Parshat Nitzvim
by Yosef Silverman

The Parsha begins with Moshe telling Bnei Yisrael "you are here standing today" ("atem nitzavim hayom"). Rashi explains that Moshe was about to die and he was about to pass the leadership to Yehoshua.

In order to do this, Moshe gathered Bnei Yisrael and made a matzeivah, "standing ceremony", in order to tell them to remain faithful to Hashem after his passing. A matzeivah was made when the leadership passed from Yehoshua to Shmuel Hanavi and from Shmuel to Shaul. Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Bloch asks why it was necessary for Moshe to make a standing ceremony. Why could he not have accomplished the same goal if the people were sitting? Rabbi Bloch says that the word "stand" does not actually refer to standing up, rather it connotes remaining in one place (standing still).

Life, especially before the yomim noraim, is extremely hectic. We are constantly running around without really thinking about where we came from, what our goals are, or how were going to achieve them. We go through the same daily routine of waking up, davening, learning, eating, sleeping and getting up the next day just to do the same thing all over again.

If we truly have the desire to succeed we need to have direction. According to Rabbi Bloch, that is why Moshe Rabbeinu made Bnei Yisroel come to a standstill. Moshe used the great occasion of the transfer of leadership to show how Bnei Yisroel were at a major turning point in their lives as a nation. At this point, they needed to stop everything else that was going on around them and start thinking.

Just as Bnei Yisroel went through a defining moment, here, we too go through these life changing moments. If we don't take time for self introspection between these moments and think about our past and future and what we are supposed to achieve in life, then we can easily fall into a boring routine. Furthermore, if we fall into this mundane routine, we won't reach our full potential in life. Boruch Hashem, we have an annual turning point called Rosh Hashana. Very appropriately, Chazal established that we always read parshas Nitzavim the Shabbat before Rosh Hashana. Rav Yissocher Frand tells us that maybe Chazal did this so that we look at Moshe's matzeivah as a reminder that we should come to a full stop right before the Yomom Noraim and do some serious introspection.

Have a ktiva vachatima tova