D'var Torah: Parshat Haazinu

Interestingly, this week's Parsha, Parshat Haazinu, is mostly composed of a song. Before Moshe’s death, he sings a song to Bnei Yisrael, reminding them of everything they experienced and overcame after leaving Egypt. He mentions how G-d took care of them, guided them, and kept them safe even when they sinned and may not have been deserving of His kindness. Unlike us, Moshe knew exactly when and where he would die. G-d told him as follows: “You shall die on the mountain that you are about to ascend, and shall be gathered to your kin, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his kin.” Rabbi Eliezer suggests the following : “Repent one day before your death.” How can we possibly do so when it is unknown to us when we will pass away? We are not on Mosheh’s high spiritual level. The Talmud answers as follows: one must repent every day of one’s life. One cannot procrastinate with this as any day can be their last day, as unfortunate as that is. This is especially fitting as Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgement, is approaching. Our fate and future is in God’s hands, not ours. We are not running on our own schedule. For that reason, it's incredibly important to do Teshuvah not just on Yom Kippur, but every day of our lives.

Wishing everyone an easy and meaningful fast and a G’mar Chatimah Tovah!