Articles with the tag: netzavim
The Two Teshuvahs (30:1)
On the Shabbat before Rosh Hashana, ‘repentance’ is clearly on our mind. Indeed, the Ramban (Nachmanides) points to today’s portion as the Biblical source for this mitzvah. “When all these blessings and curses…come upon you and you take them to heart…and your children return to the Lord…and obey him with all your heart…then…G-d will restore your fortunes and…gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you…He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers ... if you obey…for this command ..is not too difficult.” Which command? According to the Ramban: Teshuvah/Repentance.
In this context, sin is something more than a wrong act. It is an act that takes you to the wrong place. In Biblical Hebrew,...
Continue reading The Two Teshuvahs (30:1)
Not in Heaven (30:12)
Even before the Israelites enter the Promised Land, Moses already foresees the day when once again they will suffer exile. There they will reflect on the strange vicissitudes of history and will realize that their national purpose is not independence, but faithfulness. In regards to the question, will they be able to find their way back to the covenant, Moses responds: What I am commanding you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross…
Continue reading Not in Heaven (30:12)
The Whole World Celebrates Your Birthday
“הַיוֹם הֲרַת עוֹלָם - Today is the birthday of the world, today all creatures stand in judgment…” (Rosh Hashana liturgy; recited after Shofar blowing.)
Rosh Hashanah is a mystery gift-wrapped with apples and honey, filled with plenty of stirring prayers, and accompanied by a sobbing shofar. Explain one puzzle, and new enigmas take its place.
First: Why blow a horn? Why is prayer not enough?
Second: Why does the Torah speak so cryptically, as though we are expected to decipher its meaning on our own? “It will be a day of sounding,” we are told. Sounding what? The singular Biblical reference we have regarding sound is a Psalm written by King David, “Sound the shofar at the new moon.”
But…
Continue reading The Whole World Celebrates Your Birthday
What the Heaven & Sea Teach (30:14)
All of Chabad philosophy, we are told, is built upon the seminal work, the Tanya. All of Tanya, the author himself relates, is built upon this week’s Biblical verse, “The matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to perform it.”
The founding teacher of Chabad argues that there are two spiritual paths, one “short but long,” the other “long but short.” The Tanya’s stated goal is to illuminate the latter which inevitably so reorients man’s mind and transforms his heart, that his observance of the Torah’s precepts becomes not only possible, but a compelling need. Man will then desire mitzvot with every fiber of his being since they are the only means by which…
Continue reading What the Heaven & Sea Teach (30:14)