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Nitzavim-Vayelech (2026)

Shabbat Nitzavim-Vayelech

Dvar Torah – Looking Out for Each Other
A number of years ago I was flying from Paris to New York on a stormy winter Friday. On the approach to JFK we encountered severe crosswinds and our pilot abandoned the landing, informing us instead that we’d reroute to Delta’s hub in Detroit. We were due to land an hour and a half before Shabbat came in.

Within about 30 minutes the WhatsApp group “Shomer Shabbat DL405” had been formed and 10 people who didn’t know each other from Israel, Budapest, Paris, and New York were set to be picked up at the airport by people they didn’t know from Detroit and hosted by them for Shabbat.

In this week’s portion we are taught about the concept of Areivut, literally that all of the Jewish People are guarantors for one another. In the strictest sense, this means that the covenant between G-d and the Jewish people is not personal but communal and that we hold a communal responsibility to keep it – or in the words of the Medrash we are literally all in the same boat and if some of us damage that boat we’ll all be in trouble.

However, over the centuries, of our own accord we have collectively chosen to expand that concept as an umbrella for many Mitzvoth concerning our brothers and sisters in need. If you’re stuck on the highway with motor trouble a Jew will come help you. If you are stuck somewhere for Shabbat a Jew will host you. And if you’re trapped in a hostile country, persecuted, or in a danger – Jews will come save you – even at great personal risk. As someone told me on that flight “A Jew is never alone”.

G-d has told us that we are guarantors for each other and we have told G-d, indeed we are. We’re trying. As a people we may not always have been successful in keeping every last little letter of the Torah, but look at us and see – a Jew is never alone.

Shabbat in/out times
Yerushalayim 18:20/19:35
Tel-Aviv 18:39/19:37
Dubai 18:17/19:08
Paris 20:09/21:13
New York 19:05/20:03
Denver 19:08/20:05
San Jose CR 17:25/18:14
Link to more Shabbat times

Shabbat Shalom!



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