Reb Sones: In his way, also begs us to Return to Hashem and His blueprint for Life!

 

Listen, O Israel: Why Truth is Heard, Not Seen

In a world of fragments, Parshat Nitzavim’s call to 'choose life' is a radical command to resist the deception of the visible and return to the center

This week, Jews around the world stand once again, as our ancestors did on the plains of Moab, to hear the words of Parshat Nitzavim.

The setting is one of ultimate gravity. All of Israel, from the woodchopper to the prince, is gathered to enter into a covenant with the Creator. The choice presented is the most fundamental one imaginable: “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil… therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed.”

For generations, we have understood this as a command to follow the Torah’s precepts. But in our age—an age drowning in information yet starved of wisdom—this injunction takes on a new and urgent meaning. What, precisely, does it mean to “choose life” in a world that has lost its moorings, a world that pulls us in a thousand directions at once?

Continue reading on Jewish Home News by Mordechai Sones