September 05, 2026 – Nitzavim/Vayelech (“You are Standing”/”And he went) – Parshat 51/52

• Torah: Deuteronomy 29:9-31:30
• Haftara: Isaiah 61:10-63:9 ( Sos Asis )
• Brit Chadasha: John 12:41-50

אַתֶּ֨ם נִצָּבִ֤ים הַיּוֹם֙ כֻּלְּכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם רָאשֵׁיכֶ֣ם שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֗ם זִקְנֵיכֶם֙ וְשֹׁ֣טְרֵיכֶ֔ם כֹּ֖ל אִ֥ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Atem nitsavim hayom kulechem lifney Adonay Eloheychem rasheychem shivteychem zikneychem veshotreychem kol ish Yisra’el.

Today you are all standing before God your Lord – your leaders, your tribal chiefs, your elders, your law enforcers, every Israelite man,

Choose Life: Devarim (Deuteronomy) 30:19&20 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed; to love the LORD your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Making the choice for life, or death, blessings or cursing has been a part of man’s free choice since the beginning. HaShem never forces his will upon us, instead he offers us the opportunity to choose right not wrong, good not evil. It requires a new heart, and the nature of Messiah and His Torah within us, but how? Moshe Rabbinu tells us how just prior to the challenge to choose life.

Deuteronomy 30:6 The LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.

In the Shama we pray: “love the lord our G-d with all our heart and soul and might, and have these words which I command you today to be upon your heart” We try to apply the Torah the best we can to our hearts, but we simply don’t have the power to break the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) from our hearts. Only HaShem can change us, and He promises to do just that. He has sent, and will send Mashiach to do the work that cannot be done by any other. Nachmanides says of the time of Messiah, that He will circumcise our hearts, and cause us to desire only good by removing the evil inclination from our hearts.

From creation, man has had the free choice to do righteousness or evil according to his will … In the Messianic Era, mans natural inclination will be to choose the good, and the heart will not lust for that which is not appropriate. He will not have any desire for the forbidden whatsoever. And this is what is meant by the “circumcision” spoken of here, [Deuteronomy30:6] for lust (and material desires) are like foreskin for the heart, The circumcision of the heart is that the heart shall not lust [after the forbidden] and shall not desire [the forbidden]. At that time, human beings will return to the spiritual state they possessed before the sin of Adam, when he would by nature do that which is proper to do … This is what the scripture means in Jerimiah 31:33,”… I will put my Torah within them and on their heart I will write it.” “This refers to the abolition of the evil inclination and the hearts doing by nature that which is proper to do … similarly, Ezekiel states, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you” (Ezekiel 36:26-27). The “new heart” refers to it’s new nature.    (Nachmanides on Deuteronomy 30:6)

Through Shuvah during this month of Elul we have made repentant pleas for forgiveness and transformation, returning to Adonai and Torah. Thru Messiah Yeshua we are being sanctified bit by bit to the place of a purity of heart. He will do it, but we can also be glad and rejoice that in that day (Ha-yom) we will be a new creation totally in Messiah. He will have cut away every hinderance and obstacle from our path, given us his DNA so to speak, a totally new nature, that we may walk with him Just as Adam before the fall!

May you be abundantly blessed, as you make Shuvah in this final week of Elul, Sounding the Shofar daily, looking forward to Yom Teruah on Friday Evening, and the Fall feasts. (see Festivals and Events for more details)
HaRuach V’Kallah Om’riym Bo – The spirit and the Bride say Come. We say may it be in our day and in our times Mashiach.
Shalom Mish’pachah from Beth Hallel Lodi