Rabbi Weinberg's Elul Thought for the Day

Thu Sept 10
Today is the twenty first day of Elul!
This morning in the Torah reading we read:
אַתֶּ֨ם נִצָּבִ֤ים הַיּוֹם֙ כֻּלְּכֶ֔ם , You are all standing this day
Rashi says: Why is parashat Nitzavim juxtaposed to the curses [in parashat Ki Tavo]? Because when Israel heard these ninety-eight curses [delineated in Ki Tavo], besides the forty-nine [curses] stated in Leviticus (26:14-38), they turned pale, and said, “Who can possibly endure these?” [Thereupon,] Moses began to appease them [as follows]: You are… standing this day: You have provoked the Omnipresent to anger many times, yet He has not made an end to you. Indeed, you still exist before Him [“standing… before the Lord”]. We mess up time and time again but, B”H, we are still here...standing… and able to ask hashem for forgiveness once again, able to work on improving ourselves once again, and able to make the most of our time here on earth.  As much as we must be humbled by our mistakes and humbled before the infinity of Hashem, He also gives us license to stand tall and realize that if we are still here...we are here for a reason. Take a moment today to think about why YOU are here, what YOU bring to the table, what YOU add to this amazing world.