Shabbat Shalom from the beautiful Judean hills!!!
Nitzavim–Vayelech: Stand Up. Go. Come Home.
There is an incredible message hidden in the names of this week's double parsha.
Nitzavim — you are standing.
Vayelech — and he went.
Stand. And then go.
That might be one of the most important messages for the Jewish people today.
Moshe tells us:
“Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem lifnei Hashem Elokeichem” — “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your God.”
(Devarim 29:9)
Every Jew stands before God.
Not just rabbis. Not just leaders. Not somebody more religious, more courageous, or more qualified than you.
You. Me. All of us.
And then Moshe tells us what will happen to the Jewish people.
We will stray. We will be exiled. We will be scattered across the world.
But then we will do teshuvah.
And what does teshuvah literally mean?
Return.
“And you will return to Hashem your God…”
(Devarim 30:2)
First, we return to Hashem.
Then something extraordinary happens:
“Hashem your God will gather you from all the peoples…”
(Devarim 30:3)
And where does He bring us?
“Hashem your God will bring you to the Land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it.”
(Devarim 30:5)
There it is.
Individual teshuvah means returning to Hashem and His Torah.
National teshuvah means the Jewish people returning to Eretz Yisrael.
For two thousand years, our ancestors begged for this.
They prayed toward Jerusalem.
They cried for Zion.
At every wedding they remembered Jerusalem.
Every Pesach they said, “Next year in Jerusalem.”
And now?
We can actually come home.
We are living the verses that generations of Jews could only dream about.
Yet we still make excuses.
It's too difficult.
My life is somewhere else.
It's not the right time.
Israel isn't my culture.
But think about that last one.
America was once foreign to our Jewish ancestors in Europe. Europe was foreign to our ancestors who had been expelled from Spain. Spain was foreign to earlier generations who had wandered there through exile. And Rome itself was foreign to the Jews who had been exiled from their our ancestral homeland, the Kingdom of Judea.
Life in an exiled country became familiar, and we began mistaking what was familiar for our national home.
But Eretz Yisrael is not foreign to the Jewish people.
It is home, where the whole country follows the Jewish calendar and all national vacations are Jewish holidays.
It is the land where Avraham walked, where David ruled, where our prophets spoke, and toward which Jews prayed throughout two thousand years of exile.
And now, after generations of praying for Hashem to return us, we have been blessed with the ability to actually return.
The question is whether we have the emunah to recognize that what feels familiar is not necessarily where we ultimately belong and what initially feels unfamiliar may actually be coming home.
And that is why we need Vayelech.
Moshe is leaving this world, and Yehoshua is being asked to replace the greatest leader in Jewish history and lead the Jewish people into Eretz Yisrael.
Imagine Yehoshua saying:
Who am I?
I'm not Moshe.
I didn't split the sea.
I didn't receive the Torah at Sinai.
Surely somebody else is more qualified.
But that is not what Yehoshua does.
Moshe tells him:
“Chazak ve’ematz” — “Be strong and courageous.”
(Devarim 31:23)
Why?
Because Hashem gave him a mission.
And Hashem knows better than we do.
That is emunah.
God created us.
God created this world.
God created the Jewish people.
And He knows the best way for us to live.
That is why He gave us the Torahת our instruction manual for life.
Our job is not to explain to Hashem why His instructions don't work for our lives.
Our job is to strengthen our emunah and follow them.
And Moshe tells us:
“It is not in heaven.”
(Devarim 30:12)
It is not impossible.
“Nor is it across the sea.”
(Devarim 30:13)
And then comes the key:
“The matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.”
(Devarim 30:14)
To do it.
Torah is not meant only to inspire us.
It is meant to direct our lives.
And today, returning to the Land of Israel is no longer some impossible dream on the other side of the world.
Planes land here every day.
Jewish communities are growing.
Children are being raised speaking Hebrew in the hills where Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov walked.
The Jewish people have come home.
And every Jew has to ask: What is my role in that return?
Because Moshe ends with perhaps the most important choice in the entire Torah:
“Choose life… to love Hashem your God, to listen to His voice and to cling to Him… so that you may dwell upon the Land that Hashem swore to your fathers, to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.”
(Devarim 30:19–20)
Look at that formula.
Choose life.
Love Hashem.
Listen to Him.
Cling to Him.
Live in His Land.
It is all connected.
So this Elul, don't just ask Hashem to bring us closer to Him.
Take a step closer.
Don't just pray for the ingathering of the Jewish people.
Be part of it.
Don't say, “I'm not Yehoshua. This isn't for me.”
We all have to be Yehoshua.
Strengthen our emunah.
Trust that Hashem knows what is best for us.
And follow the directions He gave us.
Nitzavim. Stand up.
Vayelech. Go.
Chazak ve’ematz. Be strong and courageous.
Return to Hashem.
Return to Torah.
And come home.
That is teshuvah.
Am Yisrael Chai!!!
To join the Israel Video Network - Pulse of Israel Group Click Here:
Telegram ➡️ https://t.me/aviabelowpulse
Whatsapp ➡️ https://chat.whatsapp.com/GkavRznXy731nxxRyptCMv
Sent from WhatsApp
wa.me/17185102364?s=e
Nitzavim–Vayelech: Stand Up. Go. Come Home.
There is an incredible message hidden in the names of this week's double parsha.
Nitzavim — you are standing.
Vayelech — and he went.
Stand. And then go.
That might be one of the most important messages for the Jewish people today.
Moshe tells us:
“Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem lifnei Hashem Elokeichem” — “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your God.”
(Devarim 29:9)
Every Jew stands before God.
Not just rabbis. Not just leaders. Not somebody more religious, more courageous, or more qualified than you.
You. Me. All of us.
And then Moshe tells us what will happen to the Jewish people.
We will stray. We will be exiled. We will be scattered across the world.
But then we will do teshuvah.
And what does teshuvah literally mean?
Return.
“And you will return to Hashem your God…”
(Devarim 30:2)
First, we return to Hashem.
Then something extraordinary happens:
“Hashem your God will gather you from all the peoples…”
(Devarim 30:3)
And where does He bring us?
“Hashem your God will bring you to the Land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it.”
(Devarim 30:5)
There it is.
Individual teshuvah means returning to Hashem and His Torah.
National teshuvah means the Jewish people returning to Eretz Yisrael.
For two thousand years, our ancestors begged for this.
They prayed toward Jerusalem.
They cried for Zion.
At every wedding they remembered Jerusalem.
Every Pesach they said, “Next year in Jerusalem.”
And now?
We can actually come home.
We are living the verses that generations of Jews could only dream about.
Yet we still make excuses.
It's too difficult.
My life is somewhere else.
It's not the right time.
Israel isn't my culture.
But think about that last one.
America was once foreign to our Jewish ancestors in Europe. Europe was foreign to our ancestors who had been expelled from Spain. Spain was foreign to earlier generations who had wandered there through exile. And Rome itself was foreign to the Jews who had been exiled from their our ancestral homeland, the Kingdom of Judea.
Life in an exiled country became familiar, and we began mistaking what was familiar for our national home.
But Eretz Yisrael is not foreign to the Jewish people.
It is home, where the whole country follows the Jewish calendar and all national vacations are Jewish holidays.
It is the land where Avraham walked, where David ruled, where our prophets spoke, and toward which Jews prayed throughout two thousand years of exile.
And now, after generations of praying for Hashem to return us, we have been blessed with the ability to actually return.
The question is whether we have the emunah to recognize that what feels familiar is not necessarily where we ultimately belong and what initially feels unfamiliar may actually be coming home.
And that is why we need Vayelech.
Moshe is leaving this world, and Yehoshua is being asked to replace the greatest leader in Jewish history and lead the Jewish people into Eretz Yisrael.
Imagine Yehoshua saying:
Who am I?
I'm not Moshe.
I didn't split the sea.
I didn't receive the Torah at Sinai.
Surely somebody else is more qualified.
But that is not what Yehoshua does.
Moshe tells him:
“Chazak ve’ematz” — “Be strong and courageous.”
(Devarim 31:23)
Why?
Because Hashem gave him a mission.
And Hashem knows better than we do.
That is emunah.
God created us.
God created this world.
God created the Jewish people.
And He knows the best way for us to live.
That is why He gave us the Torahת our instruction manual for life.
Our job is not to explain to Hashem why His instructions don't work for our lives.
Our job is to strengthen our emunah and follow them.
And Moshe tells us:
“It is not in heaven.”
(Devarim 30:12)
It is not impossible.
“Nor is it across the sea.”
(Devarim 30:13)
And then comes the key:
“The matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.”
(Devarim 30:14)
To do it.
Torah is not meant only to inspire us.
It is meant to direct our lives.
And today, returning to the Land of Israel is no longer some impossible dream on the other side of the world.
Planes land here every day.
Jewish communities are growing.
Children are being raised speaking Hebrew in the hills where Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov walked.
The Jewish people have come home.
And every Jew has to ask: What is my role in that return?
Because Moshe ends with perhaps the most important choice in the entire Torah:
“Choose life… to love Hashem your God, to listen to His voice and to cling to Him… so that you may dwell upon the Land that Hashem swore to your fathers, to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov.”
(Devarim 30:19–20)
Look at that formula.
Choose life.
Love Hashem.
Listen to Him.
Cling to Him.
Live in His Land.
It is all connected.
So this Elul, don't just ask Hashem to bring us closer to Him.
Take a step closer.
Don't just pray for the ingathering of the Jewish people.
Be part of it.
Don't say, “I'm not Yehoshua. This isn't for me.”
We all have to be Yehoshua.
Strengthen our emunah.
Trust that Hashem knows what is best for us.
And follow the directions He gave us.
Nitzavim. Stand up.
Vayelech. Go.
Chazak ve’ematz. Be strong and courageous.
Return to Hashem.
Return to Torah.
And come home.
That is teshuvah.
Am Yisrael Chai!!!
To join the Israel Video Network - Pulse of Israel Group Click Here:
Telegram ➡️ https://t.me/aviabelowpulse
Whatsapp ➡️ https://chat.whatsapp.com/GkavRznXy731nxxRyptCMv
Sent from WhatsApp
wa.me/17185102364?s=e
