Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: "May it be Your will, LORD my G-d, and the G-d of my forefathers, that You quickly send refuah sh'lemah (complete healing) from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to Ben Waistein (Benyiamin ben Elisheva) from Israel.

Continue praying for : Stuart Holtzclaw and Randy Shute from Syracuse, NY, Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Nitzavim

Deuteronomy 29:9 - 30:20

"Nitzavim" (נִצָּבִים) is a Hebrew word meaning "standing". It refers to a weekly Torah portion in the Book of Deuteronomy that begins with Moses addressing the entire Israelite nation. In this portion, the people are described as "standing" together before God to reaffirm their covenant, emphasizing themes of personal responsibility, the freedom to choose between good and evil, and the ultimate promise of gathering the exiles. 

On the day of Moshe's death he assembles the whole Jewish people and creates a Covenant confirming the Jewish people as the Almighty's Chosen People for all future generations. Moshe makes clear the consequences of rejecting God and His Torah as well as the possibility of repentance. He reiterates that Torah is readily available to everyone. He warns us against idolatry (thinking anything other than God has power) and assures us that eventually the Jewish people will do teshuva (repent) and will be redeemed and brought back to the land of Israel -- and those who hate the Jewish people and pursue us will get their just recompense.

Nitzavim concludes with perhaps the clearest and most powerful statement in the Torah about the purpose of life and the existence of freewill: "I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil ... the blessing and the curse. Therefore, choose life that you may live, you and your descendants." 

In this week's Torah portion we learn that the goal of learning and fulfilling the Torah is neither hidden nor distant from us:

"Rather, the matter is very close to you in your mouth and heart to do it" (Deut. 30:14).

Why does the Torah use the phrase "mouth and heart" to tell us that we can learn the whole Torah and fulfill it?

Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz, the Rosh Hayeshiva of the Mir Yeshiva, commented that regardless of how far away one is, if he is sincerely resolved to become a better person, he will be able make an immediate transformation of himself.  How?  When you make a sincere verbal commitment to the Almighty and to yourself to become a changed person, your very words have impact.  If you keep up your resolve, you can change your behavior.

If the words of your mouth are one with what is in your heart, then you can change immediately.  However, sometimes we need to repeat over and over the words of what we know is correct -- and what we should do -- so that they will enter our hearts.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

Shabat Shalom,

R. Ovadiah Tank

Online Learning

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation headquarters in New York and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.