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When Is Nitzavim - Vayeilech Read?
/ 23 Elul 5786
/ 23 Elul 5787
/ 25 Elul 5788
Summary
- Moses tells the assembled people that God's covenant speaks to them and to all of the generations who will follow. (29:9–14)
- God warns the Israelites that they will be punished if they act idolatrously, the way the inhabitants of the other nations do. (29:15–28)
- Moses reassures the people that God will not forsake them and that they can attain blessings by following God's commandments. (30:1–20)
- Moses prepares the people for his death and announces that Joshua will succeed him. (31:1–8)
- Moses instructs the priests and the elders regarding the importance of reading the Torah. (31:9–13)
- God informs Moses that upon his death, the people will commit idolatry and "many evils and troubles shall befall them." God tells Moses to teach the people a poem that will "be My witness." (31:14–30)
More Nitzavim - Vayeilech Commentaries
Learn More About Parashat Nitzavim with BimBam
Listen to Podcasts About Nitzavim/Vayeilech
Listen to Rabbi Rick Jacobs discuss Parashat Nitzavim/Vayeilech in these episodes of his podcast, On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah.
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Ten Minutes of Torah: Nitzavim - Vayeilech Commentary
How to Stand Proudly, Not Perfectly
Four times in this week's parashah, we read Moses' command to Joshua as he transfers power: "hazak v'amatz," be strong and courageous. Strength and courage are not arrogance or stubbornness - strength and courage are found in the stumbling and straying. Nitzavim/Vayeilech means we stand and go; the directive is not physical but metaphorical and internal.
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