Netzavim - 5775

Deuteronomy 29:9 - 30:20

To say that Netzavim is one of my favorite portions would be an understatement. I love this parasha, I love the way God empowers us with choice and trusts us with covenantal responsibility.  I love how timely this portion is every year – coming just before the High Holy Days. Netzavim, for me, also stands out because it uses the verb shuv (as in teshuvah), to call us to return to God on three separate occasions. Not only that, but it also describes God returning us, or depending on how we read the Hebrew, returning to us. Rabbi Amy Scheinerman observes that these statements are repeated in an alternating pattern and wonders if teshuvah is “a spiritual dance of two partners who must both turn to face one another and come closer and closer until they meet in the middle.” It’s a fascinating question, and as Rabbi Scheinerman further notes, speaks volumes about our relationships with each other – and how to heal that which we have broken.