Holy Ground

The first of this weeks parashiot, Netzavim begins with the words, "Today you are all standing before the Face of HaShem your G*D". This marks my 100th post, the significance of the number 100 is many. According to Jewish tradition, a person should recite 100 berakhot each day! This is not as difficult as it sounds. Praying the Shemoneh Esrei three times a day covers 57 berakhot all by itself, and there are dozens of everyday occurrences that require berakhot. In the Six Day War Israel captured the entire Sinai Peninsula in 100 hours. 100 is also the number of times the shofar is sounded on Rosh HaShanah, very fitting for this time of year.

Netzavim is usually translated as standing, but more literally means standers- those who stand. This type of standing does not describe "standing around" it implies purposeful standing, usually in response to a summons, invitation or command. Just who are these Netzavim, these "standing ones"? Look closely beloved, look into your own soul. While the covenant about which we are reading was made by the Redeemed of HaShem who physically stood before Moshe on that day, it is applied to all future generations of the sons of Abraham. In addition it also is applied to a group outside of the physical lineage, it is made available to the foreigners who lived in the midst of the Redeemed community. It is also made available to those not yet born, even though they were not there physically, that someday in the future they too would hear G*D's words and be a part of the covenant. In Deuteronomy 29:14-15 we read "neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, but with him who stands here with us this day before HaShem our G*D, and also with him who is not here with us on this day".

The words Moshe speak beginning in verse 16 speak prophetic words of warning. He is acting as our watchman sounding the shofar. He is warning us of the dangers of a pagan lifestyle. An approach to life without HaShem. The lifestyle described in Torah is not about manipulating G*D to get Him to do what we want, but rather surrendering every aspect of our life so that we can live as He wants. It's about relationship. "The secret things belong to HaShem our G*D, but the things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this Torah". Deuteronomy 29;29 It is not our purpose to bring about the secret things of HaShem, we need only to busy ourselves with the things that are revealed to us, the words of Torah, and do them. For the Torah is life to all who grasp it.

Sleepers, awake! The Days of Awe are coming! It's traditional to hear the sound of the shofar (ram's horn) every day of the month of Elul, as a kind of spiritual alarm clock. http://youtu.be/mlLFDLEuX9A
It's also traditional to read psalm 27 each day during the month of Elul.

Psalm 27
translated by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

Yah! You are my light.
You are my savior.
Whom need I dread?
Yah, with you as my strong protector who can make me panic?
When hateful bullies gang up on me, wanting to harass me,
to oppress and terrorize me
They are the ones who stumble and fall.
Even if a gang surrounds me my heart is not weakened.
If a battle is joined around me my trust in You is firm.
Only one thing do I ask of You, Yah:
Just this alone do I seek, I want to be at home with you, Yah,
All the days of my life.
I want to delight in seeing You.
Seeing You when I come to visit You in Your temple.

You hide me in your sukkah on a foul day.
You conceal me unseen in Your tent.
You also raise me beyond anyone's reach
And now, as You have held my head high despite the presence of my powerful foes
I prepare to celebrate and thrill, singing and making music to You, Yah!
Listen, Yah, to the sound of my cry
And, being kind, answer me!
My heart has said, I turn to seek you.
Your presence is what I beg for
Don't hide Your face from me.
Don't just put me down, You who have been my helper.
Don't abandon me, don't forsake me, G*d my support.
Though my father and my mother have left me
You, Yah, will hold me securely.
Please teach me Your way.
Teach me Your way and guide me on the straight path.
Discourage those who defame me
Because false witnesses stood up against me belching out violence.
Don't let me become the victim of my foes.
I wouldn't have survived
If I hadn't hoped that I would see, yet,
Your goodness, G*d, fully alive on earth.
So I tell you, my friends: you too hope to Yah! Be sturdy!
And make strong your heart. And most of all, keep hoping to Yah.

It's beautiful poetry, and it's exactly what I need to read at this time of year as the Days of Awe creep ever-closer. What are you reading, thinking,listening to, and pondering as Elul unfolds beloved?

Shabbat Shalom
Elisheva Amaris