HaShem blessed our people as we entered the Promised Land:
Hazak ve’ematz … v’anokhi eh’yeh i’makh
“Be strong and courageous, and I will be with you.”
Through those words, kol B’nei Yisrael,
The whole of Israel, was strengthened …
In partnership, in hevruta, in friendship, and in deeds.
We were transformed into a brave and courageous people,
Accepting our path without fear, aware that HaShem would never forsake us.
Pausing to count our blessings, we discovered how much we are part of one another,
Even as p’kudei revealed the obvious truth: that anakhnu is far greater than ani.
Our individual sh’leimut became our joined completeness,
Metamorphosing us into a people capable of overcoming any obstacle.
In that moment, we were no longer strangers, we had become Nitzavim:
Together in courage, united in love, standing tall before HaShem,
Secure in the knowledge that Ertez Yisrael, and her people, will endure.
This is why, in this time of unexpected endings and difficult new beginnings,
We stand with each other and say: hazak, hazak, v’nitkhazek
“From strength, to strength, and always we will grow stronger…”
