Remember to Look Up | Sepetember 3, 2026

See today's text here!

In this episode of The Daily Derech, Rabbi Marcus Rubenstein explores Parashat Nitzavim, Hilchot Tefillah, and a teaching from Menorat HaMaor about repentance and looking upward toward God.

Parashat Nitzavim focuses on the promise that God will gather the Jewish people from wherever they have been scattered and circumcise their hearts. Ramban explains this as a future time when people will naturally desire goodness, while teshuvah in the present allows us to reconnect with that inner goodness.

The Rambam discusses the requirements for a prayer quorum, explaining that the ten members and prayer leader must be considered to be in one place. Different arrangements between large and small courtyards can still constitute one group, but the halacha does not by itself resolve modern questions such as Zoom prayer.

Menorat HaMaor teaches that the sons of Korach were saved because they looked upward rather than following their father. The teaching emphasizes that everyone can turn toward God through repentance and ultimately separate themselves from sin.

Today's text: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BIi3fuljdCPzDw_CzwnfePGwINrGeyMB/view?usp=sharing

Learn more at exploringjudaism.org/thedailyderech and reach out to Rabbi Rubenstein here.