Episode 13 – Nitzavim: Nearness, Return, and Choosing Life
We’re all standing—leaders and laborers, woodchoppers and water-drawers—bound into one covenant. Nitzavim pivots from history to decision: the mitzvah is not distant, “not in the heavens,” but on our lips and in our hearts. Out of exile comes return (teshuva not just as repentance, but as a homecoming and an answer), and with it a promise of heart-circumcision, restoration, and a clear charge: “I have set before you life and death… choose life.” As Elul peaks, we explore agency, accountability, and why the Torah insists that transformation is always within reach.
We unpack:
• “Atem Nitzavim kulchem”: Covenant as radical inclusion—every stratum stands responsible, together
• Lo bashamayim hi: Not in heaven, not across the sea—Torah’s nearness and the authority to act now
• Teshuva as return: From dispersion to renewal; the soul’s way back to its source and to each other
• Heart-work and wholeness: “God will circumcise your heart”—beyond behavior to inner alignment
• Choose life: Turning awe into action as we step toward the Days of Awe
| Parshat Nitzavim 5785
Torah: Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20 | Haftarah: Isaiah 61:10–63:9 |
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