈥檚 call, uprooting his life and journeying鈥攂oth physically and emotionally鈥攆irst to Haran and then to the land of Israel. And now, as we near the end of the Torah reading cycle, Parashat Vayeilekh begins by attributing that very same action of journeying to Moses, as he nears the end of his life. What can we learn from the parallel acts of journeying that these two great leaders of our people undertook?
Read More
Democratizing Education: Lessons from this Week鈥檚 Parashah
Sep 8, 2020 By Michal Raucher | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh
Since the start of the stay-at-home orders in March, my eight-year-old son, Naftali, has studied Mishnah on Zoom in a 鈥淢ishnah Club鈥� for kids, taught by Rabbi Ethan Tucker (KS 鈥�06) of Hadar Institute. While my spouse teaches Mishnah to middle school students and my own scholarship involves a healthy feminist critique of the talmudic Rabbis, Naftali had never encountered rabbinic literature. I feared that Naftali might get lost in the complexity, become overwhelmed with the details, or confused by the logic of rabbis from 2000 years ago. I was also curious as to whether he would actually see himself in this discourse.
Read More
The Choice
Sep 15, 2017 By Rachel Rosenthal | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh
Imagine if you could choose your future鈥攏ot know it, but choose it. What would happen to you? Would you live forever? Would you choose how you were going to die? What would be your legacy? If you could, would you turn fantasy into reality?
Read More
Woodcutters and Water Drawers
Sep 15, 2017 By Shira D. Epstein | Commentary | Nitzavim | Vayeilekh
The opening verses of this week鈥檚 parashah pronounce that the entirety of Israel stands before God to enter into the covenant: the leaders, the elders, the officers; every man, child, woman, and convert, as well as the 鈥渨oodcutters and water drawers鈥� (Deut. 29:9鈥�10). Unlike some other Torah excerpts that clearly demarcate mitzvot reserved for a particular classification of people, all people are told to show up in this moment. They are beckoned to view themselves as integral parts of an expansive and inclusive community.
Read More