NITZAVIM, DEVARIM 29:9-31:30
In this week's parsha we hear among other things:
When we stand before Hashem, we stand as one people, the Klal Yisrael, together in unity.
We will be exiled, but Hashem will gather us in and return us to our Land. Fast forward : We have already returned; redemption has begun.
Torah knowledge is not remote or distant, but is close at hand.
We have free choice, either to reap the benefits of keeping Hashem's commandments or to not walk in His ways and be subject to the curses. It is your call: choose life or choose death.
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In Parshat Nitzavim at 29:9-14: Moses gathered all the Israelites—men, women, and children—to enter them into a covenant with Hashem. This covenant established us as Hashem’s exclusive nation.
The covenant, Moses explained, was not limited to those who were physically present on that day; rather, it included all future generations of Jews as well. That means you and me.
The question arises as to what is the right of Hashem to commit future generations, let alone children, to the obligations of His covenant?
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In Parshat Nitzavim at 30:11-14, Moshe enjoins us to follow the mitzvot, informing us that “it is not beyond you, nor is it remote from you. It is not in heaven . . . It is not across the sea . . . Rather, it is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it.”
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In Parshat, NITZAVIM there is a curious phenomenon that occurs at 29:28, and all in all in about ten places in the Chumash. These are the dots or nekudot that appear over a letter or word or words. In in our case it is the nekudot that appear over the words "for us and for our children until...".
הַנִּ֨סְתָּרֹ֔ת לַֽיהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ וְהַנִּגְלֹ֞ת ֹלָֹ֤נוֹּ ֹוֹּלְֹבָֹנֵֹ֨יֹנֹוּ֨ עַד־עוֹלָ֔ם לַֽעֲשׂ֕וֹת אֶת־כָּל־דִּבְרֵ֖י הַתּוֹרָ֥ה הַזֹּֽאת
“The hidden things belong to the Lord, our God, but the revealed things are for us and to our children forever: to do all the words of this Torah”.
What do we make of these nekudot? Is it Hashem's way of calling our attention to a particular passage?
Perhaps as some believe they were put there by a personage in authority such as Ezra the Scribe, who is likened to Moshe Rabbeinu.
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In the Parsha at 30:19 we are told to choose life:
וּבָחַרְתָּ, בַּחַיִּים--לְמַעַן תִּחְיֶה, אַתָּה וְזַרְעֶךָ
“…choose life, that you may live, you and your seed;”
This statement is very timely in light of the approaching High Holydays.
Look at the word “חַיִּים”. The letters חַם meaning warmth surround the double yud that stands for Hashem. When you are alive with warmth, you have Hashem within you.
Whether you hold by the Ramban who says that the Mitzvah referred to is doing T’sheuvah or you agree with Rashi that the Mitzvah is to abide by the entire Torah, it is well within our grasp.
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In the Haftarah portion at Isaiah 63:9, the Prophet says that because of Hashem’s love and pity He will redeem us.
בְּאַֽהֲבָת֥וֹ וּבְחֶמְלָת֖וֹ ה֣וּא גְאָלָ֑ם וַֽיְנַטְּלֵ֥ם וַֽיְנַשְּׂאֵ֖ם כָּל־יְמֵ֥י עוֹלָֽם
“with His love and with His pity He redeemed them, and He will bear them, and He will carry them for all the days of the world”.
What exactly is redemption?
In today's vernacular: To redeem something, is to get something out of hock.
For the Jew, the Land of Israel is his native country. For the Jew, Exile is having been barred, sent out from or dispersed from his native country. For the Jew, his Exile results from religious, political and punitive reasons. The Jew in the Diaspora is a Jew in Exile, and he awaits a return to his Land. HE AWAITS REDEMPTION.
Redemption is an essential concept in Judaism. In Judaism, redemption (ge'ulah, גְאוּלָה) refers to God redeeming or freeing us from our exiles, starting from the first exile, our slavery in Egypt (BT, Tractate Rosh Hashanah 11b). This form of redemption is called “Exilic Redemption”. There is a concept of a Final Redemption in the belief system of mainstream Orthodoxy that considers us to be currently in a state of exile. When we are redeemed or freed by God from the current Exile, we will return to our Land and as a consequence owe Him a debt of gratitude.
Redemption also applies to individuals or groups: an Israelite slave, Jewish captives, and the firstborn son. It is from these three cases that the concept of exilic redemption is derived because Jews are considered God's 'firstborn' derived from Jacob, and Jews are God's slaves forever.
Theologically, I am currently considered held captive by mainstream Orthodoxy even though I reside in the modern state of Israel.. Mainstream Orthodoxy aside, for me Redemption is well underway.
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In a Haftarah passage from Isaiah 63, we see Hashem’s anger and punishment of the nations that have oppressed Israel. The trampling of grapes, the grapes of wrath, is a metaphor for their punishment.
Here, the crushed grapes symbolizes the blood that will come from His wrath. Essentially, we learn about Hashem bestowing vengeance and justice upon peoples who deserve punishment.
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The Hebrew verb haqhêl הַקְהֵ֣ל, "assemble" comes the Mitzvah Hakhel in Deuteronomy 31:10–12:
"At the end of every seven years, at an appointed time, in the Festival of Sukkot the year of Shemitah. When all Israel comes to appear before the Lord, your G‑d, in the place He will choose, you shall read this Torah before all Israel, in their ears.
Assemble the people: the men, the women, the children, and your stranger in your cities..."
This is timely: We are entering a shemitah at Rosh Hashanah.
The Hakhel ceremony was conducted on the first day of Chol HaMoed Sukkot, Trumpets would sound and a large wooden platform was erected. The king would sit on this platform and all in attendance would gather around him.
The High Priest, who would present a Torah scroll to the king The king began the reading with the same blessings over the Torah that are recited before every Aliyah in synagogues today.
The reading consisted of the following sections from the Book of Deuteronomy:
From the beginning of the book through Shema Yisrael (6:4);
The second paragraph of the Shema (11:13-21);
"You shall surely tithe" (14:22-27);
"When you have finish tithing" (26:12-15);
The section about appointing a king (17:14-20);
The blessings and curses (28:1-69).
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This week, the 23rd of Elul is the Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Sholomo Carlebach, Z'L. Have a taste of this spiritual genius:
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I
NITZAVIM
1-WHO WERE THE WOODCHOPPERS AND
WATER -CARRIERS ?
CANAANITES WHO JOINED THE JEWISH PEOPLE
UNDER FALSE PRETENSE (29-10)
2-WHY CAN HASHEM NEVER SWAP THE
JEWISH PEOPLE TO ANOTHER NATION ?
BECAUSE HASHEM SWORE TO THEIR ANCESTORS
NEVER TO DO SO (29-12)
3-WHAT TWO CITIES WERE DESTROYED
ALONG WITH SoDOM AND GOMORRAH ?
ADMAH AND TSEVOYIM (29-22)
4-WHERE IS THE TORAH NOT TO BE
FOUND ?
TORAH NOT TO BE FOUND IN HEAVEN OR
ACROSS THE OCEAN (30-12--15)
5-WHERE IS THE TORAH TO BE FOUND?
IT IS VERY CLOSE TO YOUR MOUTH AND
YOUR HEART(30-12---15)
6-WHEN AND WHERE DID THE JEWISH
PEOPLE BECOME CULPABLE FOR EACH OTHER'S SIN ?
WHEN THEY CROSSED THE JORDAN AND
ACCEPTED THE OATH ON MOUNT EBAL AND GERIZIM (30-28)
7-HOW IS A SIN COMPARED TO A DISEASE
?
DISEASE UNTREATED AFFECT THE BODY , A
SIN NOT CORRECTED AFFECT THE SOUL ?
8-WHY ARE THERE 11-DOTS OVER THE
WORDS "FOR US AND OUR CHILDREN "?
11-DOTS CORRESPOND TO THE 11-CURSES
MENTIONED ON HAR EIVAL AND 11-KETORES
9-WHEN IN HISTORY WERE NON-JEWS
DENIED THE PRIVILEGE TO CONVERT ?
AMON, MOAV, CANANIM, GIVONIM , AND CUSIM
10-HOW IS THE SATAN A "MASTER
OF ILLUSIONS " ?
IT DEPICTS THE TORAH WAY OF LIFE AS
BEING HARD AND DIFFICULT
11-WHY DID YONAH INITIALLY REFUSED
THE MISSION TO REPROVE NINVEI ?
LEST THEIR REPENTANCE BE USED AS AN
ACCUSATION AGAINST THE JEWS
12-WHICH WERE THE WORST SINS
COMMITTED BY KINGS ACHAV, YERAVAM , AND
MENASHE ?
THEY WERE ALL GUILTY OF AVODAH ZARAH
13-WHEN WILL THE JEWISH PEOPLE GET
THE ENTIRE ERETZ YISROEL ?
WHEN WE ARE UNIFIED AND COMMITTED TO
KEEP THE TORAH
14-WHY IS THERE A LARGE LAMED IN
PASUK (29-27) ?
30 REPRESENTS THE 30 GENERATIONS FROM
ABRAHAM UNTIL WE WERE EXPELLED FROM THE LAND
15-HOW MANY PERAKIM IN TANACH,
MISHNAYOS, AND SHULCHAN ARUCH ?
TANACH = 929, // MISHNAYOS = 524 ,
// SHULCHAN ARUCH - 1,705 CHAPTERS
16-WHEN DID A WHOLE GROUP ON
NON-JEWS CONVERT TO JUDAISM ?
SAILORS AND PASSENGERS ABOARD YONAH'S
BOAT WHEN THEY EXPERIENCED THE MIRACLE
17-WHY IS THE WORD "COINCIDENCE
" NOT IN THE JEWISH LEXICON ?
LIFE CONSISTS OF DIVINE PLAN AND
SUPERVISION AND NOTHING ELSE
COINCIDENCE IS DEFINED AS MIKREH WHICH
STANDS FOR ((RAK M HASHEM ))
18-HOW CAN WE CLING TO HASHEM ?
TALMUD TORAH AND BY CLINGING TO TORAH SCHOLARS
19-WHAT IS A SINNER TOLD ON THE WAY
TO HIS EXECUTION ?
A SINNER IS ADVISED TO SAY VIDUY (LIFE -
SPANNING APOLOGY )
20-WHICH SINS ARE MOST DIFFICULT TO
DO TESHUVA FROM ?
RECHILUS, LASHON HARA, ANGER,
PERVERSE THOUGHTS, BEFRIEND THE WICKED
21-WHICH
MITZVAH PROTECTS FROM SUFFERING AND PUNISHMENT ?
TESHUVA IS LIKE A SHIELD TO WARD OFF
PUNISHMENT AND TROUBLES
22-WHO IS A GREATER TZADIK OR A BAAL
TESHUVA ?
A BAAL TESHUVA IS CLOSER TO HASHEM,
TASTING THE PLEASURE OF SIN AND LEAVING
IT
23-MUST WE SPECIFY OUR SINS WHEN
ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS ?
IT IS PREFERABLE THAT WE ENUMERATE OUR SINS WHEN ASKING FORGIVENESS
24-WHICH 2-THINGS CAN STOP THE
CURSES AND HELP KLAL YISROEL PERSEVERE ?
THE KEDUSHA IN SHACHARIT AND THE KADDISH SAID AFTER LEARNING OF AGGADAH
25-WHY IS THE RAMCHAL BURIED RIGHT
NEXT TO RABBI AKIVA ?
SOME SAY RAMCHAL LIVED 40 YEARS TO
CORRECT THE FIRST 40-YEARS OF RABI AKIVA
26-WHY DOES THE RAMBAM PUT HILCHOS
TESHUVA AFTER HILCHOS AVODA ZARA ?
TO SHOW THAT A PERSON CAN ALWAYS RETURN
IN TESHUVA , NO MATTER HOW FAR
