In this first Torah portion of the new spiritual year, traditionally read between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur during most years, Moses prepares our spiritual ancestors for transition into new leadership (Joshua) and a new journey (into the Land of Promise).
His way of doing so speaks to us exactly now, as we begin this new year with new journeys of our own.
By Rabbi David Evan Markus
Parashat
Vayeilekh 5786 (2025)
Shanah tovah! I hope that this new year of
#StrongerTogether, our theme for 5786, is starting sweet and bright for you and your loved ones. May it be so, and may we help it be with all we are.”All we are” – poignant words at this poignant and pivotal time in the Jewish spiritual year when who we are is particularly on our hearts and minds. Who are we? Who must we become? What must we face?If we truly take these questions to heart – and I hope we do: after all, Yom Kippur is around the corner – they are sure to evoke some emotions. If so, then we’re doing it right.For Moses in this week’s Torah portion, emotional truth was exactly the point. Moses was about to transfer leadership to Joshua, and their long-wandering people, at long last, would cross the River Jordan into the Land of Promise. The “milk and honey” destination of their journey and yearning, the Land of legend, belief and disbelief, finally was in view.The first time they approached some 40 years ago, our spiritual ancestors famously were
too afraid to enter. They thought too little of themselves, and felt too comfortable with their status quo. Better to return to Egypt as slaves, they said, than face the unknown. Sacrilege!Now 40 years later, a new generation untouched by enslaving fear would try again – and to Moses, it was imperative that they succeed. After all, riding on them was the meaning of his life and the future of his people. So in this week’s Torah portion, Moses urged them not to fear enmity or enemy (
| וּנְתָנָ֥ם יהֹו”ה לִפְנֵיכֶ֑ם וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֣ם לָהֶ֔ם כְּכָל־הַמִּצְוָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוִּ֖יתִי אֶתְכֶֽם׃ חִזְק֣וּ וְאִמְצ֔וּ אַל־תִּֽירְא֥וּ וְאַל־תַּעַרְצ֖וּ מִפְּנֵיהֶ֑ם כִּ֣י ׀ יהו׳׳ה אֱלֹהֶ֗יךָ ה֚וּא הַהֹלֵ֣ךְ עִמָּ֔ךְ לֹ֥א יַרְפְּךָ֖ וְלֹ֥א יַעַזְבֶֽךָּ׃ וַיִּקְרָ֨א מֹשֶׁ֜ה לִיהוֹשֻׁ֗עַ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר אֵלָ֜יו לְעֵינֵ֣י כָל־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ חֲזַ֣ק וֶאֱמָץ֒ כִּ֣י אַתָּ֗ה תָּבוֹא֙ אֶת־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֧ע יהו”ה לַאֲבֹתָ֖ם לָתֵ֣ת לָהֶ֑ם וְאַתָּ֖ה תַּנְחִילֶ֥נָּה אוֹתָֽם׃ וַיהו׳׳ה ה֣וּא ׀ הַהֹלֵ֣ךְ לְפָנֶ֗יךָ ה֚וּא יִהְיֶ֣ה עִמָּ֔ךְ לֹ֥א יַרְפְּךָ֖ וְלֹ֣א יַעַזְבֶ֑ךָּ לֹ֥א תִירָ֖א וְלֹ֥א תֵחָֽת׃ | YHVH will give them to you, and you will do with them as with the mitzvah I commanded you. Be strong and courageous – do not fear or dread them – for it is YHVH your God who will go with you, not fail you or leave you. Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: “Be strong and courageous, for you will come with this people into the Land that YHVH swore to their ancestors to give them, and you will inherit it for them. For YHVH is the One who goes before you. God will be with you, and will not fail you. God will not fail you or leave you. So do not fear or be dismayed.” |
Today we might use different language, but Moses’ point stands.
We know that fear is hard-wired into the human experience – and that sometimes, fears about confronting ourselves can be the most scary things of all. A Moses living today might say something like what Marianne Williamson said, or Nelson Mandela said, or any leader worth their inner salt might say:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.”
“In calling his people to be “strong and courageous” and telling Joshua to be likewise, Moses couldn’t give them what they did not already possess. Williamson and Mandela could give their readers and listeners light they did not already have. In the Wizard of Oz, the Cowardly Lion’s morality tale (uh, morality tail?) was precisely that he already possessed the courage – literally heart-ness (from the French, cœur–age) – that he most sought from the Wizard. The Cowardly Lion already had all the courage he needed to face his fears.
So do we. So must we. Especially in these precious days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we already have all the strength and courage we need to face and transcend our old fears about ourselves, and rise up toward the best selves we must become. Our souls, that bit of Moses within each of us, call us to do just that.
The world urgently needs us to listen. Be “strong and courageous,” and enter now the Land of Promise of your best self – the light this broken world awaits you to shine. Shanah tovah.
David Evan Markus 