Please stand. Atem nitzavim. You stand. All of you this day. 

“You stand this day, all of you, before Hashem your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer— to enter into the covenant of Hashem your God, which Hashem your God is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions; to the end that They may establish you this day as Their people and be your God, as Hashem promised you and as They swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before Hashem our God and with those who are not with us here this day.” 

You may be seated. This is a powerful moment. A covenantal moment. Past, Present and Future. That’s us. That’s why I had you stand. You belong here. All of you.  

What does it mean to stand? I think it means to be fully present.  

This word here is nitzavim. You might have expected omdim, like the word amidah, the standing portion of our service, or amud, the podium, the reading stand.  Nitzavim  comes from the root meaning stable, firm, fixed in place. It isn’t a casual or tentative pose. You had to choose to do it. Teshuvah is also something you have to choose to do. It begins with the act of standing still — very still — in the presence of God and community. We stand fully present and firmly planted in these relationships – not hiding, or preparing to flee. Fully present. 

On Monday night we begin the new year. There is always some trepidation any time we enter a new year. That maybe why the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is called the Yamim Noraim, The Days of Awe. Noraim carries with it a sense of fear and trembling. There is much at stake with a new year, any new year. This year, in reading my colleagues’ comments, and in listening to some of yours seems especially fraught. 

Deuteronomy and the seven weeks of consolation come to reassure you. It is going to be OK. I can’t tell you exactly how. I can’t solve some of the big problems of the world. G-d will take us back in love. There is always hope. 

Together on Monday, we will, for better or worse, (that’s covenantal language too, like a marriage ceremony), walk through the gateway of the new year 5786. For some it will come with relief. This year is finally over. For others it may have that sense of fear and trembling. As Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, the head of Hebrew College asks, “For many of us this year, the weight of this moment for our people feels almost crushing — the gateway crowded and cluttered with the debris of collective grief, guilt, and mutual recriminations. How do we begin to pass through? How do we keep walking – alone and together – through the gateway of this new year?”  

Walking is a part of the equation. Walking brings us hope. Walking we are moving forward. Or perhaps like Dory’s song in Finding Nemo, “Just Keep Swimming.” It expresses Dory’s pep talk to Marlan about their difficult journey. The quote is a mantra for perseverance, encouraging one to keep moving forward and not giving up, even when life is overwhelming or challenging.   

As Rabbi Cohen Ainsfeld teaches, there is another instance of this root. Nitzavim. When Sodom and Gemorah are about to be destroyed, Lot and his wife are told to flee and not look back. Lot’s wife does look back and is turned into a netziv melach, a pillar of salt. “She is still “standing” — but no longer present. Frozen in her grief for all that has been lost, she becomes nothing but salt – the residue of tears. She is a pillar of dry tears, without the water that allows sadness to flow through us; that allows us to continue to move – even through grief and loss – to renewed life.” 

We cannot be paralyzed. We must continue to move forward, into the Promised Land. 

“You stand today, all of you, kulchem–before Adonai your God.” It calls out to each of us, addressing our unspoken fears. “Yes!” It says, “You belong here.” Whether you feel beloved or betrayed, whether you feel at the center of the community or at its margins, we all stand here together. Each of us and all of us – in our endless complexity and interconnection.” 

This portion tells us that the Instruction, the Teaching, the mitzvah is not too hard for us. It is not too baffling. It is neither in the heavens nor beyond the sea.  

“See, I set before you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity…. I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live—” 

Choosing life is important. One of our central commands. Our tradition teaches that to save one life is to save the world. We just ordered a plaque with that saying for the new AED. Today I want to talk about another aspect. And this one needs to come with a trigger warning. I will be talking about suicide and that can be hard for some. If you need to get up, walk around, that’s fine. You need to talk care of yourself. 

September is Suicide Prevention Month. In Elgin this past week I am aware of two suicides. The numbers continue to increase as people experience more despair and less access to mental health services.  

According to NAMI the national statistics are: 

1 in 20 U.S. adults (5%) have serious thoughts of suicide each year.
About 1 person dies by suicide in the U.S. every 11 minutes.
79% of all people who die by suicide in the U.S. are male.*
Although more women* than men attempt suicide, men are 4x more likely to die by
suicide. 

I am so proud that we have a local chapter of NAMI meeting in our building once a month.  

It used to be true that people did not want to ask someone if they were feeling suicidal, afraid that it might plant the idea. Now we know better and it is OK to ask. NAMI says it this way: 

“With one conversation, asking someone how they’re really doing — and being ready to truly listen — can save lives. Because here’s what we know: No one has to face this alone. Help exists. Healing is possible. And all it can take is for one person to start a conversation.” 

That’s about standing together, all of us. That’s about loving our neighbors as ourselves. That’s about choosing life.  

This may be one of the most important things I have ever said to you: 

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. You do not have to go it alone.  

“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world. Jack Layton 

Collectively we can root out despair.  

A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair. Abraham Joshua Heschel

Collectively, all of us standing together in community, we can do it. May this be a sweet new year, where we just keep standing and moving forward.