Nitsavim-Vayelech - The Truth is Inside

You're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Ari Goldwag, recorded with Hashem's never-ending assistance in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel, 5786, 2026. We are heading into the end of this Jewish year, 5786. And I'd like to share with you some beautiful pieces from the Medrash. And this week we have Nitzavim and Vayeilech, two parshas, and um as we get into Sefer Devarim, so it's always a challenge because there's less and less Midrashim in Medrash Rabbah on the parshas in Devarim as they go along. So this this week I decided to in my research for this week's parsha, I decided to look at a new Medrash called Medrash HaGadol, which is a beautiful Medrash, which was collated in the 14th century, I believe, in Teiman, in Yemen, by a scholar named Rav Avadani. And he has many different sources for his Midrashim, and he also has these beautiful poems that he has at the beginning of each parsha. So I'd like to read to you before we get into the ideas of the parsha and we get into some teachings and some things that relate to we are in the in the final countdown into Rosh Hashanah. Once it's Shabbos, we're going to start saying the uh the Slichos. If you're Ashkenazi, if you're Sefardi, you've been doing it already for a while, for a few weeks. But let's see. We're going to talk about chuva, we're going to talk about connection, we're going to talk about Torah. But I'd like to read to you there are two parshas, so there's two introductions. I'm not going to read the whole thing, but a little bit of each one. First from Nitzavim. Shma Yisrael, Yotzei Yitzurim U'cheinam. Kabtzeini Nidachei Ammi U'Ashiveini U'Mochleini. Beautiful poem. Hear our call, the one who created everything and owns everything. Gather in those who are dispersed and bring them back to their proper place. Bring back the priests to their service and the Levites to their platform where they sing. And then we will hear the voice, we'll hear the sound of raising up a sham with their with their voices. Change changes from a state of sorrow to joy and consolation. Do it for the sake of your great name, for your sake and not for ours. Okay, it goes on. I'm not going to read the whole thing. I want to turn to what he says And this is the verse we always read before Rosh Hashanah. Return us a sham with your will and reach out your right hand, which is your hased, to receive your children. Place upon them the good that which is good in your eyes and desire them for the sake of your outstretched arm, your power, the light of your face. On the day of judgment let us be judged with with proper justice and not through anger. Don't allow us to be sent away empty-handed. Cuz we are the great-grandchildren of the one who you the the mighty ones, the forefathers. They are your nation, Hashem. They are your portion. They are we the Jewish people are his sheep. We are the ones who live in your land. We are the ones who love your home, love the base of Migdash. As the possuk says, we are strangers in front of you. Okay, I thought do something a little different today. Start off with a poem. A beautiful poem. We're heading into the days of I don't want to call them days of judgment. They are days of judgment. I would call them days of reckoning. Days of looking at ourselves honestly and seeing and trying to understand how we can improve in our relationship with Hashem, how we can make Hashem our king again. And this week's parsha starts off You're all standing before Hashem. Your God. Every single one of us stands before Hashem whether we are leaders we're all leaders within our own dolaramas. Uh we're whether we're talking about the tribes, the elders of the tribes >> [snorts] >> those who make sure that we do what's right. Call each Israel all every single Israelite man Israelite person your children, your wives and the strangers the the proselytes that are with you in your encampments. This is something that applies to those who chop the wood, those who draw the water. So, Sham is making a covenant with us. That's what Rosh Hashanah is about. That's what the whole time is about. That's what we're going to be we're heading into. And the possuk says not only with you am I making this covenant. A yom. I'm not only making this covenant. This is 3,300 years ago, right? Sham says, "This covenant is not just for those who are standing here today, but it's for those who are not standing here today. Also, we, I and you." Those who are with us and those who are not. So, what is this idea? So, the first idea I want to share with you from the Medrash Hagadol from Rav Adda bar Ahavah >> [snorts] >> is he says an amazing thing, a beautiful thing, and it's so important because sometimes we feel disconnected. Sometimes we feel we're not connected to Hakadosh Baruchu, to Hashem. We're not connected to Torah. Sometimes we feel like we've done wrong. Sometimes we just don't We're not feeling it today. But, he says an amazing thing. That's Sh'eineni Poy. Ilu Avraham Sh'eineni Imon, Sh'ekulan Yichnisu B'eisa Am Yisrael. So, the first thing, who's not there? Who's not there? So, there's a few people who are not there at at the at the point in time Moshe Rabbeinu is entering into land of Israel, where the Jewish people are about to enter into the land of Israel, but they're still part of the covenant, even though they're not there. So, the first thing that it says it's it's it's referring to the fetuses that are inside of their mothers' wombs that even though they were not yet born, they were still part of the covenant. Mikan amru from here our sages teach us arm loy that when a court has to get a person to to make an oath so they say to them al da'at da'at da'at da'at They say, "Where when we give you this oath, when you make the oath it doesn't go by the way you think about the oath. It goes by the way we think about the oath." And we see that that's something that's possible because a fetus is not yet born. Also certainly doesn't have any da'at doesn't have any intellectual capacity. So for for that fetus to be included in the oath in the covenant shows that the covenant that's made where the oath that's made is done based on the people who are making the who are I would say enforcing the oath. K'she'kein amru Moshiach says, "I want you to know this covenant that usually you could think about a covenant as a deal between two parties, but this is not exactly what this covenant looks like." Moshiach saying, "I am I'm telling you that the covenant looks like what I say it looks like." The relationship looks like what Hashem says it looks like. Sh'na'amru sh'na'amru lecha k'ilu k'ilu yesh sham yesh na'ar Right? It's not just those who were there, it's those who were not there. So how could it be that that it includes somebody who's not there? But clearly it's an oath that's being made or it's a covenant that's being made with somebody based on Hashem himself. Hashem is our creator, he has the right to do that. How do we know that the generations that come afterwards how do we know that we are still included in this covenant? Maybe Hashem gave up on us or maybe we're not obligated in the midst of this anymore as they're written by Moshe Rabbeinu heaven forbid. How do I know that a ger if he wants to become part of the Jewish people that a proselyte has to keep everything and that in order for him to become part of the covenant he's got to keep all of it. That's what the possuk says it includes those who are not here today. What about the mitzvahs that were not yet at the time of Moshe? Right? We read the Megillah we say we read the Megillah. On Purim wasn't yet existent how can we say it's a commandment? So listen to this this is why I'm reading this. There's nothing new. When they when they accepted upon themselves to read the Megillah it was just a confirmation of something that had already happened. It's a beautiful thing. Listen to this listen to this this is for all of us. King Solomon says in Koheles in Ecclesiastes that which was is what's going to be again later. You might say that there's something new. But think about it the story of Megillah that there's divine uh intervention that Hashem's involved in our lives working behind the scenes. Now, Sham's involved making sure the missiles don't land, protecting us from Iran. So, the it doesn't it looks new. Looks like a new thing. Oh, look at this new type of way of Hashem interacting with us. Kvar haya l'olam lo haya achar haya milifnei olam says King Solomon. Anything that looks new is not new. It's been there before. Listen. Beautiful, beautiful image. You learn something. You learn some Torah. Or you think of some chiddush in Torah. You have a new idea, novelty. It's sweet to you. It feels right. It feels feels right. Rings, it resonates. You know why it feels right? You know why it resonates? You know why it's so sweet? Cuz you heard it way back at Mount Sinai. You and I, our souls were there. L'eich l'eicho says the Maggid. You know what it's comparable to? The Maggid said, "A little bit knaft talit of ibda." A person who had used a part of he had a pocket and he used that pocket for a coin. And the and the pocket or the maybe it's a a little leather pouch that was formed to the size of that coin. And that coin was spent or lost. It was tailor-made to that coin. So, you put a bigger coin, it's not going to hold it well. Put a smaller coin, it could slip out. You put the same size coin in, so then it sits properly. Beautiful mashal. It sits right. It feels right. It it locks in. You hear a word, you hear an idea, it resonates. It It's I know that from somewhere. It sounds right. It feels right. That's because we all were there. We weren't there, but we were there. It's like it says it's true about Torah. It's true about the Torah learning, and it's also true about the Nevuas, the prophecies. There's no new prophecies. Every single prophecy that was said 1,000 years later 500 years later, however many years later it was. Yeah, even 1,000 years later. So, these were received at Sinai. It says those who are here and those who are not here. It says as well the pasuk. It's It was a a burden. The word of Hashem was something he carried to the Jewish people in the hands of Malachi. Doesn't say el Malachi. El vi ad Malachi. Says Doesn't say it was said to Malachi. It says in the hands of Malachi. He had it already. It was sitting in his hands all the way back from from Mount Sinai. From the time that it was there, I was. So, they say to Yeshayahu from the time that it was, that's where I was. What took you so long to speak if you knew this already? Why didn't you tell us your prophecy before? He said I did not yet have permission to say over my prophecy. Now I was sent by God. and his spirit. So, Yeshayahu had it also. The Nevuah of Yeshayahu, of Malachi, of each of the prophets went back all the way to Sinai. It was something that was embedded into the world waiting to drop onto the correct person through his soul, but his soul already received it then. All of the wise individuals that ever were and are going to be Pasuk says Moshe Rabbeinu says Hashem gave me the two tablets of stone a laam va laam dvarim hadvarim kol hadvarim Pasuk says It's interesting. The Medrash is pointing out the Pasuk says va laam k'chol hadvarim Right, there's an extra vav and there's an extra hey and there's an extra kol and there's an extra kaf. es ve es mikra u'mishna medrash halachos v'aggados Each of the different aspects are included from the extra letters and extra words in the Pasuk. There were lots of different aspects of Torah that were included in Moshe Rabbeinu's reception, his receiving the Torah. A Rebbi is going to teach a little child a word of Torah. He's going to have a chiddush. In a in a kneitch, in a way to teach the child Torah so he learns it better. That's already been planted. It's already been planted. Reish zachalashu. Right, that's why Melech said as we quoted it before. Someone might say, "Look, this is a new thing, a new kneitch, a new uh a new way of educating our children. If it works, you think it's new? This is old. This is something old. When she made a Sinai, so it sound like it sound like oh my gosh, why do I need to bother for? Right? Anything that I say is already been said. Nothing new, right? No, it's it's actually incredible. Let me say I today in 2026, 3,300 years after her Cena, I can resonate, I can access, I can access the original revelation of my share of my no. We all have it cuz we were all there. It was embedded into our souls. It was stuck into our pocket. When that coin lands in the right place, the right word, the right idea, the right depth, it will sit in the pocket just right. It will feel just right. We can connect to it and resonate with it. It's just beautiful. And you think about it, it's like I I think it's so important to think about this. See, you come into the new year, the Rosh Hashanah. The year begins and we feel like I didn't I don't know if I did it right. You know, what is it that gives us that sense, that feeling like I don't know if I did it right? Cuz we we know we didn't do it right. We know it could be better. We know our relationship with Hashem could look better. But it's I don't know, there's some consolation. Not just a consolation, but a tremendous hisic. It strengthens us to know that we all have inside of us a recognition, an understanding. We can all realign. It's not hard. It's it's in our hearts, it's in our mouth. It's accessible. It's something that we all can access. Okay, so that's the first point. There's [snorts] a whole bunch of other ones that I don't think I'm going to get to all of them, but some beautiful things here. He's talking about He's talking about chuva. He's talking about connecting to Hakadosh Baruchu. And one of the Sukhim it says Hashem is going to remove the the klipa, the outer stuck nature of our hearts. Right, sometimes we feel disconnected. We don't feel Hashem. We don't feel spiritual. Hashem is going to remove that husk. Hashem is going to remove it and we're going to love Hashem. We're going to feel connected. We're going to live. Says this Medrish in Matos Oiseh Me'ahavah. Ata Oiseh Ata Koneh Lo Atzmo Chaim She'ein Lo Hefsek. She'ne'emar L'ma'an Chayecha. When we serve Hashem out of love Right, there's different modes and reasons why we can serve Hashem. And I think that hearing it, when we hear it, becomes ours or we can sense that it's our Torah, it's our mitzvah. It's our mitzvah. There's something in us that knows this is ours. This is our Torah. This is our heritage. The Torah is our We feel connected to it. We don't always know why. There's something in us, right? That's the love. When we serve Hashem out of love L'ahavah Hashem Elokecha L'ma'an Chayecha. The Pasuk says in order that you live. It's not just talking about living in this world, which it is. Having a good life in this world, but it's talking about having an eternal life, which means having a connection to God forever. How do we get that? It comes out of love. Not just serving Hashem out of fear, cuz everyone's doing that, or because I think God will be angry with me if I don't do that. Serving Hashem out of love. Cuz we love God. You know he loves us. He wants the best for us. And we can sense that it's real. It's one little thing. He brings air palm and shuvason. Posik says in Hoshea, we're going to read this pretty soon. It's to do with shuva. Hashem says, "I will cure their waywardness." The Jewish people sometimes we don't love each other as we ought to. We don't respect each other as we ought to. We don't respect Hashem and his mitzvahs as we we should. Hashem says, "I will cure them." Tanya Remera I want to go to shuva. Remera would say, "The shuva is great. She be shfeel yachish osa shuva maklon lie ulokha I don't listen to the power of shuva, okay? Repentance, coming back to Hashem, getting back into a space of serving Hashem from love. Just one person, just me, just you. One person has the power to get the uh forgiveness for himself and for the whole world. The Zohar says shna var air palm and shuvason. Posik says, and he doesn't quote the whole thing, but I know the part cuz I want to sort of sing to these words. Air palm and shuvason, "I will cure their waywardness. Oh ya have vim nedava, I will love them freely. Kishova pi mimenu. It's talking about them, about them, about them, and then it's it suddenly switches to him. My anger has turned away from him. The heavenly name are doesn't say turned away from them. Elimelech It says from him. It is one person. It is from him. One individual can cause all of Hashem's anger to be turned away. One person does chuvah. You You can be that person. I can be that person. We turn back to Hashem and the whole world turns back. Incredible. I want to show you about Rabbi Nachman and Rabbi Nasan. Rabbi Nachman says the name of Rabbi Nasan Gedolah Chuvah Shem Arachas Yamim Shel Adam. Chuvah is a great thing. It It makes a person live longer. She nemar Uveshuv Rasha Chayo Yichyeh. Pasuk in Yechezkel. Chapter 18, verses 27 and 28. When a wicked person changes, he will certainly live. Which means he wasn't supposed to live. He had done wrong. He was disconnected. He was spiritually dead. We're never stuck there. We're never stuck there. We can always change. Amar Rabbi Nasan Gedolah Chuvah Shem Karavas Es HaGeulah. Rabbi Nasan says Chuvah is great because it brings the redemption closer. 5787, the year of redemption. How do you bring redemption closer? What do we do? When we're facing enemies that are surrounding us, that want to destroy us, how do we deal with it? Chuvah. Chuvah brings the redemption. She nemar Uval Letzion Goel. We say this every day. A redeemer will come to Zion Uleshavei Pesha BeYaakov, to those who have repented from their sins in Jacob. Pasuk in Yeshayahu, perek nun tes. Pasuk kaf. Amar Rabbi Yitzchak should listen to what you make hard. I believe he says if we do children for one day if all of our missiles would do children for one day, just one time the other than the golem immediately we would be redeemed. My time A how do you know this? I am a college student but it says in the hell today it can come today if you listen to his voice. So it's interesting because you see the power of an individual to do children and and have an impact on the entire world, but you also see the power of a a children of Robin. A children of many people. I remember the day that children should be able to see Yeshua. I was just a similar thing. Children is incredibly powerful. It brings the redemption closer. Bring salvation closer. You should remember my sham. She will miss put my suit to Dhaka. This is what I shall say. Keep keep righteousness. Do uh make sure that you're bringing about justice. Keep your shoes on so you love of its cousin legal ways. Salvation, I shall saving us is connected to sit cos to righteousness. And that means what does it mean righteousness? It's referring to here as children. >> [sighs] >> I don't know if you should children go to the army. So what do we see that since children is a very foundational idea of the Hamas in a lot. The shove down the show my car. It says you shall come back to our sham your God to return. That's that's children. Okay? We have a few more minutes. We're going to touch on one more thing. Possible says he can have a double mind. This matter is very close to you. The figure of a It's in your mouth and your heart. To do it cuz I may try to do it cuz he says in Isaiah. Seek out a sham when he's found. If you seek a sham out, you will find him. As we said he's He's it's it's a resonance. It's already in us. So they said to him, where is he? Where will we find him? Where do we seek him? Between your heart and your mouth. In between here. The between your mouth and in your heart. The between your mouth and in your heart. Your mouth you would admit that you've done wrong. And in your heart you you change. You want to be different. You want to get back to loving a sham. Then a sham is there. Let's say guys, folks, it's not so hard. It's really simple. Chuvah repentance, it's not as hard as people think it is. Just admit we've done wrong. And with our hearts, let's wake up our hearts to change. A sham is with us. A group of of uh thieves were incarcerated in jail. They they made a hole to get out of the jail. They all escaped except for one old guy. Old guy The the the the jailer comes and he finds the old guy. He starts beating him up. So so he says You could have gotten [clears throat] out and you didn't. That's why he's beating him up. Everyone else escaped. Why didn't you? We all have the the path out. We all have that that that cave that's been dug out to get out of here to get out of jail, to get out of our yetz hara. It's called teshuvah. It's in our heart. It's inside of us. All we got to do is start moving our lips. Make a list of the things I could do better this year. Make a list of the things I've done well also. Strengthen the things that we've done well. Get rid of the stuff that we've not done well. We can do this guys. We can do this. I want to bless you. I ask you to bless me. should help us. Let's use this final shabbos of the year for the best. Let's start getting into the mode. should help us to get into the mode to find that resonance of Torah, of truth that's inside of us, that's burning inside of us, that knew about and we can still hear today. Let's all hear it. Let's all get back on track. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful shabbos. This podcast was made possible [music] through the gracious donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.arigoldwag.com [music] or search on iTunes Ari Goldwag.