Standing Here, All of Us

In this sermon Rabbi Andrea Kulikovsky shows how Parashat Nitzavim embodies the heart of Progressive Judaism: everyone stands in the covenant, Torah belongs to all, and we are called to choose life. She weaves the declaration "Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem" with the principle "Lo bashamayim hi" and the call "Uvacharta bachayim" to argue that each of us must claim the Torah, add our voice, and shape our own future, inspired by feminist trailblazers like Gloria Steinem and Judith Plaskow.

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Welcome to Kolot, the podcast of The Ark Synagogue, a bold, experiential and caring Progressive Jewish community in Northwood, London.

Through sermons, reflections and conversations from across our community, Kolot explores Jewish life, learning and values in the world we live in today. Rooted in tradition and open to new perspectives, these episodes bring together voices that inspire thought, connection and belonging.

Whether you are Jewish, exploring Judaism, or simply looking for meaningful reflection, you are warmly welcome.

To learn more about The Ark Synagogue, visit arksynagogue.org.

This week’s Torah portion, Nitzavim, may be my favourite Torah portion.

And this is because, for me, it contains the heart of Progressive Judaism.

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It begins with one of the most powerful declarations of inclusion in Torah: Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem – “You stand this day, all of you.” Moses then names them: young and old, men and women, the stranger within the camp, no matter their occupation or social status. Everyone stands within the covenant. No one is excluded from this moment. Not even the generations to come.

Then, a little later, Moses says something equally radical about Torah itself: Lo bashamayim hi – “It is not in heaven.” Torah is not somewhere inaccessible, waiting for someone with special authority to bring it down to us. It is “very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart”.

The rabbis took those words very seriously. In the famous story of the Oven of Achnai, when a heavenly voice intervenes in a rabbinic disagreement, Rabbi Yehoshua stands and answers: Lo bashamayim hi. Torah is not in heaven. It has been given to us. Now we must wrestle with it, interpret it and take responsibility for what we do with it.

And then comes one of the best-known lines of Nitzavim:

Uvacharta bachayim – “Choose life.”

For me, these three ideas belong together:

we all stand within the covenant. Torah belongs to all of us. And therefore, we all have a responsibility to choose what we do with it, and how we live by it.

This week, those words have another resonance for me.

Gloria Steinem died on Wednesday. Many years ago, her book Revolution from Within was the book that introduced me to feminism. It opened a door. And through that door I eventually discovered Jewish feminism and thinkers such as Judith Plaskow.

Plaskow drew our attention to the fact that, although women may have been at Sinai, their experiences were largely absent from the telling of Sinai. She therefore insists that women reclaim themselves as “subjects and shapers of tradition”.

As the poet Merle Feld beautifully wrote in Miriam’s voice:

My brother and I were at Sinai
He kept a journal
of what he saw
of what he heard
of what it all meant to him

I wish I had such a record
of what happened to me there

It seems like every time I want to write
I can’t
(...)
My brother is so sure of what he heard
After all he’s got a record of it
Consonant after consonant after consonant

If we remembered it together
We could recreate holy time

If kulchem really means all of us, then all our voices must matter. And if Torah is lo bashamayim, then we cannot leave its interpretation to heaven, or only to the generations who came before us. We have inherited both the right and the responsibility to bring our experiences, questions and voices into the continuing Jewish conversation.

Gloria Steinem once said: “I wasn’t going to let things happen to me. I was going to direct my life.”

This is uvacharta bachayim: choosing life, the life we want to live, and taking responsibility for shaping it.

This is why I love Nitzavim so much. It allows us to do our sacred work. It tells us what I believe Progressive Judaism asks of us:

Stand here. All of you.
Claim your Torah.
Add your voice.
And choose life.

May Gloria’s memory always be a revolution.

Shabbat Shalom.

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