Choosing a Path for the New Year

Nitzavim - Va Yelech

Deuteronomy 29:9 -31:30

Précis: This week we read two parshiot together. In Nitzavim, Moses continues to address the People: You stand (nitzavim) this day before God. In his final words to the People, Moses recounts the wonders God has done for the people, and calls upon them to remain loyal to God through the covenant. The extent of the covenant relationship is explained: it will survive exile and captivity with a return to the Land. The Torah is an “open book” that is accessible to all the People. A blessing and a curse have been set before the People, and they are to choose their path. Moses urges them to choose the blessing, to choose life, so that they may inherit the Land which God has sworn to their forefathers.

In Va Yelech, the death of Moses approaches, and he transfers his mantle of leadership to Joshua as his successor. Moses orders regular reading of the Law, and then transfers the written Torah into the hands of the Levites for safekeeping in the Ark of the Covenant.

Deuteronomy 30:11-14: “Surely, this instruction which I urge upon you today is not too baffling for you, or beyond reach….No, it is a thing that is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.”

This week, we approach the end of one year and the beginning of the next with Rosh Hashanah. Every year, we ask ourselves, essentially, “where do we go from here?” The answer suggested in this verse is that the Torah (and our tradition) can offer us a road map.

Amy Perlin (Ten Minutes of Torah, 8/30/10) points to a Talmudic story about Rabbi Joshua ben Chananiah (Eiruvin 53b). Rabbi Joshua was walking on an unfamiliar road and came to a crossroads, finding a young boy. He asked for directions to the town. The boy, pointing to the left and said, “This road is near but far” and then gestured to the right, saying “That road is far but near.” The Rabbi chose the route that was “near but far” but soon found an impenetrable barrier of thorny bushes and fences blocking his way to the town. When he retraced his steps and upbraided the boy, the youngster responded that he had acted innocently: “Didn’t I say that this road is near but far? It is the nearer road if you ask about distance on a map, but because of the barriers, it is the farther in time. I said that the other way was far but near. It is further on the map, but nearer because the path there is clear.”

This verse I chose to focus on this week reminds us that the Torah is “close to you.” Too often, we are like Rabbi Joshua. We ask for directions but we don’t listen closely to the response. Even more, we may not ask the key follow-up question. We don’t think things through, we jump to conclusions. This is true in our workday lives and in our interactions with family and friends.

This Rosh Hashanah, we have a choice we are faced with every year: do we take the easy route or do we take the path that will actually help us reach the desired goal? Indeed, we ask ourselves, “What is that goal?”

One answer is, “To live a life worth living.” To reach that goal, we need to take the path which is far but near. It may take a long time to follow such a path, and it may take prayer, contemplation, observance of mitzvot, care for others, and study. This path may be far, but it is near. Shabbat Shalom and Shanah Tovah.