Nitzavim, Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20, Parshat Hashavua for Shabbat, September 24, 2022

The High Holy Days begin this Sunday evening, with Rosh Hashanah evening services. Whatever our reasons may be, this is always a special time for us to come together in community, to worship and just to be together. 

This week’s Torah portion begins with these words, “You stand this day, all of you, before your God—your tribal heads, your elders, and your officials, every householder in Israel, your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to waterdrawer—to enter into the covenant of your God, which your God is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions; in order to establish you this day as God’s people and in order to be your God, as promised you and as sworn to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before our God יהוה and with those who are not with us here this day. (Deuteronomy 29:9-15) 

These words are a reminder by Moses to the Israelites of the experience of the Covenant at Sinai. Although it happened to their parents and grandparents, Moses makes clear that Sinai was an experience for all Jews across all time. All of us stood at Sinai and experienced that moment of unmediated contact with God. 

The High Holy Days are our opportunity each year to stand together in community and reaffirm our commitment to the Jewish people, to Jewish values and to Jewish religious practice. Not all of us believe in all three, but all of us believe in at least one of them. I hope you will join with us this Sunday to stand together and make your commitment.