THE ROAD TO HELL AND THE EASY WAY

Parashat Nitzavim - Vayeilekh

Torah: Deuteronomy 29:9 – 31:30

Haftarah: Isaiah 61:10 - 63:9 (Seventh Haftarah of Consolation)
Elul 23, 5783 / September 8-9, 2023
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This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.

This d'var torah is offered in loving memory of my grandmother, Cora Slome, z'l, whose yahrzeit falls on Thursday, Elul 28. Y’hi zikhronah liv’rakhah – her memory is a blessing.

This d'var torah is offered in memory of Rabbi Meier Schimmel, z'l, whose yahrzeit falls on Tuesday, Elul 26. Y’hi zikhro liv’rakhah – his memory is a blessing.

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Lunch and Learn meets Mondays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live. 
We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. On Monday, September 11, we'll be at BT Shabbat 115b, page 184 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 – "תנו רבנן ויהי בנסוע הארון"  - 'Our Rabbis taught:" And it came to pass, when the ark set forward...”'
Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at: https://hebrewbooks.org/9630   
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents  
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
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My Cheshbon Hanefesh Worksheet 5784 Edition is now available at my blog:
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THE ROAD TO HELL AND THE EASY WAY

“For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not hidden from you; it is not far away. It is not in Heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go to Heaven and get it for us, so that we might hear it and do it?’ For this matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” Deuteronomy 30:11-12, 14

Moses Looking at the Promised Land Shortly Before His Death (Wikimedia Commons)

R. Nachman of Breslov: “Only the path to Gehinnom (hell) is difficult and bitter. I see people spending restless days and sleepless nights plotting how to go about sinning, and afterwards there is regret, which continues for the rest of their lives. But the way to the Garden of Eden is an easy one, short and pleasant for those who walk it.”

Sometimes we make our lives too difficult. We devote time and energy trying to avoid doing the right thing, making excuses for bad acts, compromising principles, rationalizing our way out of truth, justice and righteousness. An acquaintance of mine, an ex-convict, once told me that the most difficult part of his criminal life was trying to remember all of the lies he had told, keeping them straight in his mind, not getting caught in the web of dishonesty he had spun. It would have been so much easier to be honest.

Rebbe Nachman teaches that same lesson in the context of following the ways of the Torah. With observance, with honesty, with righteousness, there are no regrets, no lies, and no guilt. In the long run, it’s easier to be a mensch (a decent person) than it is to be a rasha (an evildoer). The Torah, the Tree of Life – “its ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace.” Proverbs 3:17

Shabbat shalom!

L’shanah tovah u’metukah tikateivu v’tichateimu. May you be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet year.

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Rabbi Emeritus, Temple B’nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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