Rabbi's Sermons

Shabbat shalom!

Tonight begins Shavat Shuva. We are experiencing the period of Aseret Yemei Hateshuva – 10 days of repentance, from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. We are in the last phase prior to Yom Kippur, just a few days before the last day of forgiveness. These are the last moments of preparing our souls, something that we also recite during our prayers: "השיבנו ה 'אליך ונשובה, חדש ימינו כקדם – Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned! Renew our days as of old!” ^{Lamentations 5:21}.

At the end of this week's Parashat Vayelech, God tells Moses what will happen to the people of Israel. He knows that they will forget him, that they will continue to complain, that they will suffer under various conditions and governments, that they will suffer many difficulties. In this moment of Cheshbon Nefesh, when we review our acts and prepare for Yom Kippur, with a renewed hope for this new year, with renewed compromises, and waiting for a new future, turn to a new page, we may ask: Do we even have any opportunity to change God’s plan? Can I bring the story of my life into a new direction? Can I reach places I desired or reach others I didn't expect? And at the same time, can I keep the things I want to preserve, and continue in the same way? Is this all my unique responsibility, or is it a story already planned, something already decided and written?

The Sages, asked themselves this same question and answered in the Book of Pirkei Avot 3:15: “הכל צפוי, והרשות נתונה, ובטוב העולם נדון. והכל לפי רוב המעשה - Everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is granted, And the world is judged with goodness; And everything is in accordance with the preponderance of works”. גם וגם! – which in Israel means “also and also”, also this and also that! Both at the same time.

In other words, there are things in our lives that are expected to happen; there are things that we do not expect to change. No one is able to discover what will happen next year: the joys, the sorrows, the difficulties, the successes. It is impossible to predict the future! Sometimes it is just a matter of using common sense.

The correct question is not what will happen in the future, but what may we do to reach that future? How much will we invest in succeeding, in being happy, in doing good and being honest? How much will we allow evil to prevail, how much will we allow difficulties to overcome our lives, how much work will be done personally and how much we will worry about the society in which we live? Will we be able as well to remember the orphan and the widow, to ensure that they will also have a good year?

Let us remember what the prayer “Unetane Tokef” of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz says: “On Rosh HaShanah it is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed: This year some people will live and others will die, some more gently than others and nothing lives forever”. Within the overwhelming forces of nature and humankind, we still write our own Book of Life, and our actions are the words in it, and the stages of our lives are the chapters, and nothing goes unrecorded, ever.

Every deed counts, everything you do matters. We never know which act or word will leave an impression or tip the scale. Let us keep in mind that:

For the things that we can change, there is t’shuvah, realignment,

For the things we cannot change, there is t’filah, prayer,

For the help we can give, there is tzedakah, justice.

Let us write together a beautiful Book of Life for the Holy One to read.

May we all be inscribed in the book of good life!

Shabbat Shalom and Gmar Chatima Tova!

Shabat Shalom!

Rabbi David Laor

September 26^th 2025