Vayeilech: The way to the God of Israel

Vayelech begins with a moment of deep human tenderness. Moshe Rabbeinu, the shepherd of Israel, stands before the people for the last time. He is one hundred and twenty years old, and his voice carries both the strength of a prophet and the fragility of a man preparing to part with his people. “I can no longer go forth and come in…” he tells them. Even in this final hour, his concern is not for himself but for the people and for the covenant they carry.

The transfer of leadership to Yehoshua (Joshua) is more spiritual than a political move; it is a testimony that the mission of God will never rest on one man's shoulder. This mission must be shared. The Torah had been written, sealed, and entrusted to Am Israel, placed beside the Aron HaBrit, the Ark of the Covenant. Yet, the living presence of God, the Shekhinah, would not remain because of the scroll alone, but because of God’s covenant with His chosen people. Because of that, they should walk in faithfulness.

We then hear the commandment of Hak’hel, that once every seven years, at Sukkot, all of Israel,  men, women, children, and the stranger in their midst, should gather in Jerusalem to hear the words of Torah read aloud by the king. Imagine the sound of it: a whole nation standing together under hundreds of sukkot, remembering that their true shelter is not palm branches but the love of the Almighty. This gathering was a way of binding generations to the voice of God, so that His words would guide and influence them across the centuries to follow.

But Moshe, with prophetic honesty, warns that Israel will turn aside, that idolatry and forgetfulness will lead to God’s face being hidden. This is not an abstract fact; it is the history of our people. Together with the prophecy, in the same breath, he shared a promise: “The words of this Torah shall not be forgotten from the mouths of your descendants.” Even in exile, even in darkness, the covenant remains, and the Torah continues to shape Jewish memory and identity.

This Shabbat is not only Vayelech but also Shabbat Shuvah, the Shabbat of Return, between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. It is a time of repentance, of turning hearts back to the Holy One. And for those of us who follow Yeshua the Messiah, it is also a time to remember that He is the one who leads us across the Jordan into the fullness of God’s promises. He is greater than Moshe, yet He too entrusted His words to His disciples, promising that His teaching would never fade.

Friends, the call of Vayelech and of Shabbat Shuvah is the same: do not drift, do not let the words of the covenant slip from your lips or from your heart, even in the moments you feel that you failed Him. Instead, gather as one people, strengthen one another, and walk after Yeshua, who is both our Torah made flesh and our High Priest who intercedes before the Father. In Him, we find the true return, true forgiveness, true kaparah (atonement). Yeshua is the way back to the God of Israel.