I’m back! :)

Hope everyone is enjoying school. The Parsha Blog is back on track!

This week’s parsha is Nitzavim. Here’s a brief summary of what it talks about:

–          On the day of Moshe’s death, he makes a treaty with the Jewish people that they will be Hashem’s people forever, and that they will not serve idols.

–          Moshe also says that if the Jewish people sin, they will go in to exile, but he promises that one day Hashem will redeem them.

–          Sometimes we may feel like the Torah is too hard to keep. Therefore, Moshe says that the Torah is close to every Jew, and we can all keep the Torah if we work hard.

–          Moshe finishes off by telling the Jews that they have freedom of choice. They can pick Torah and life, or they can leave Torah and choose death. He urges them to choose life!

 

And now, as always, is the D’var Torah:

Why is Moshe making a new treaty with the Jewish people?  Hadn’t the Jews already accepted Hashem and the Torah at Har Sinai?

The Midrash (commentary) tells us that Moshe added a new point to this treaty. Until now, each Jew was responsible for his own life, and suffered the consequences of his own actions. Now, the Jewish people would all be responsible for one another. If someone was going to sin and another Jew did not stop him, they would both be punished. This teaches us that if we see someone about to do a sin, we should try our best to stop them.

 

So this week, we have TWO questions! Number one: Have you ever stopped someone from doing a sin? If not, can you imagine a situation where you could stop someone? Number two: What did YOU do this summer? Be sure to comment your answers!

 

Have a spectacular Shabbos!

<3 Tamar