Kevin Bemel ·
Do You Know How to Reach a Huge Goal?
Parsha [Passage of Scripture] Nugget [Precious Idea] Nitzavim – Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20
Sometimes the hardest part is just getting started. Especially when a goal is huge, you don’t know where to begin. Like the Children of Israel, it seems you have to able the reach Heavens to meet your objective. Parshas Nitzavim explains how to get down to business:
“Rather the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” (Deuteronomy/Devarim 30:14)
In this Sabbath’s parsha there is little time left for Moses to teach the Israelites what they need to know to live in the land. He renews the covenant, again warns against idolatry, and prophesies what will happen when the Jewish people forget these charges.
The Solution is Within You
Having spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, the Children of Israel stand on the threshold of the land of Israel. No longer will they be fed through the divine sustenance of the manna. The will have to raise crops and livestock. Perhaps it’s not so surprising that many of the people are apprehensive about their new life ahead. I can imagine being there thinking, “there must be some other part of the Torah still to be brought down from Heaven that will explain what I’m supposed to do.”
But Moses reassures them. The Torah is not in Heaven or across the sea. As the above line notes, it is in the heart of every Israelite.
The Key to Reaching Your Goal
When you face a seemingly insurmountable challenge, whether a life-changing goal or an unexpected crisis, you possess the strength to conquer it. G-d has placed steadfastness of purpose in your heart. The plan to prevail already exists. All you need is to verbalize it and take action.
Like the Children of Israel, your mind may scream you need a hero who can fly up to Heaven and secure the Creator’s assistance. It may insist you need a champion, mighty enough to swim a vast sea, who has the strength and endurance to persevere where you cannot. Both are false.
G-d endowed you with the ability to do the greatest act – have a relationship with Him. Every other challenge pales by comparison. There are 613 mitzvahs (commandments). You have a multitude of ways to begin relating to the Creator. Pick the easiest among them and begin.
When you feel frozen by the fear of starting, speak quiet affirmations to yourself, then search in your heart for a small first step. Take that step and start your journey of triumph.
How do you overcome the fear of beginning a monumental goal?
You can leave a comment on this question or ask another question below ↓
Every year beginning on Simchas Torah, the cycle of reading the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, ends and begins again. Each Sabbath a portion known as a sedra or parsha is read. It is named after the first significant word or two with which this weekly reading begins.
What verse in the Old Testament would you like to know more about? Ask a question and I will answer it in a future Parsha Nugget!
