Our Torah portion this Shabbat, Nitzavim always falls, without fail, just before Rosh Hashanah. The word Nitzavim means standing and it would have us stand on the bridge that connects the past and the future, the year that has not quite ended and the new year that has not yet begun.
The children of Israel have now concluded its forty year trek through the desert and they are about to begin a new stage of their journey but they have not yet crossed the Jordan River into the promised land. In our Parsha, we find those stirring words "Today I call heaven and earth as witnesses. I have placed life and death, blessing and curse before you: chose life that you and your children shall live." One word of this verse also appears in the opening verse of our Parsha. Nitzavim opens "You stand today, all of you before the Lord your G-d, the heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, all of Israel." (Before you read on you may just want to discover which word appears in both verses....or you may just want to read on) This one word may seem like the most insignificant word of the verse but in all it appears a Minyan of times throughout the Parsha. It is, in fact, the name of one of the concluding and so especially loved prayers of the Rosh Hashanah service. The word is Hayom which means this day or today.
The repetition of this word at this time comes to us with a message. Today is what we have. We have taken that journey through the desert. Yesterday is now history never to be forgotten but it is past. We see tomorrow as the future with hope and some anxiety but it hasn't happened yet. We're ending one year and we're about to begin another and what we have is hayom, we have this day, today.
Actually, each day we have today but it so often gets lost. We sometimes lose ourselves focusing on yesterday, what could have been and what should have been and what went wrong in the past. There is surely value in looking back but only if it helps us live better today. Some people are always focused on tomorrow or the tomorrows. "Tomorrow, I'll do that, tomorrow I'll think about becoming, tomorrow I'll get to that. Hillel asks that great question "If not now when?" For some people the answer is clear, tomorrow! And again, this day, today gets lost because we don't permit ourselves to live in the here and now. While the word hayom is repeated ten times in our Parsha, many people more often repeat "when I was younger..." or "one day" or "someday" or even "when I retire" or "when the children are out of the house" or "when I make enough money." Does that day ever truly come?
The psalmist would have us live better in the moment and appreciate at this time. Psalm 118 teaches us "This is the day G-d has made, let us rejoice and celebrate on it. This is the day. Focus on today. Don't lose it. Seize it!
The new year season would have us focus on issues of life and death. At the peak of the Rosh Hashanah service we ask "who shall live and who shall die?" We can't help but feel how fragile and precious life is. Moses, now at the age of 120 looks death in the face. Perhaps that's why he focuses so much on today. With limited tomorrows he values each today so much more. Hopefully, we have many tomorrows before us but we should appreciate the value of today no less. Our Senior Gabbai Max, a blessed memory, would say in his home spun wisdom "Today is a gift: that's why they call it (a) present."
Ultimately, it involves a matter of balance. We Jews especially value the memory of yesterday. For us it is a commandment to remember the past. The truth is a meaningful life also involves much preparation for tomorrow. If we ignore tomorrow, we would never become more than we are today. But in between these yesterdays and tomorrows is this gift of today, the present which we often just miss.
When we sound the Shofar on Rosh Hashanah we will say Hayom Harat Olam Today is the Birthday of the World...Today. And then after Musaf we sing Hayom, hayom, hayom.
Hayom - Today You strengthen us.
Today You bless us.
Today You exalt us.
Today You seek our happiness.
Today You inscribe us for a good life.
Today, You lovingly accept our prayer.
This Shabbat Nitzavim is the bridge which connects the past and the future. Let's not pass over it too quickly but pause, and stand on it and appreciate it as its own gift. "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and celebrate on it.
Hayom - Today!
Shabbat Shalom! Shanah Tovah Umetukah! A Happy and Sweet New Year!
