The name of the Parshah, "Nitzavim," means "Standing," and it is found in Deuteronomy 29:9.
The Parshah of Nitzavim includes some of the most fundamental principles of the Jewish faith:
The unity of Israel: โYou stand today, all of you, before the Lโrd your Gโd: your heads, your tribes, your elders, your officers, and every Israelite man; your young ones, your wives, the stranger in your gate; from your wood-hewer to your water-drawer.โ
The future redemption: Moses warns of the exile and desolation of the Land that will result if Israel abandons Gโdโs laws, but then he prophesies that in the end, โYou will return to the Lโrd your Gโd . . . If your outcasts shall be at the ends of the heavens, from there will the Lโrd your Gโd gather you . . . and bring you into the Land which your fathers have possessed.โ
The practicality of Torah: โFor the mitzvah which I command you this day, it is not beyond you, nor is it remote from you. It is not in heaven . . . It is not across the sea . . . Rather, it is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it.โ
Freedom of choice: โI have set before you life and goodness, and death and evil: in that I command you this day to love Gโd, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments . . . Life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. And you shall choose life.โ
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