09/27/2025
Shalom Aleichem,
So….today, our Torah portion, left Moses behind, and went forth into Israel with Joshua. To boldly go where no Israelites had gone before….to seek out and make Israel great. Vayeilech is Hebrew for “He Went”, and our read opens as Moses tells the Israelites that Moses will not lead them into the Land of Israel, and that Joshua will take over. Move over Moses, left Joshua take over. So he did.
Joshua and Moses were of one love, one mind, one God, he instructs the Israelites to gather and read Torah publicly every seven years. At God’s command, Moses writes a poem bearing witness to God’s covenant with the Israelites.
Torah: Deuteronomy 31:1-31:30
People get critical and ask why we seem to put so much focus to Torah, and not all the rest, when actually….all of us Israelites are to gather publically and read it aloud in public…. the Torah is to be read by itself, once every seven years.
Haftarah: Isaiah 55:6-56:8
Isaiah is like, one of our favorites books of the holy text, for the Haftarah above, speaks of a divine invitation to repentance, seeking God, and experiencing His abundant mercy through the freshest portions of covenant reminders.
We thank Hashem….for the guidance he gave us to our journey into Israel, the Israel as reformed in 1947/1948, and the Israel remnants here in the USA. All he asked of us to keep the Covenant, is keep the Shabbat, and …well, ok, a few hundred laws. Consider if you will, that since Israel was refounded, that we live in the end times spoken of where Shabbat will be restored to the Friday and Saturday thing it always was. Read Isaiah 66:23….Shabbat each week. The diluted thing of Sundays, in God’s own ways and time, will someday cease to exist, and those who live through those terrible times and judgements, will worship God on Shabbat….each week.
Until next week
B’Shalom
Rabbi Mark Howard
markhoward2012@gmail.com