Venue: Young Israel of Oceanside Young Israel of Oceanside

Parsha:

Nitzavim 

Collections: R' Jonathan Muskat Drashot

Description

In drasha, I reflect on a personal slip of the tongue that revealed how deeply ingrained our habitual associations can be. Just as our minds fall back on familiar patterns, so too our spiritual lives often default to old reflexes that don’t reflect who we aspire to be. The Torah describes two types of teshuva: one born of pain and exile, and one born of love and gratitude. Rosh Hashanah calls us to the second - to reshape our inner reflexes so that our natural responses come from pride, joy, and closeness to Hashem. True teshuva means more than fixing mistakes; it means transforming our instincts, so that our reflexes themselves reflect faith, love, and devotion to God.