Parashat Nitzavim

September 19, 2025
26 Elul 5785
Parashat Nitzavim
Deuteronomy 29:9 - 30:20

Dear Friends,

Rosh Hashanah is about to begin on Monday evening, and we pray “Hayom Harat Olam” -- “today the world is born." Please notice the present tense; we and the world are born again each and every day that we are in the world. What an incredible opportunity! We get to start again each and every day as if the world were being created anew. And on Rosh Hashanah, we are reminded of this amazing gift. Although we may have not yet taken full advantage of the gifts that we each possess, Rosh Hashanah is a potent reminder that we still have time to act and become.

This past year, so much has happened and is happening in the world that many feel like they have lost their sense of balance. Rosh Hashanah and the Days of Awe are a time when we can work to regain our perspective and our sense of possibility. This week’s Torah portion. one of my favorites, comes at the right moment -- at least for me.

Nitzavim, "you are standing" (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20), is a perfect image as we enter these Days of Awe. We are standing at the entry way, getting ourselves ready to begin again. This is an image that comes to mind, that we access as we use what we learned going forward. This is one of the things that the Torah is teaching us in this portion. What we do matters not only today but in the future. By inference, we are reminded that each of us matters and along with it all of our actions. We cannot control what life throws at us, but we do have choices. This Torah portion, which we read right before Rosh Hashanah, reminds us that we are part of something far bigger than ourselves. We are part of a diverse community, which is all inclusive.

“You stand this day all of you before Adonai, your God; the captains of your
tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel. Your little
ones, your wives, and the stranger who is in your camp, from the hewer of
your wood to the one who draws your water. . . And not with you alone will I
make this covenant and this oath. But with the one who stands here with us
this day before Adonai our God, and also with the one who is not here with
us this day.” (Deuteronomy 29:9-14)

But then it goes on to remind us that the choice is ours to make. How we interpret and act upon our tradition is up to us.

“Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you,
nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, 'Who among
us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may
observe it?' Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who among us can
cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may
observe it?' No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to
observe it. See, I set before you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity. “ (Deuteronomy 30:11-15)

How we live and how we behave matters. We have been blessed with a foundation which is here to hold us in these uncertain times. May the year ahead be one where we find light, hope, and resilience, taking strength from one another.

As we prepare to join one another over this holiday in prayer and song, I share this final Elul thought.

Harmony
voices lifted
familiar melodies

transporting us through time & space

Joy and sorrow linked
embraced by the sound
sounds connecting making music

lifting us up

Voices rising to the heavens

a reminder
we are here

and we hold one another with our song of life.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova,

Rabbi Linda Shriner-Cahn