Drash Cards for Nitzavim-VaYelech (5770)

by Marc Mangel

• We are getting ready for Rosh HaShanah.  In both VaYikra (23:24) and B’Midbar (29:1) we read about Truah.

• But in Zechariah (9:14)  we read “And the Lord shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth like the lightning: and the Lord God shall blow the shofar”.  What does it mean that God will blow the shofar?  Here’s an answer from the 5th Lubavitcher Rebbe.

•  When we blow the shofar “Tekiah-Shevarim-Tekiah” we send a cry of spiritual distress that goes up to God.

• A Tekiah comes back to us from God. But then what?

• The answer is in Psalm 118:5 “From out of distress, I called to God; God answered me with abounding relief”

• As we go into the High Holidays, we need more than a sense of guilt = I have done something wrong

• We need a feeling of spiritual distress = discomfort about what we have done and/or painful self-reproach

• When we bring our distress to the shofar service, God will answer us by energizing us for real personal change