Rabbi's Sermons

Shabbat shalom!

“¹⁰ ‘Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God— your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel”, thus begins the portion of this week, Parshat Nitzavim at Deuteronomy Ch. 29. Forty verses only, cover the reading of one of the smallest portions in the Torah. Forty verses that remind us of the forty days of “Slichot”, between Rosh Hodesh Elul and Yom Kippur, which will take place in fourteen days! It is forty days and forty nights that Moses was on the heights of Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, it is forty days of physical and spiritual preparation. And interestingly, in those moments of the covenant, this portion makes us vibrate in a single verse, which mystically indicates: "¹⁴ Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, ¹⁵ but with whom standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with whom is not here with us this day". A very interesting way, for Moses to approach us, each one of us, right now! To us who were not there, on that occasion, with them. Can you imagine it? Moses manages to create a pact with each generation of our people through these unique and special words!

And if that wasn't enough, from that moment in the past, Moses encourages us to remain faithful to the Torah, in the following verses on Ch. 30: “¹¹ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. ¹² It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, ‘Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹³ Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, ‘Who shall go over the sea for us and bring it unto us, that we may hear it and do it?’ ¹⁴ But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it”. In Hebrew it reads: "בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃ - Beficha Ubilbabechá Laasotó - in thy mouth and in thy heart, to do it”.

Beficha "In thy mouth”, how would it be? Being very careful with its use. In our sincere prayer and praise, in our care to avoid “Lashon Hara” gossiping or telling stories about others, in our mood to please and smile. In understanding that there are times of knowing how to say "no", and times of knowing how to remain silent.

Ubilbavechá "and in your heart"? How would that be? Using our feelings as a compass telling us joys and sorrows, optimisms and pessimism, feel our faith and gratitude to the Eternal.

Laasotó "to do it", how would it be? Putting into practice all that we say and feel. It is very valuable to say that we are members of this beautiful community and feel happy to belong to it, but how do we put it into practice "in your mouth and in your heart"? With prayer and feelings. Agudath Achim is not only a synagogue, it is a KEHILA, a congregation (it is written outside), to which its members, among other things, come to address their prayers to the Eternal together, to enjoy a meaningful religious experience than to do it alone at home. It is a Kehila to which we can come to study, talk, share an Oneg, watch a good movie together and discuss it, to have work meetings, to have our children strengthen their knowledge and their Jewish identity, to be active volunteers in activities, to study new songs and sing them together and more. All this under an egalitarian, pluralistic environment, a place that receives and embraces, that unites the Jewish traditions of more than three thousand years with the modern world, as we live today. A Judaism that we live based, above all, on high ethical values, mentioned several times by the prophets of Israel.

This call from Moses traveled from the past to THIS DAY, to you, to each one of you, and to this precise moment! And it is not in the sky or on the other side of the sea, "Because the word is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may keep it - Beficha Ubilbabechá Laasoto”. Verse 19 continues: “¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose in life, that both thou and thy seed may live”.

That way Parshat Nitzavim ends, with the greatest gift God could have offered us: "וּבָֽחַרְתָּ֙ בַּֽחַיִּ֔ים Ubacharta Bachaim – And you shall choose in life”, the gift of choosing and deciding for our own lives. To choose between life or death, between good and evil, between a smile or a frown face. Choosing is not optional, it is a MITZVA! In a couple of months in November 5^th elections will take place in this country, a new government to decide the fate of the entire country.

By the power of our decisions, we can be able to make this congregation alive, important, and significant in our lives. I do believe so! But the responsibility is ours! Ubacharta bachaim is our Mitzva, let us fulfill it!

There is a lot to grieve this coming year. But there's also a lot to celebrate. How do we sit with both? How do we embrace Jewish joy when there's so much pain from this war in Israel? Is it wrong to let ourselves feel happy when we're surrounded by so much loss? Embracing our full spectrum of emotions is built into the very core of our High Holiday traditions – we grieve for the people and things we’ve lost, and we will celebrate the blessing of welcoming another year, and we hope and pray for a better future. I would like congratulate the entire congregation for the coming year 5785 that will begin in five days. It will be a challenging year, let it be a year filled with personally success, for our families and for this congregation. Let it be a year of reconstruction, development, learning, of choosing wisely, a year where joy should be the most important ingredient in our lives, a sweet year like apple in honey, a year in which your wishes may be fulfilled for good and health! Blessings and good life, and most of all, a year of PEACE! Amen!

Shabat Shalom!

Rabbi David Laor

September 27^th 2024