This Shabbat we read two parashas together, ​​Nitzavim-Vayelech, and there we meet the famous encouraging words:

CHAZAK VE`EMATZ

People of Israel are camping in the desert on the edge of the land of Israel and prepare themselves to cross the Jordan river toward the promised land. Moses knows that he will die soon and is preparing his successor Joshua to assume the leadership and to face the upcoming battles they will have to deal with in the land of Israel.

“And Moses called Joshua, and said to him in front of all Israel, be strong and courageous -because you will bring this people to the land that God swore to give them”

The blessing “Strength and Courage – CHAZAK VE`EMATZ” emphasizes the strength and courage necessary to overcome the difficulties in the natural world. Just being strong is not enough; Just being brave – that’s not enough either. The combination between the two is the winning combination. But during the time of the Israelites in the desert, they did not need these two, but only faith.

Everyone has a fateful moment, a time in which they pass from the stage of belief to the stage of application and execution. We cross our personal “Jordan river” to have a new experience of connecting our vision/plan/mission to our lives. We are required to take difficult tests in the natural/material world, and during the test we use everything we have learned and internalized in the world of study and faith.

Moses did not enter the land, he finished his role, but his legacy is the one that can save the people from a life that only requires “strength and courage” to a life of faith and success.

AM ISRAEL CHAY!!

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Refael Cohen