Yesterday, on the last Shabbat of 5779, we had a baby naming. It was perfect. What a great way to end the old year and begin the new. Sometimes, everything works. Here are my remarks:

Today’s the day I take my stand, the future’s mine to hold.
Commitments that I make today are dreams from days of old.
I have to make the way for generations come and go.
I have to teach them what I’ve learned so they will come to know.
That the old shall dream dreams, and the youth shall see visions,
And our hopes shall rise up to the sky.
We must live for today; we must build for tomorrow.
Give us time, give us strength, give us life.
Give us time, give us strength, give us life.

Debbie Friedman, z”l

Atem nitzavim hayom. You stand here today. All of you. Before the Lord your G-d, your heads of your tribes, your elders, your officers with all the people of Israel. Your wives. Your children—your tapchem—your little ones, the strangers in your gates, the woodchoppers and the water drawers. All means all.

When Morgan and I planned the date for this, we didn’t quite realize just how appropriate this morning would be. She just wanted to make sure to enter the new year with this detail done. Checked off her to do list.

But it is right there in the portion. All of you are standing here. Even the little one. We are all created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d. All means all. To enter into the covenant. This covenant. It gives us the recipe for naming a child.

Always the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah. Always the whole parsha. We have a choice. We can choose to stand here. Or not. Morgan and Ryan on behalf of the little one are choosing to be here. And so are the little one’s other relatives and friends. We are acting out this portion in very profound ways.

You are all standing here…you leaders of this congregation, your elders, your husbands and wives, your little ones, even the strangers among you. These very words. This very day. How wonderful.

Nitzvaim, Strong’s Biblical Dictionary says it means: to stand, take one’s stand, stand upright, be set (over), establish. You are establishing a Jewish home with this service. You are standing upright and being proud of that heritage, that very precious legacy.

Stand up. Stand for. Stand over. Stand by. This is about standing up and being counted. About not being a bystander but rather an upstander. It is about standing for something of value.

When do we stand? We stand to show respect. When an elder walks into the room. When the Torah is raised, we are standing. We stand when something is important.

But what about those woodchoppers and water drawers. Who are they? How do they count? Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson at the Ziegler School in Los Angeles teaches that they are each of us. That we should see woodcutters as a metaphor for possible abuse in our interpersonal relationships. We cut down people, prove them), or shape them into what we want them to be. It happens in our families, in our synagogues, in our work world and in our wider communities. “Instead of chipping away at the edges to see what is truly beneath a person’s exterior, we (often by accident) cut too much, creating scraps that are difficult to reassemble.” He reminds us that we do this with G-d as well.

He understands water drawers: as a metaphor, a symbol of inspiration, “waiting for us to engage them, learn from them, be nourished and satiated by them, and to ultimately compliment one another. This suggests that our relationships go two ways. We give, and we receive (and the two are not always equal). There are limits, though. A well can dry up if one draws too much without replenishing it, offering something in return. But finding that balance is not so simple.”

The first letter of our portion is “Alef” the first letter of the Alef Bet. The first letter of the first 10 Commandment. The Zohar teaches that Alef, contains the entire Torah. But not everyone is ready to hear the gentle sound of alef, People are only able to hear what they are ready to hear. G-d speaks to each of us in a personal way, taking into consideration our strength wisdom and preparation. The Midrash even tells us that G-d’s voice is so powerful and frightening that G-d tempers it by creating different sounds for each person.

There was even a different sounding voice just for the ears of small children.

In a d’var Torah for young Jewish educators and parents we learn that this is yet another message here: “It is important not only to show up but to welcome others to do so as well. The above statement may be read as Moses speaking of future generations who are also subject to the covenant. However, it reminds us that physical proximity is not the only reason that people may not be present. Moses could also be speaking of those who are disenfranchised, who are oppressed, who, perhaps, might not feel that they have the choice to show up. We all have a role in our communities and in the world at large: To continue to widen our circles and to help everyone know that they are important and that they are welcome. As parents and teachers of young children, this parashah can remind us that it is incumbent upon us to be models for our children so that they know that being present-that standing up and participating in the lives of our own family, our community and our world-is a gift to be cherished and nurtured, always. While counting our blessings, we must also remember to look outside of our own lives, to do our utmost to help everyone feel heard and acknowledged and a part of the circle.” https://reformjudaism.org/nitzavim-tots

The very last group of people standing together in this portion is “with those who are not with us here this day. They are standing with us today too!

Usually, it is forward thinking, even those yet unborn, about the generations to come. Today I think it links us to the generations come and gone. How Cheryl would have loved to have been here to see this, to actively participated in this, to stand up and be counted. Look around you, Morgan and Ryan and little one. It takes a village to raise a child, all of us standing together. Feel the love that is in this room.

And the old shall dream dreams and the youth shall see visions, and their hopes shall rise up to the sky…today we are standing here, all of us, to enter into this covenant, with all of our hopes and dreams.

Later in the baby naming itself, we used an old Irish blessing that the parents found on Interfaith Family. How delightful. These are my wishes for all of you for 5780:

May the blessing of light be with you always,

Light without and light within.

May the sun shine upon you and warm your heart

Until it glows like a great fire

So that others may feel the warmth of it.

 

And may the light of your eyes

Shine like two candle lights

In a window at night bidding the wanderer

To come in out of the dark and the cold.

 

And may the blessings of the rain be upon you,

The sweet and tender rain,

May it fall upon your spirit

As when flowers spring up and fragrance fills the air.

 

And may the blessings of the great rain

Wash you clean and fair,

And may the storms always leave you stronger

And more beautiful.

 

And when the rains are over may there be clear pools of water.