Friday, September 19, 2025/27 Elul, 5785

Friday, September 19, 2025/27 Elul, 5785

Parashat Nitzavim Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20

Dear TBE Community,

As we are saying goodbye to the parting year, in the Torah, Moses standing on the banks of the Jordan River is wrapping up his long goodbye speech to the Jewish people. And he imparts to them two very important messages:

וְלֹא אִתְּכֶם לְבַדְּכֶם אָנֹכִי כֹּרֵת אֶת־הַבְּרִית הַזֹּאת וְאֶת־הָאָלָה הַזֹּאת׃

I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone,

כִּי אֶת־אֲשֶׁר יֶשְׁנוֹ פֹּה עִמָּנוּ עֹמֵד הַיּוֹם לִפְנֵי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר אֵינֶנּוּ פֹּה עִמָּנוּ הַיּוֹם׃

but both with those who are standing here with us this day before our God Adonai and with those who are not with us here this day. (Deuteronomy 29:13-14)

Torah was given not only to the generation of the desert and the generation that was standing with Moses in those final days of his leadership, but with everyone, with all the generations that will be in the future, us, who are alive today and those who will come after us. This is an empowering idea, I believe especially for our younger community members, the students in Torah School and our Youth programs, but also for everyone, all of you standing at the threshold of 5786, all of you who are part of Temple Beth El (and the larger Jewish nation). One of the things I am passionate about as an individual and as a rabbi is to encourage everyone to immerse themselves in Torah and to find a way that works for them to take ownership of the tradition. I look forward to being a study partner for each of you in the new year, be it in a class, at services, on a hike, or at a community event, you name it. We can all reach Torah, because, and that is the second important message Moses imparts, in Deuteronomy 30:11-14:

לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲלֶה־לָּנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה׃

It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”

וְלֹא־מֵעֵבֶר לַיָּם הִוא לֵאמֹר מִי יַעֲבׇר־לָנוּ אֶל־עֵבֶר הַיָּם וְיִקָּחֶהָ לָּנוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵנוּ אֹתָהּ וְנַעֲשֶׂנָּה׃

It is not beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”

כִּי־קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשֹׂתוֹ

No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.

The command “to observe” doesn’t land easily on some. And while I like to think that we all strive to observe certain rules in our daily lives, laws and just decency, and that therefore observing certain Torah commandments is just another way of giving structure and meaning to my life, I respect that religious observance is for every individual to decide in their private realm. So, I want to shift the focus from observing in the sense of “upholding laws” to contemplating, as in “looking at something”: When we study Torah, when we take classes, when we read and decode the prayers or engage in any other way of Jewish education, we contemplate Torah in our mouth and in our heart. We bring Torah down from heaven to our earthly realm, we pull it from beyond the horizon to us on the beach.

The verb נִצָּבִים nitzavim, translated as standing, has an interesting root. The standing that is implied is not the deferential standing of the Amidah, ע-מ-ד, ayin, mem, dalet, but a “defiant standing,” a standing that is ready to act, to take ownership, that is ready to reach up to the heavens and beyond the sea. The same root also gives the word that means “to take up place,” as in planting shoots into the soil, as in planting a tree. A tree that can spread roots and grow. Like Torah, a tree of life, עֵץ חַיִּים הִיא etz chayim hi, for all those who hold on to it, who contemplate it. I look forward to the many happy trails, the many happy sea voyages we’ll embark on together in 5786.

Turn us to You, Adonai and we shall return; renew us as in days of old.

Shana tova umetuka – A good and sweet new year.
Rabbi Julia Knobloch
rabbiknobloch@bethelsp.org

More Torah Tidbits

Hadas Cootware

Torah School Coordinator

Hadas Cootware has been teaching Hebrew and Jewish Studies for over a decade, joining our Temple Beth El Community in 2018. Born and raised in Israel with Hebrew as her native language, she previously served as a combat soldier and operations officer in the IDF. Drawing on her studies in acting and psychology, she published a children’s book in Hebrew, The Marshmallow Story, which focuses on delayed gratification. Outside of teaching, she is the proud mother of her son, Henry, and loves to travel.

TBEtorahschool@bethelsp.org

Ilan Davidson

Cantor

Cantor Ilan Davidson has been pleasing audiences with his singing since before he could read. At age five, he began singing with his Cantor, Philip Moddel, and hasn’t shut up since. At ten, he made his Operatic debut with the Fullerton Civic Light Opera’s production of Bizet’s Carmen, as a street urchin. Since then, he has performed roles in opera and musical theatre, performing, directing, and producing world-class productions.

Among his many accomplishments, Cantor Davidson is also known as a contemporary Jewish songwriter and performer, having delighted audiences all over the world, including Israel and Lithuania with the soulful sounds of his music. His recordings, Stained Glass (1995) and In A Hanukkah Mood (2007) are collections of original and covered songs by himself and many contemporary Jewish artists. His most recent recording, God Is In This Place (2020), is a collection of original liturgical pieces for the Friday night Shabbat Service, commissioned and written in honor of his 25th Anniversary as the Cantor of Temple Beth El.

Cantor Davidson left the stage and in 1995 joined the Temple Beth El family, in San Pedro, where, in his nearly 30 years of service, he has brought many new programs and much enthusiasm to all he does. Coming from a long line of Cantors, it must have been Besheret for Cantor Davidson, although talented in all areas of musical performance, to finally settle down into his career as Hazzan for Temple Beth El in San Pedro, California. In 2007, Cantor Davidson founded a new foundation, KindredSPIRITS, producing an annual world humanitarian aid event. KindredSPIRITS premiered on June 5, 2008 at Walt Disney Concert Hall, adding that prestigious concert hall to the ever growing list of venues around the world, where Davidson has performed. During the 10 years of humanitarian events, Global KindredSPIRITS, Inc., as an official 501©3, raised awareness and close to $500,000 for its beneficiaries over the decade.
As a past president of the South Coast Interfaith Council, Ilan fought for tolerance and understanding of ALL faiths in a difficult climate. For the past 7 years, Cantor Davidson has been service as an LA County Commissioner, representing the 4th District on the Human Relations Commission, where he currently serves as President. Whether it is raising his voice for justice, Hazzanut, Pop, Opera, Musical Theatre, or folk music, Cantor Ilan Davidson shares his soul and genuine love in every note.

When asked about his finest accomplishment, Cantor Ilan invariably responds, “After all the great concerts, services, and roles, my finest role in life is that of husband to my beautiful wife, Jodi, and daddy to my gorgeous daughters, Jordan and Zoe.”

cantor@bethelsp.org

Office: (310) 833-2467 Ext. 106

Skip to content