By Rabbi Eric Yanoff
This week’s Torah portion is Vayeilech: Deuteronomy 31:1 – 30
In January 2024, on my second trip back to Israel after the Oct. 7 tragedy, I was stopped in my tracks by a short bit of street poetry, painted on the sidewalk in Jerusalem. It was faded after (presumably) six weeks of foot traffic, but still legible. It read: “Sufganiyot munachot ba-madafim, va’anachnu adayin b’Simchat Torah — There are [Chanukah-style] donuts resting on the shelves, but we are still in Simchat Torah.”
I later learned that this line was ascribed to the Israeli poet Channah Perelman, and it poignantly described an emotional state that, still — over a year and a half later, almost two years since Oct. 7 — describes a prevalent Jewish mindset: We are paralyzed, unable to move forward. We are plagued by age-old Jewish insecurities and vulnerabilities that have bubbled back up. We are questioning our place among the community of nations, or even our local communities here. Our strong moral sense makes us uneasy or upset over suffering across the border in Gaza, regardless of its initial or ongoing causes. And, of course, we are holding our breath in sympathy and solidarity with the families of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.
The sidewalk poem reflects a feeling of an inability to move forward, at this difficult, divisive time in Jewish history: What is our path? What will bring us to some sense of redemption? Especially as we stand on the precipice of a new year, and look just beyond that milestone to a second anniversary of that terrible day, we are standing still, our minds and bodies aching, leaning forward, our feet unable to take us onward.
This is the image of Moses as we approach the Torah’s final chapters. Last week’s parashah, entitled Nitzavim (“You stand here, this day… not just you, but all future ‘yous’…”), evokes an image of standing still, immovable, frozen. But many years on the Jewish calendar, Parashat Nitzavim is linked with this week’s reading, Parashat Vayeilech, which begins, “Moses WENT [and delivered a farewell speech, imagining the future for the People of Israel, without him].”
Even just the names of the two Torah portions describe our emotional state: Nitzavim (standing still) and Vayeilech (going, moving). Subtly, the arc of the Torah portions gives us permission to move forward, from this standstill, into unknown, scary, perhaps risky, and definitely uncertain terrain. Moses knows that the next steps for his beloved, cantankerous People are to venture forth into a Promised Land. Though the journey will undoubtedly be fraught, it is a path toward redemption, out of the wilderness.
It is an act of grace that God and Moses give us permission to take those first steps. Moses implores us, “Chazak ve-ematz — be strong, be steady” (Deuteronomy 31:6). Step forward, with Joshua leading, with God marching alongside. Know that, though it may be scary, we cannot stay paralyzed in this place, but must walk, go forward, “vayeilech.” As he nears his life’s end, Moses knows that HE will not move forward, but that new leadership will take us toward our destiny. He can see the future, without him in it. He is stuck (nitzavim) — but our People must vayeilech, proceed forward.
Right now, as a People, we may feel stuck — nitzavim. It has been too long — understandably long, given that we cannot emotionally advance when Acheinu, our family members of the People of Israel, are still held in captivity, outside their homes in the Land. And yet, the calendar rolls on: We are nearing TWO cycles of Simchat Torah festivals — sufganiyot of Chanukah; hamantashen at Purim, matzah, cheesecake and now, again, apples and honey — and yet our stomachs retain a pit, our hearts are still anchored, in part, to Simchat Torah, 2023/5784. As we enter a New Year, 5786, may the hostages come home, and may we find ourselves in a context to be able to take the first, tentative steps forward — vayeilech — to a better future, together. May this High Holiday season be emotionally moving, allowing us, enabling us, inspiring us to move forward in our mission to build a better reality — for us, for our children, for the People of Israel and for the entire world. Amen, and Shanah Tovah.
Rabbi Eric Yanoff leads Adath Israel in Merion Station.
