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Bat Kol International, Weekly Torah Nuggets

Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech | Deuteronomy 29:9-31:30

“For this commandment which I command you today is not hidden from you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven… Nor is it beyond the sea. But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it” (Deut. 30:11-14).

In Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech, we find one of the most empowering, encouraging, and inspiring messages in the Torah.

Often, we think of spirituality, virtues, holiness, repentance (Teshuvá), forgiveness, or simply doing good as something unattainable, as if it demands a high level of purity reserved only for special beings, heavenly figures, or great sages. However, in his final days, knowing his death was near and that he would not cross the Jordan, Moses makes a point of demystifying this idea. He reminds us that the ability to get back on the right path and reconnect with the Divine does not require impossible feats.

Wisdom and transformation are literally within our reach: in our “mouth” (through our words, prayers, and the way we speak to others) and in our “heart” (in our intentions and emotions). This portion invites us to take responsibility for our spiritual journey, reminding us that the key to change already dwells within us.

Reflection:

If the capacity for transformation and doing good does not require impossible feats and is already so close to us — in our words (mouth) and in our intentions (heart) — what small behavioral change have we been postponing because we consider it difficult or even impossible? Can we use this final week of Elul to start putting that change into practice today?

            Maria Cecilia Piccoli, Brazil

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“Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies.”

Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions: Nostra Aetate, No. 4

“Jesus is fully a man of his time,
and of his environment—the Jewish Palestinian one of the first century, the anxieties and hopes of which he shared.”

Notes on the Correct Way to Present the Jews and Judaism in Preaching and Catechesis of the Roman Catholic Church, Commission for Religious relations with the Jews, 1985, III.20