Shabbat Greetings
Our portion this Shabbat, Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20) always arrives at the threshold of Rosh Hashanah. The portion opens with the words: “Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem lifnei Adonai Eloheichem” — “You are standing today, all of you, before Adonai your God” (29:9). The Midrash connects “hayom” (today) with Yom HaDin, the Day of Judgment — Rosh Hashanah itself. This moment of standing together is about collective responsibility, a reminder that we enter the new year not as isolated individuals but as a covenantal community.
Nitzavim also emphasizes choice: “See, I set before you today life and good, death and evil… choose life” (30:15–19). Teshuvah, renewal, and agency are at the center. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur give us the chance to reset our direction and reclaim our freedom to choose well. But how do we choose, and how do we grow, in an age of conflict and censorship?
On one hand, Torah teaches that words are powerful. “Life and death are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs18:21). Words can heal, inspire, or destroy. Censorship often arises from a desire to protect — to guard against words that can harm. Yet Torah also insists that truth must be spoken, that concealment can itself become dangerous. The verse in Nitzavim reminds us: “The hidden things belong to God, but the revealed are for us and our children forever” (29:28). Not everything can or should remain hidden. A society that silences too much risks losing its path to teshuvah.
As we approach the new year, this tension is real in our own lives: Do we silence ourselves to avoid conflict, or do we risk speaking truth with compassion? Do we censor others out of fear, or do we trust in dialogue, even when difficult?
Nitzavim offers a model: the people stood together — leaders, children, strangers, even water-carriers — in covenant. It was not uniformity that gave them strength, but their willingness to stand as a whole, with differences intact. The Torah does not erase voices but gathers them.
So as we prepare for Rosh Hashanah, the call is twofold: To choose life means to be honest — with ourselves, with God, and, when necessary, with others — even when truth is uncomfortable. To choose life also means to listen and to create space for voices that might otherwise be silenced. In a world wrestling with conflict, censorship, and division, Nitzavim invites us to stand together, to remember that covenant is not about silencing but about elevating — helping each other return to our best selves. May we enter the new year with courage to speak, humility to listen, and the wisdom to “choose life” for ourselves, our communities, and the generations that follow.
SHABBAT SHALOM