This week, two sections of the Torah are read: Nitzavim and Vayelech. In the first section, Nitzavim (which means "standing"), there is a verse that is difficult to understand at first glance (Deuteronomy 30:3): "The Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you. He will gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God scattered you." This verse speaks of the time of the Final Redemption, when God will lead us to the Promised Land.<\/p>\n
Now, apparently he should have said "And He will make you return" instead of "And He will return," since it sounds like God Himself is returning!.<\/p>\n
Our sages learn from this that God is with the Jewish people in every suffering of the exile to which we were sent, and when the Redemption comes, God Himself will return with the Jewish people.<\/p>\n
What does it mean that God is with us? God is everywhere! The basic idea is that even in a situation of concealment, where the Divine presence is not visible to the human eye, God is available to those who seek Him, those who truly desire to connect with Him.<\/p>\n
We all have questions. Each of us faces particular difficulties in our personal lives, and we are part of a people who have suffered throughout human history, so we have questions that remain unanswered, and we struggle to understand.<\/p>\n
We might think that this disqualifies us from connecting with God, that is, that apparently we should first resolve our existential conflicts and answer our questions, and then initiate a connection with God.<\/p>\n
However, this is not the case. And the proof is quite simple: the study of Torah, especially the Oral Torah, the Talmud, and the Midrashim, is full of questions and answers. The texts themselves are built upon questions, erroneous opinions, and discussions that have transcended the barriers of time and space: a question posed by a sage in one place in one generation can be answered by another sage in another place in a later generation (or several).<\/p>\n
Now, before studying Torah, a person must recite a blessing. If one is studying a particular question, should one recite the blessing? In other words, is the question in Torah part of the study, or is the study itself merely the answer, the accepted opinion?<\/p>\n
The answer is that in Torah, the question itself, the rejected opinion, is also Torah and the blessing must be recited before studying it.<\/p>\n
Now we can understand that having doubts and anger doesn't prevent a person from establishing and maintaining a healthy relationship with God based on observing His commandments and studying His Torah. Questioning itself is part of that relationship with God!<\/p>\n
God is with us in exile, in our sufferings and difficulties. Let us use the end of this year to strengthen our relationship with God and pray that He will bring about the Final Redemption, through His Righteous Messiah, swiftly in our days, with benevolence and mercy.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Esta semana se leen dos secciones en la Tor\u00e1: Nitzav\u00edm y Vai\u00e9lej. En la primera secci\u00f3n, Nitzav\u00edm\u00a0(que significa \"parados\"), hay un vers\u00edculo dif\u00edcil de entender a simple vista (Devar\u00edm 30:3) \"Y retornar\u00e1 Di-s tu Se\u00f1or tus cautivos y tendr\u00e1 misericordia de ti, y retornar\u00e1 y te reunir\u00e1 de entre todos los pueblos donde te esparci\u00f3… Read More \u00bbUnanswered questions<\/span><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,89,90],"tags":[950,956,968,974,942],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editoriales","category-nitzavim","category-vaielej","tag-di-s","tag-estudio","tag-mashiaj","tag-redencion","tag-tora"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/question-mark.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/avatar1400.jpeg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"castbox":{"key":"castbox","url":"","label":"CastBox","class":"castbox","icon":"castbox.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/tuviaserber.com\/en\/feed\/podcast\/rabino-tuvia-serber","embedCode":"Preguntas sin respuesta<\/a><\/blockquote>