Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 25 Elul, 5784
Parsha Nitzavim/Va-Yelekh– “Standing Firmly/He Went”: (Deuteronomy 29:9 – 30:20/ Deuteronomy 31:1 – 31:30)
Seventh Portion: Deuteronomy 31:20 – 31:30

Good morning! It is a gorgeous morning where I am, as we soak in this final sabbath rest of 5784. At this point next week, we will be a few days into 5785!

I hope you are able to find your rest today as we dig into the sweet new year starting on Wednesday night!

Let’s dig in!

We ended yesterday with Hashem telling Moses and Joshua:

19And now, write for yourselves this song, and teach it to the Children of Israel. Place it into their mouths, in order that this song will be for Me as a witness for the children of Israel.

A song.  Today? We get more information:

20When I bring them to the land which I have sworn to their forefathers [to give them], a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat and be satisfied, and live on the fat [of the land]. Then, they will turn to other deities and serve them, provoking Me and violating My covenant.

21And it will be, when they will encounter many evils and troubles, this song will bear witness against them, for it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their offspring. For I know their inclination what they [are planning] to do today, [even] before I bring them in to the land which I have sworn [to give them].”

Yesterday Hashem told Moses – “Hey bud. You and Joshua? Come to the tent so I can inspire you!”  And that message? “sorry – your legacy is going to fail:” (We are going back to yesterday’s portion)

16And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, you are [about to] lie with your forefathers, and this nation will rise up and stray after the deities of the nations of the land, into which they are coming. And they will forsake Me and violate My covenant which I made with them.

17And My fury will rage against them on that day, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will befall them, and they will say on that day, ‘Is it not because our God is no longer in my midst, that these evils have befallen me?’

18And I will hide My face on that day, because of all the evil they have committed, when they turned to other deities.

SO HERE is the inspiration, right?

21And it will be, when they will encounter many evils and troubles, this song will bear witness against them, for it will not be forgotten from the mouth of their offspring. For I know their inclination what they [are planning] to do today, [even] before I bring them in to the land which I have sworn [to give them].”

Hashem saying – “look bud, your legacy is going to fail. But I got you. I’ve got your back. Teach them this song – so their children will sing it and they will be reminded.”

22And Moses wrote this song on that day, and taught it to the children of Israel.

23And He commanded Joshua the son of Nun, and said: “Be strong and courageous! For you shall bring the children of Israel to the land that I have sworn to them, and I will be with you.”

24And it was, when Moses finished writing the words of this Torah in a scroll, until their very completion,

25that Moses commanded the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying:

So Moses wrote the song. He wrote the Torah. And then went to the priests to guide them:

26″Take this Torah scroll and place it along side the ark of covenant of the Lord, your God, and it will be there as a witness.

27For I know your rebellious spirit and your stubbornness. Even while I am alive with you today you are rebelling against the Lord, and surely after my death!

28Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, and I will speak these words into their ears, and I will call upon the heaven and the earth as witnesses against them.

29For I know that after my death, you will surely become corrupted, and deviate from the way which I had commanded you. Consequently, the evil will befall you at the end of days, because you did evil in the eyes of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands.

There is a really important leadership component to this interaction. Moses knew he priests were critical. He spoke to them BEFORE everyone else – he wanted them to be prepped for what was to come. He did not want them to be surprised.

30Then, Moses spoke into the ears of the entire assembly of Israel the words of the following song, until their completion.

So this is the context for the song. And isn’t it beautiful that tomorrow – the week of Rosh Hashanah, we get to hear the song? We will pause for a few days and then go back to it.

The purpose of this song is to REMEMBER. Hashem knows we are going to go astray. And like meditation, we can always “begin again.”

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 23 Elul, 5783

Shabbat Shalom!!! This is our final Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah! Our last opportunity of rest in the year 5783.  How will you make the most of these moments?

Let’s dig into the final double portion of the week:

Really, Moses is cleaning up and getting us ready to go.

First – he transfers power to Joshua

Second – he tells Joshua it’s not going to go well for us with our freedom.  Fatness and laziness will come.  It’s a good lesson that liberation and freedom can bring laziness and fatness.  Unless we remain vigilant.

Third – he is going to give us all a gift. A song. And it will remind us.

Fourth – he encourages Joshua – you’ve got this

Fifth – Moses writes an entire Torah scroll

Sixth – Moses places the Torah scroll in the Ark. And comments on our rebellious spirit.

Seventh – Moses gathers the leaders

Eighth – Moses sings the song he wrote for them

So as we close the year out. And we listen to the song in next week’s Parsha, leading us to the Spiritual New Year of 5784.  Where are we? What are we? Who are we? How are we?

Just be. Relax. Enjoy.  The work is done.  It’s time to rest and be ready for the NEW adventure ahead!

Here is my commentary from a year ago:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Tishri 5, 5783

Good morning! as we continue our journey to freedom and liberation, let’s see what todays portion has for us;

Yesterday God gave Moses and Joshua some bad news. Things weren’t going to go well for the Israelites in the promised land. They’d eventually turn away from God. But. Hashem encouraged Moses to teach the Israelites a song that would help them focus on Him and not turn away.

Hashem continues to tell Moses and Joshua of things to come:

Deuteronomy 31:20-22

“When I bring them to the land which I have sworn to their forefathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat, be satisfied, and become fat. Then they will turn to other gods and serve them, angering Me and violating My covenant.

“What will happen is, when numerous misfortunes and traumas will happen to them, this song (which warns them of the consequences of their actions) will speak out to them as a witness, for it will not be forgotten from the mouths of their children; for I know their inclination that they (are planning) to do today, (even) before I bring them into the land which I swore (to give them).”

“On that day, Moses wrote down this song, and taught it to the children of Israel.”

So. God tells us the importance of this song. Next week, we should REALLY pay attention. I find it interesting. It’s been a long and difficult journey. But at this point of the journey, Hashem wants focus. To focus on this song. Finishing strong is crucial. Anyone can start the journey of freedom and liberation. But finishing strong is unique. That’s critical.

Liberation and Freedom can bring laziness and fatness. But we should remain vigilant.

At this point, Hashem turns to Joshua and speaks directly to him:

“Be strong and courageous! For you will bring the children of Israel to The land that I have sworn to them, and I will be with you.”

Hashem is reminding Joshua to be in the moment. To not get too caught up in the future. To live for now. Joshua has two jobs. Leading the children of to the land, and teaching them the song. The rest is out of his hands. That should bring some comfort.

How often do we get overwhelmed and exhausted by the bigness of our lives? Sometimes we need to focus on now.

Todays portion ends with a cliffhanger:

“Then, when Moses finished writing the words of this Torah, until its very end, in a scroll……”

So. We end with Moses writing the Torah. He has his job, and Joshua had his.

What tasks has Hashem given us for today that we can focus on and not get sidetracked by? Think about and meditate on this!

What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Tishri 6, 5783

Shabbat Shalom!!!! Today is a most special Shabbat! It is “Shabbat Shuva” the full Shabbat between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is the Shabbat of return(Shuva means return). It is also known as the Shabbat of Teshuva (repentance). This is the focal point as we move from the Head of the Year, where we decided who was King over our lives and move to a place of repentance.

Today is a good day to focus on internals. Here is an article on Shabbat Shuva:

https://www.chabad.org/…/4828/jewish/Shabbat-Shuvah.htm

Ok. Let’s dig into the final portion of this week’s Parsha;

Yesterday we saw Moses finishing up writing his Torah scroll. Today we begin with Moses commanding the Levites (who Carried the ark);

“Take this Torah scroll and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of God , your God, and it will be there as a witness. For I know your rebellious spirit and your stubbornness.”

Kind of harsh words from Moses. But he is cutting to the heart of the matter. We are rebels. We’ve been rebels against God. We can’t escape this part of who we are. We have a rebellious spirit within us. And I don’t know about you, but this is a tremendous source of shame and guilt for me.

But Moses does something interesting here in this context. Instead of judging, he tells the Levites; “gather all the elders of your tribes and your police officers, and I will speak these words of the song (Ha’azinu) into their ears.”

Moses knew where the people’s rebellion would take them. He wanted them to learn this song (which we will read starting tomorrow) to remind them of the source of their freedom and liberation. Next weeks’ Parsha is going to be a crucial one for us to pay attention to as we finish our journey these next weeks (spoiler – we only have two more Parshas left to cover!). Moses has done all he can to lead us to the promised land of liberation and freedom.

The rest will be up to us – in 5783, are we going to enter freedom and liberation, but being grounded in Torah? Or will we embrace the rebelliousness of our hearts and end up back as slaves in Egypt? That is our choice!

Shabbat Shalom!

What are your thoughts?

As always on Shabbat, Haftorah thoughts will be in the comments below!

Haftorah Shabbat Shuvah (Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur)

Todays Haftorah is from three different books:

Hosea 14:2-10, Joel 2:11-27, and Micah 7:18-20

The Haftorah begins with “Israel, return to God, your God, for you have stumbled on account of your sins.”

I don’t want to move past this just yet.

Just stay with me for a moment. We are being called to return.

The Promised land isn’t a place where we go once and then we are done. Freedom and liberation isn’t something we get to and then we are done.

This passage indicates – it’s a place we come to, end up leaving and then are called to return to. Like the moon and it’s cycles – we are called to return. To come BACK to freedom and liberation.

Just stay in this for a second.

Pause.

Are you here? Present? Or are you jumping to what’s next?

Are we ready to see how we return?

Here’s how;

Hosea tells us: “you don’t need to take sacrifices.”

Stop. Hold up. No sacrifices? That seems counter intuitive given what we’ve read In the Torah. Freedom and liberation would seem to require sacrifice.

Not according to Hosea. Here’s what we are called to do;

“Just take words of confession with you and return to God. Say to Him: ‘Lift away all sin and accept our promises for good behavior in the future. Let the confession of our lips be in place of the sacrificing of bullocks.

We will no longer ask to be saved by Assyria. and we will not put our trust in riding powerful horses into battle. We will never again call the idol made by our hands, our god; because we know that the orphan finds compassion through You alone.’”

Think about this. Hosea is telling us. Salvation isn’t external. It’s not in our sacrifice – it’s not in victory from others. It’s not from an army. It’s completely within. It’s internal. The promised land. Freedom. Liberation. It’s within. The return is to our hearts. Confession. That’s the way to freedom and liberation.

And here is how Hashem will respond:

“Then after they confess, I will forgive them for their rebelliousness. I will love them deeply, because My anger will have turned away from them. My love for Israel will be perpetual like dew. He will blossom like a rose, and his roots will spread like the roots of a cedar from Lebanon. His young leaves will spread out. He will be beautiful like an olive tree, and he will have the aroma of Lebanon. Those who sat in His shade will be peaceful. They will be peacefully self-sufficient like grain which sustains life, and they will blossom like the vine.”

Wow. That’s powerful.

God forgives. We just need to confess.

What is it we need to confess? That’s the question for Shabbat Shuva. It’s a great journal prompt. Confess. Let go of the guilt and shame we are holding onto.

That’s the message of Shabbat shuva.

What are your thoughts?