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Parshiyot Nitzavim-Vayeilekh 5786

September 2, 2026

Cantor Sandy Horowitz

Caring and Compassion A D’var Torah for Parshiyot Nitzavim-Vayeilekh By Cantor Sandy Horowitz For verse after verse Moses has been speaking to the Israelites in the form of commandments and exhortations, the threat of curse and the promise of blessing. Parashat Vayeilekh brings a different tone, somewhat softer, as we near the end of our annual Torah reading cycle.  (Spoiler alert – there will be more exhortations after this! But for now, let’s take a pause.) For forty years Moses has led the Israelites on their journey towards the promised land. He has reached the age of 120, and his life, like our Torah cycle, is coming to an end.  As the people prepare to cross the river Jordan, Moses has been told by God that he cannot go with them.  Surely, he is feeling deep disappointment about being kept from the promised land and about having to give up...

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Parashat Nitzavim – Vayeilekh 5780

September 11, 2020

Tomorrow’s Giants On Our Shoulders A D’var Torah for Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilekh By Rabbi David Markus We stand on the shoulders of giants. Much that we have, much that we are becoming, are harvests of trees our ancestors planted. We inherit their shalshelet – their spiritual and practical causation both wise and unwise, healthy and not – along with what they received from their ancestry. Legacy courses through us as history’s heartbeat. We and how we live our lives are the next beat, the eternal river’s next bend on its endless flow. So of course, we stand on yesterday’s shoulders. But how about tomorrow’s giants on our shoulders? If we really felt the future on our shoulders, would we live differently? Torah’s Nitzavim-Vayeilekh asks that question directly. The Covenant is made with “everyone standing here today,” and also “everyone not standing here today” (Deut. 29:13-14). “Everyone not standing here today” are...

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