Weekly D'rash Nitzavim

Nitzavim Art by Karin Foreman

We are one week away from Rosh Hashanah. It is the season of repentance and restoration. It’s a time when we evaluate our lives and our relationship with God. In Hebrew, the term that we use to describe this evaluation is “Cheshbon Hanefesh.” In English this means an “account of the soul.” On Rosh Hashanah when we hear the shofar, we are hearing a call to return, a call to repent.

This week's Torah portion comes just before the beginning of Rosh Hashanah. In it, there is a challenge that has been given to every generation of the Jewish people and all who call upon the name of Yeshua: “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it” (Deut. 30:15–16). He has placed before us two paths. One path is the way of life in which we live according to the way that God desires. The other path is a way of life in which we do not live according to the way that God desires.

We could also say that there are two roads. In the Book of Proverbs, these two roads are called Wisdom and Folly. As Messiah followers, we have chosen to take the path that God desires. This road gets us through this life in the best way possible—even amid a very chaotic world. This road demonstrates faithfulness and devotion to God, no matter what may come our way. Yeshua said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the father but through Me” (Jn. 14:6). Yeshua is the way, the road, the path. Paul calls him the "wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:24). Embracing Yeshua is to choose the way of the Lord, to choose the wisdom of God.

We also read in Proverbs that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). The "fear of the Lord" is a phrase that means recognizing that God is the one and only creator and King who has designed us to live a certain kind of life in accountability to Him. On Rosh Hashanah, we check ourselves to see if we are completely on the path. I think that most of us who are reading this can say that we have chosen the path of life. However, the challenge for us is to make sure that all the parts of our life are on the road. Think of the road as a highway. When we are driving on the highway, there may be a moment or two when we drive a little over the white lines that serve as the boundaries of the road. If we are tired and fall asleep, we might go off the road. Hopefully, it is just for a moment. But, in the worst-case scenario we go into a ditch.

On Rosh Hashanah, we take account for our souls by looking at all the parts of our lives and asking ourselves if we are living within the boundaries of the path of life. Are there places in our life where we are going off the road? In some ways, we may be heading in a direction that is leading to trouble or hindering our progress on the road. Perhaps we have gotten away from a life of faithfulness and are constantly weaving all over the road in danger of losing control. Are we walking in the way of wisdom or the way of folly?

Yeshua talks about the two paths as two gates in Matt. 7:13–14 and as two houses in Matt. 7:24–27. Are we walking through the narrow gate? Are we building a house with a firm foundation that can resist the day of storms? As we approach Rosh Hashanah, let us think deeply about where we are headed. As we hear the shofar, may we wake up and return to the road that God has designed for us!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Howard