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Parsha
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Nitzavim-Vayelech
Nitzavim
Moses continues his final address to the Jewish People:
All of you are gathered today – men, women and children, great and small, leaders and commoners – to establish a Divine covenant: “To establish you today as His people, and He shall be for you as a G-d.”
You have dwelled in Egypt and traveled among pagan peoples; perhaps you will be tempted to follow their idolatrous ways. “Perhaps there is among you a man or a woman or a family or a tribe, whose heart turns today away from G-d….” A rebellious seed will ultimately bear poisonous fruit; the sinner will not escape the consequences of his evil. In the end, though, the Jewish People will repent and return to G-d, Who will in turn show them His compassion, gathering them from their dispersion and returning them from the farthest exile to their homeland.
“This Mitzvah that I command you today is not removed or distant,” Moses declares; it is neither in Heaven nor across the sea. “It is very near to you –in your mouth and in your heart, to fulfill.”
As the Parsha concludes, Moses articulates the choice the people will face every day of their lives: see, I have laid before you today good and evil, life and death. Choose life!
Vayelech
I am one hundred and twenty years old today, declares Moses, and am no longer to be your leader. Joshua has been chosen as my successor; under his leadership you will enter the Holy Land. Be strong, and do not fear the hostile peoples you encounter; G-d will grant you victory.
Moses finishes writing the Torah – the Five Books of Moses – and gives the scroll to the Kohanim and the elders of the Jews.
Moses instructs the Jews in the Mitzvah of Hakhel, the Gathering, which occurs following every seventh year of the Sabbatical cycle. On the holiday of Sukkos , every man, woman and child must assemble in the courtyard of the Temple, where the king reads publicly from Devarim, fifth book of the Torah.
G-d now informs Moses that the time has come for him to pass away. G-d warns Moses that after his passing, the people will not remain faithful forever; they will eventually violate the covenant and turn to idolatry – and bear the consequences. G-d communicates to Moses a prophetic song depicting these far-off events, which comprises the bulk of the next Parsha, Ha’azinu.
Moses continues his final address to the Jewish People:
All of you are gathered today – men, women and children, great and small, leaders and commoners – to establish a Divine covenant: “To establish you today as His people, and He shall be for you as a G-d.”
You have dwelled in Egypt and traveled among pagan peoples; perhaps you will be tempted to follow their idolatrous ways. “Perhaps there is among you a man or a woman or a family or a tribe, whose heart turns today away from G-d….” A rebellious seed will ultimately bear poisonous fruit; the sinner will not escape the consequences of his evil. In the end, though, the Jewish People will repent and return to G-d, Who will in turn show them His compassion, gathering them from their dispersion and returning them from the farthest exile to their homeland.
“This Mitzvah that I command you today is not removed or distant,” Moses declares; it is neither in Heaven nor across the sea. “It is very near to you –in your mouth and in your heart, to fulfill.”
As the Parsha concludes, Moses articulates the choice the people will face every day of their lives: see, I have laid before you today good and evil, life and death. Choose life!
Vayelech
I am one hundred and twenty years old today, declares Moses, and am no longer to be your leader. Joshua has been chosen as my successor; under his leadership you will enter the Holy Land. Be strong, and do not fear the hostile peoples you encounter; G-d will grant you victory.
Moses finishes writing the Torah – the Five Books of Moses – and gives the scroll to the Kohanim and the elders of the Jews.
Moses instructs the Jews in the Mitzvah of Hakhel, the Gathering, which occurs following every seventh year of the Sabbatical cycle. On the holiday of Sukkos , every man, woman and child must assemble in the courtyard of the Temple, where the king reads publicly from Devarim, fifth book of the Torah.
G-d now informs Moses that the time has come for him to pass away. G-d warns Moses that after his passing, the people will not remain faithful forever; they will eventually violate the covenant and turn to idolatry – and bear the consequences. G-d communicates to Moses a prophetic song depicting these far-off events, which comprises the bulk of the next Parsha, Ha’azinu.