- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Nitzavim
40
The sedra reiterates the bond & covenant we have with the Eternal: You will be My people, & I will be your G-d. Then there is a rather fearful warning of what can (and will) happen to us if we stray from the path of Hashem - plagues, fire & brimstone, exile from our land, utter devastation - as well as the blessings that are ours when we keep the covenant: prosperity, an abundance of children, victory over all of our enemies & Redemption. All this in one of the shortest parshiyot in the Torah!
But I suggest that the key to all these momentous events comes in just a very few p'sukim where one basic word is repeated over and over again:
V'shavta ad Hashem Elokecha; "V'shav Hashem Elokecha et sh'vutcha; "V'shav v'kibetzcha mikal ha-amim; "V'ata tashuv v'shamata b'kol Hashem; "Ki tashuv b'chal l'vavcha u'v'chal nafshecha.
The word, of course, is "lashuv, to return," and it is the root & the very essence of Teshuva.
Our primary mission is to return. To return to a time when we were pure, innocent, without sin. When we were less cynical, less critical & more idealistic, more optimistic.
To return to Hashem, who loves us, who daily performs miracles on our on our behalf & passionately wants us to reach our potential, if only we choose to walk His path.
And to return, as a nation, to Israel - the only land created specifically for us, the land "upon which the eyes of G-d are focused," where our Divine destiny can be fulfilled.
"Teshuva," of course, has another meaning: The Answer. Ironically, even as we go forward to a New Year, we must at the same time also go back, we must work to return to the holy vessel, the person that we were created to be. That's the real answer to the challenge that lies before us.
May all of our tefilot be answered by Hashem for good – this year & all years.

All of You Before Hashem
Rabbi Yossef Carmel | 5774

Parshat Nitzavim - Teshuva and the Essence of the Day of Judgment Rosh Hashanah
Rabbi Moshe Eliya | Elul 5761

Heaven – or higher?!
Rabbi Stewart Weiss | Elul 24 5782

In My Life, I’ve Loved Them All
Rabbi Stewart Weiss | 20 Elul 5783

The Torah’s Instructions to Non-Jews—The Laws of Bnei Noach
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | Ceshvan 1 5780

The Significance of Tachanun
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | 5772

Halachot of Purim Meshulash
What Happens When Purim Coincides With Shabbos?
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | Adar 2 5768

Halachot of Purim Meshulash
What Happens When Purim Coincides With Shabbos?
Rabbi Yirmiyohu Kaganoff | Adar 2 5768

Daf Yomi Sanhedrin Daf 86
R' Eli Stefansky | 13 Adar 5785

Daf Yomi Sanhedrin Daf 85
R' Eli Stefansky | 12 Adar 5785

Gold, Silver, Precious Stones – Closeness to Hashem – part III
Rabbi Yossef Carmel | Adar 5785
