We have reached the part of the religious year when we prepare for the High Holidays and the cycle of festivals that lead to the end of the liturgical year and the beginning of the next on Simchat Torah. We are nearing the end of the month of Elul, a month for introspection self-analysis that readies us for the work of Tshuvah, a turning of ourselves towards a new commitment to live a better life.
So how does this week's reading help us prepare for this work?
I find a few passages that give hope that change is possible, and that our efforts, however imperfect and incomplete, can merit forgiveness.
We open with Moses offering the generation that is about to enter the holy land the covenant their parents' generation accepted at Sinai. They will join the covenant on behalf of future generations as well as their own. He foretells that their descendants will violate their vows and will be sent into exile. But even then, repentance is possible and they will be gathered from exile to return to the land.
11. For this commandment which I command you this day, is not concealed from you, nor is it far away. יא. כִּי הַמִּצְוָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לֹא נִפְלֵאת הִוא מִמְּךָ וְלֹא רְחֹקָה הִוא:
12. It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" יב. לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲלֶה לָּנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה:
13. Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" יג. וְלֹא מֵעֵבֶר לַיָּם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲבָר לָנוּ אֶל עֵבֶר הַיָּם וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה:
14. Rather,[this] thing is very close to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can fulfill it.
We do not have to look far to find the way back; we already know the way. This reminds me of Elijah's "still small voice" and reminds us that God is not far beyond our capacities to understand and turn back to when we have strayed.
Much of this discourse is aimed at the people of Josiah's time, and Moses tells the people waiting at the Jordan that their children will violate the covenant and be punished. It certainly is not the tone one should take when sending these people off to their new land and new life, and I can only understand it in historical terms. But Moses passes his authority onto Joshua in front of all the people, as a sign that God is with them, and also, I think, as a sign that he has made his peace with his own death, at least for now.
The choice between good and evil is the choice between life and death.
19. This day, I call upon the heaven and the earth as witnesses [that I have warned] you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. You shall choose life, so that you and your offspring will live; יט. הַעִדֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם אֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ הַחַיִּים וְהַמָּוֶת נָתַתִּי לְפָנֶיךָ הַבְּרָכָה וְהַקְּלָלָה וּבָחַרְתָּ בַּחַיִּים לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ:
20. To love the Lord your God, to listen to His voice, and to cleave to Him. For that is your life and the length of your days, to dwell on the land which the Lord swore to your forefathers to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob to give to them.
Therefore choose life.
When I had cancer six years ago I felt that was the choice before me, and I had to decide to live. I realize that may sound simplistic, and that outcomes are not always a matter of choice. But there was a point at which I decided that I wanted to live. That was the beginning of the end of my depression as well, which had lasted for many years. I had to choose life there as well.
At that time, these words came to me with new significance. Interestingly, that was also around the High Holidays. My surgery on October 2 was just after the holidays. And many years earlier, my father died just before the holidays. So I always see this time of year as a time to choose, tied closely to life and death of both body and spirit.
Shabbat shalom, and a wonderful and meaningful new year.