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PARSHA POSTS: VAYELECH

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Sep 5, 2026, 9:49 AM

We Are Closer Than You Think

Upper School student in Maimonides School, Brookline, MA

Ever since I watched Rabbi Dov Huff teach a new song to our eighth graders at our weekly kumsitz several years ago, there is a phrase in Parshat Netzavim, and on our lips this time of year, that I have...

Sep 4, 2026, 3:47 PM

It is a chilling prophecy. The brutality of its truth is written across the tear-stained pages of Jewish history. All nations will ask, “Why did God do this to this land? Why the (sheer) wrath of this great anger?” They...

Sep 4, 2026, 3:31 PM

Hishtavus or Hishtadlus: The Proper Attitude for the Year Ahead

As the High Holidays approach, it is easy to become confused between two seemingly conflicting ideas. On the one hand, there is the common conception of the Day of Judgment as a time of strict reckoning in which we...

Sep 4, 2026, 4:57 AM

To Renew Our Days (Nitzavim-Vayelech, Covenant & Conversation)

The moment had come. Moses was about to die. He had seen his sister Miriam and brother Aaron pre-decease him. He had prayed to God – not to live forever, not even to live longer, but simply, ‘Please let...

Ben-Tzion Spitz

Sep 3, 2026, 6:22 PM

‘That Could Never Happen to Me’ (Nitzavim-Vayelech)

"Accident" (AI image by author)

“A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true.” –Demosthenes There is a certain uneasy curiosity in the suffering of others. One of the most familiar examples is the...

Sep 3, 2026, 6:54 AM

Where Can We Make a Difference?

This reflection has been through many revisions. Perhaps that is appropriate for this time of year. I began with the familiar Rosh Hashanah idea of taking stock. As a CFO, that language comes naturally to me: look honestly at...

Sharona Margolin Halickman

Sep 2, 2026, 9:10 PM

Stomping on our enemies

The days between Tu B’Av and Sukkot have always been considered the wine pressing season in the Land of Israel. The farmers would be out in the vineyards harvesting the grapes which would then be brought to the winepress...

Kenneth Brander

Sep 2, 2026, 8:48 PM

Haftarat Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech: Immortality in Partnership

Parshat Nitzavim contains one of the most celebrated declarations in the Torah: "It is not in heaven…nor is it beyond the sea…. This word is very close to you" (Deuteronomy 30:12–14). For generations, commentators and halakhists have heard in...

Sep 2, 2026, 8:08 PM

‘Landing in the Wind’ Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech 5786

As Moshe prepares to take leave of the Jewish People, he paints a vivid picture of the future. The nation will be exiled from its land, suffer greatly, reflect upon its fate, and ultimately return to G-d. Then comes...

Sep 2, 2026, 5:10 AM

Who Should do Teshuva? Parshat Nitzavim Vayelech

FOREWORD This week I was fortunate to be with my immediate family to celebrate the bar mitzvah of my grandnephew. In addition to being honored with the third aliyah, I was invited to give a talk in the afternoon. As I...

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