A story from our tradition comes to teach us something enduring about this week’s Torah portion — and about life, especially the life of the Jewish people.
A teacher once saw her young students playing with small sticks. “Try to break one,” she said. They snapped them easily. Then she tied several together into a bundle and handed it back. This time the children strained, but the sticks would not break.
“So it is with us as a people,” she said. “Alone, each of us can be fragile. But bound together, we are strong — almost unbreakable.”
This story, taken from Midrash Tanchuma, a collection of rabbinic wisdom compiled about 1500 years ago, explains the words that open this week’s portion, Nitzavim:
“אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם”
— Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem, you stand this day, all of you.”
Standing together is not always easy — especially in a time of rising antisemitism, when our hostages remain in captivity, and when Israel is still at war. Yet it is precisely in moments like these that the Torah’s words remind us: our strength comes from connection. We may not agree on every issue — we never have, and we never will — but we are joined by a shared story and a shared destiny.
It’s no accident that these verses return on Yom Kippur. Twice in this sacred season — first in Elul and again on the holiest day of the year — we hear this call to unity. The text reminds us that all of us were there: leaders and elders, men and women, children, strangers who joined their fate to ours, even those doing the simplest labor. Everyone stood together, ready to enter the Promised Land, listening to Moses’s final words.
This is not only history; it’s a call for us today. We cannot allow ourselves to become fragmented or fractured. And yes, this is hard. We often disagree, even about the most fundamental things. But the Torah and the sages call us to remember that, whatever comes our way, we are stronger when we stand together as one.
In the coming days, we will have the chance to live this teaching as we gather in great numbers — to pray, sing, reflect, and celebrate. Let’s make it count and let’s do it right: greet one another with a smile, be patient and considerate in parking, shuttles, and security, and take a moment to make a new friend. After all, we are bound together by a shared story and a common destiny.
May this season inspire us to meet one another with love, grace, and compassion. May we face life’s blessings and challenges with dignity, strength, and goodness. And may we always stand together.
With wishes for a sweet, healthy, peaceful, and connected new year.
Shabbat Shalom and Shanah Tovah,
Rabbi Yoshi