Dear Friends;
I hope that you’ll enjoy the following parashiot summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” Parshiot in a Nutshell ”
The Parshah of Nitzavim start by saying: “You stand today, all of you, before the L-rd your G-d: your heads of tribes, your elders, your officers, and every Israelite man; your young ones, your wives, the stranger in your gate; from your wood hewer to your water drawer.”
Moshe warns of the exile and desolation of the Land that will result if Israel abandons G-d’s laws, but he then prophecises that, in the end, “You will return to the Lord your G-d”.
Then Moshe says: “For the Mitzvah which I command you this day, it is not beyond you nor is it remote from you. It is not in heaven… It is not across the sea…. Rather, it is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it.”
Moshe also talks about freedom of choice: “I have set before you life and goodness, and death and evil; in that I command you this day to love G-d, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments… Life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. And you shall choose life.”
The Parshah of Vayelech recounts the events on Moshe’s last day of earthly life. “I am one hundred and twenty years old today,” he says to the people, “and I can no longer go forth and come in.” He transfers the leadership to Joshua, and writes the Torah in a scroll which he entrusts to the Levites for safekeeping in the Ark of the Covenant.
The mitzvah of Hak’hel (“Gather”) is given: every seven years, during the festival of Sukkot of the first year of the shemittah cycle, the entire people of Israel — men, women and children — should gather at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, where the king should read to them from the Torah.
The Parsha concludes with the prediction that the people of Israel will turn away from their covenant with G-d causing Him to hide His face from them, but also with the promise that the words of the Torah “shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants.
“ Dvar Torah “
Once again, we have double parashiot and with your permission I would like to say a few words on the second parsha, Vayelech.
Parashat Vayelech starts off by saying: ” Vayelech Moshe – And Moshe WENT, and spoke these words to all Israel. And he said to them: ‘I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no longer go out and come in, for Hashem has said to me, you shall not cross this Jordan.” He said these words on the last day of his life, which was his 120th birthday. The time had come for him to gather to his people and kiss this world goodbye.
But once again, the commentators are puzzled by the wording of the Torah. The Torah says “Vayelech Moshe”– and Moshe went…. But, where did he go? Where was his destination?! In fact, his “moving” action was so powerful that the parsha is named after it; “And he went”! From reading the plain text, it seems that he didn’t go anywhere?! He was still among his people, where he was for the past 40 years of his life. So, why does the Torah say that he went? And if he went somewhere, why does it keep us in suspense of his destination?
After searching for an answer for awhile, I came across a beautiful explanation given by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky. He says the following: The Torah wants to emphasize the fact that Moshe didnot sit idle. Even on the last day of his life, he went, he moved, he inspired, he taught, he blessed and he accomplished. Although, on the last day of his life, he rightfully deserved to sit back and let others come to him and show their final respect, but instead, he decided to move and take the initial step. The same enthusiasm that Moshe had in leading his people through the desert, the same vigor Moshe had when ordering Pharaoh to let my people go was still in him until the last moments of his life — until the very end. While he was still going forward, there was no dying down. And that’s what the Torah is trying to tell us: until the end, Moshe never stopped — Moshe “went”!
Yes my friends, life is all about moving forward and improving ourselves. Whether in business, relationship or spirituality, we need to have the enthusiasm to move forward and try to improve at all times, because once we stop, there is the danger of falling back and failing. As we learn from the parsha, there is no limit or time frame for improvement. Moshe moved forward till the last second of his life. He utilized all of his time to fulfill the will of G-d and to improve his relationship with the Almighty. He never stopped! He never gave up! And this is the kind of “enthusiasm” that we need to learn from the greatest prophet of all times.
Parashat Vayelech always falls around the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur because it carries the same message. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we reflect on the past year, recall the bad we did and the good we failed to do. We apologise, confess and ask for forgiveness. And after Yom Kippur, we try not to repeat the bad we did before. But Hashem doesnot expect us to become perfect, since EVERY year he wants us to fast and ask for forgiveness, as if he expects us to sin year after year after year. All he wants us to do is to just improve. He doesn’t want us to sit idle— he wants us to keep moving forward just like Moshe did till the last moment of his life!
Remember my friends that there is always room for improvement. You can always study more, observe more, love more, sacrifice more and care more. All you need to do is to make a “move”!
Shabbat Shalom & Regards;
Martin