Torah Portion of the Week

Building Character through the Themes of the Weekly Torah Portion

Torah

Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20

Next Reading:

September 20, 2025

27 Elul, 5785

Haftarah

Isaiah 61:10–63:9

אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי ה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם רָאשֵׁיכֶם שִׁבְטֵיכֶם זִקְנֵיכֶם וְשֹׁטְרֵיכֶם כֹּל אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל׃

A-tem ni-tza-vim ha-yom ku-l’khem lif-nei A-do-nai E-lo-hei-khem ra-shei-khem shiv-tei-khem zik-nei-khem v’sho-t’rei-khem kol ish Yis-ra-el,

You are standing this day all of you before the Lord your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel,

Deuteronomy 29:9

Nitzavim means “you are standing.” Moses gathered all of the Israelites together and told them they were standing before the Lord their God to enter into covenant with Him. Nitzavim contains some of Moses’ final words to the Israelites before his passing.

Last week’s Torah portion taught the valuable lesson that joy is a choice that we make. In this week’s Torah portion, we are reminded that life, too, is a choice: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before thee life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed” (JPS 1917, Deuteronomy 30:19).

God has given you the freedom of choice to choose life—so that you and your children may live. Not only do you benefit from choosing life, but your children benefit as well. Your attitude and approach towards life has a bigger impact on you and your children than you may realize.

What Does It Mean to Choose Life?

Every decision you make can be made in a way that you are “choosing life.” How do you treat your family on a daily basis? How do you treat your friends, strangers, and animals? How do you spend your money? What do you do with your free time? What do you spend your time thinking about? What kind of advice do you give to others? Do you think about what you say before you say it? These are all choices you make that can be done in a way that produces a full, meaningful life, not merely a life of “existence.”

Sometimes, because of hurtful, traumatic, or stressful situations that you have gone through (or are currently dealing with), you may find yourself in a state of living, but not really alive. Depression and complacency may grab a hold of you and affect your attitude and outlook on the future. Or, sometimes it’s just your day-to-day living or your daily habits that are leading you away from “choosing life.” This Torah portion implores you: Choose life. It is a decision that can be made, no matter the circumstances.

What does it mean to choose life? Think about the decisions you make throughout the day. Do those decisions produce life? Do those decisions bring about the best in the situation? Will those decisions impact the future positively?

Every day, there is something to be thankful for, something to live for. God chose for you to have life this day; rejoice and be glad in Him. So go ahead and choose life.

The Torah portion Nitzavim is always read on the Shabbat preceding Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. What perfect timing to be reminded of what our attitude should be when preparing to enter into another year: Choose life!

A Glance of Hebrew | Nitzavim STBM Messer

Pronunciation Guide for Transliterated Hebrew Words

a

[a] as in arm

ai

[ai] as in Thailand

e

[e] as in red

ei

[ei] as in eight

i

[i] as in ski

o

[o] as in score

oi

[oi] as in oil

u

[u] as in rule

ui

[ui] as in gluing

ch/kh

[ch] as in the Scottish loch

g

[g] as in good (not as in giant)

tz

[ts] as in hats

‘

short “eh” or “uh” sound

The Hebrew Scriptures in this text have been derived from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (WLC), and the English translation is based off of the JPS 1917 Tanakh.