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Oneg and Shabbat Services Schedule

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ZOOM Live Schedule with Rabbi & Penny – We invite you to attend. All sessions use the same address: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8101551107

Friday 7:30 p.m. Friday Evening Service

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torah

This Weeks Torah Parasha

Torah Portion of the Week
Torah Portion: >> > -> --ניצבים-וילך

In Nitzavim, the first of this week’s double portions of Nitzavim-Vayeilech, we encounter the great Moses, on the last day of his life.

Moses has gathered all the Jewish people from the lowliest to the most exalted, old and young, men and women, to bring them into the final covenant with God. This covenant is intended to serve as a powerful affirmation of עַרֵבוּת–a’ray’vut, reflecting the profound concept of every Jew assuming responsibility for their fellow Jews.

In Deuteronomy 29:9-14, Moses says to the Jewish people, אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי השׁם אֱ־לֹקֵיכֶם, רָאשֵׁיכֶם שִׁבְטֵיכֶם, זִקְנֵיכֶם וְשֹׁטְרֵיכֶם, כֹּל אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל. “You are standing today before the Lord your God, the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers–all the men of Israel. Your small children, and your wives, and the proselytes who are within your camp, from your woodchoppers to your water-drawers…”

These bold verses continue to dramatically reverberate with us, even to this day, as if they were being pronounced to the People of Israel at this very moment.

In the name of God, Moses declares: אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי השׁם אֱ־לֹקֵיכֶם, “You are standing here today, all of you, before the Lord your God!” The commentators see in the nuance of the language, in the use of the word, אַתֶּם–“Ah’tem,” that this covenant is being exacted with a broad constituency. It is not a contract with the nobility of Israel. Israel has no nobility who are granted special advantages nor, can there be special representatives or privileged proxies before God.

This gathering is not intended to be a gathering of Priests, Prophets or Holy People. This covenant is not to be concluded only with those of esteemed pedigree or of exalted birth. Judaism, after all, is not a sect or a cult. This covenant is meant for the entire people of Israel. In an unprecedented act in human history and in the history of religions, Moses declares in the name of God, that all the people of Israel, without regard to gender, age or status, from the leaders, to the water-drawers, are welcomed into this covenant.

At this critical juncture in Jewish history, and from this crucial vantage point of Jewish destiny, not only are all the tribes of Israel joined together, but all Jewish generations are seen as if they are standing before the Lord our God. At this singular moment, we all stand together as one Jewish people–past, present and future.

From this covenant which Moses executed with the people of Israel in Arvot Moav, in the Wilderness of Moab, with the God of Israel, with the God of reality, with the God of existence–no one is excluded. Everyone is here. Everyone is included!

Shabbat Shalom & Happy New Year

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