Over רפואה מן התורהHealing from the Torah
Parashat Nitzavim-Yayeilech
Deuteronomy 29:9-31:30
By Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
By Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
Over these past few weeks we have been on a journey, one that began with compassion after Tisha B’Av, a spiritual journey that is asking us to reflect on words like awareness, recognition, reunion, rebirth, and rebuilding, related to ourselves, others, and God. Walking through Elul, the month of preparation, we have reached our final week of Consolation before Rosh Hashanah that is about הַשׁלָמָה (hashlamah), or reconciliation. The word הַשׁלָמָה comes from the root word שָׁלֵם (shalaym), a word that carries the meaning of being “whole” or “complete,” even meaning “intact.” In that spirit Moses writes in Deuteronomy 29:9, “you all are standing this day all of you before the LORD your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the stranger that is in the midst of your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water,” everyone from the heads of state to the hired help, everyone stands before God “complete” and equal.
Let’s start by looking at this idea
of “standing,” or nitzavim (נִצָּבִים). A little later in this same chapter Moses speaks
of the covenant that God made with Israel with “those that stand here with
us this day … and also with those who are not here with us this day” (Dt.
26:14). Here again, the word is to
“stand” but this time it is omayd.
The word נִצָּב (nitzav) and עֹמֵד
(omayd) are to “stand” in English but their Hebrew meanings make a
difference. The word nitzav can mean
“to stand or to position oneself” whereas the word omayd will
mean “to rise or to stand up,” the former a state
of being with the later an act of doing. It is like saying “stand your ground” as
opposed to “stand and be counted.” In
the beginning of this double parshiyot Moses wants to establish that all
those who are about to enter Canaan are having their own Sinai experience. In Exodus we read that “Moses led the
people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of
the mountain” (Exodus 19:16) where they stood (וַיִּתְיַצְּבוּ)
but kept their distance (v. 17). The
root for וַיִּתְיַצְּבוּ
is יִצֵּב (yitzayv), a word that appears to be related to נִצָּב (nitzav) since it means “to stabilize or to
make firm, which is awfully similar to “to stand or to position oneself.” 40 years
apart, one community encountered Sinai and the other is about to enter the land
promised to their ancestors, each are told to stand firm in their moment.
The word נִצָּב (nitzav) can also mean, “monument” or “statue,” things that are fixed upon their foundation, which for Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel is called a “conventional image.” A “real image” for R’Heschel is likened to a Catholic crucifix, the image represents a deity, whereas the “conventional image” is like a flag, the image is symbolic for something else. In this parsha then, standing, (nitzavim,נִצָּבִים) is like the flag, it is just not standing upright per see, but standing up for something firm, like a conviction. In the world of Mussar, Rabbi Paul Cohen says one is standing (nitzavim,נִצָּבִים) upon the idea of anavah (עֲנָוָה), or humility. In Reform Judaism on Yom Kippur morning Parashat Nitzavim is read a second time. The reason according to R’Cohen is that “Yom Kippur is liturgically a moment of deep honesty, reflection and repentance,” meaning that in order to be open “to self-reflection” and be “vulnerable” a person must have anavah. R’Cohen goes on to write that anavah is not to be defined as “making oneself small,” but “recognizing that moment; to be present for it.” Anavah is not based on a person’s social or economic station in life, but the equality of the human neshoma, which again is why in this parsha Moses spoke to all from the heads of state to the hired help who in unison said וְנִשְׁמָע נַעֲשֶׂה (na’aseh v’nishma), “we well hear and we will do.” The other side of hashlamah (הַשׁלָמָה) and anavah (עֲנָוָה), reconciliation and humility, is broken communities and relationships.
In Deuteronomy 30:15 we read, “See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil,” v. 16 teaching that is based on “God’s commandments, statutes and ordinances.” It was Maimonides who taught that a person’s actions are established on הרשות בידו (harshoot b’yado), or feel-will. In Torah a person can choose to do good or bad, have life or create death. We can read the words of Deuteronomy 29:20 through that lens. It says, “the LORD shall separate him to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law.” In the book of the law we read to love others as ourselves, take care of the windows and orphans, honor the immigrant as your own, stand for the common good, show gratitude for what has been given and what will be received, do not mistreat others financially or withhold from their needs, feed the poor, show fairness and do justice, all in the backdrop of giving thanks to God for life that has been given, celebrating that with the Shabbat and other festivals. The opposite is hate, selfishness, isolation, ungratefulness, thievery, division, dishonesty, and reliance on an inflated sense of self. In the language of Torah God had no room for this type of person because it was bad for the community (see Dt. 29:19 also), and while we might use different words and ideas, it is the same, mistreatment of others and an exaltation of self with a myopic worldview will end badly, creating bad and death between self, the community, and a connection to our understanding of God. Like the generation that stood at Mt Sinai, and the generation that stood on the outskirts of Canaan east of the Jordan, today we stand about to enter 5781 with the celebration of Rosh Hashanah. How will we enter that moment, what will we bring to it? How does the idea of reconciliation fit this time of transition into a new year? These are the type of questions we are supposed to be asking right now. Last week in Ki Yavo Moses taught to offer fruits from the land upon arrival, Ibn Ezra teaching it is not the best, but the first. For Torah הַשׁלָמָה (hashlamah), or reconciliation, is not about being perfect but willing to become, something that begins with anavah, the humility to invite change and renewal. The Haftorah this week begins by saying, “I will greatly rejoice in God, my soul will exult in my God who has clothed me with the garments of salvation.” Salvation (יֶשַׁע) is the garment worn, that garment being the cloths of reconciliation and renewal, standing upon the firm foundation of our conviction for right and justice to make the world we live a better place by being better people. I hope you also think that is something to rejoice about.
The word נִצָּב (nitzav) can also mean, “monument” or “statue,” things that are fixed upon their foundation, which for Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel is called a “conventional image.” A “real image” for R’Heschel is likened to a Catholic crucifix, the image represents a deity, whereas the “conventional image” is like a flag, the image is symbolic for something else. In this parsha then, standing, (nitzavim,נִצָּבִים) is like the flag, it is just not standing upright per see, but standing up for something firm, like a conviction. In the world of Mussar, Rabbi Paul Cohen says one is standing (nitzavim,נִצָּבִים) upon the idea of anavah (עֲנָוָה), or humility. In Reform Judaism on Yom Kippur morning Parashat Nitzavim is read a second time. The reason according to R’Cohen is that “Yom Kippur is liturgically a moment of deep honesty, reflection and repentance,” meaning that in order to be open “to self-reflection” and be “vulnerable” a person must have anavah. R’Cohen goes on to write that anavah is not to be defined as “making oneself small,” but “recognizing that moment; to be present for it.” Anavah is not based on a person’s social or economic station in life, but the equality of the human neshoma, which again is why in this parsha Moses spoke to all from the heads of state to the hired help who in unison said וְנִשְׁמָע נַעֲשֶׂה (na’aseh v’nishma), “we well hear and we will do.” The other side of hashlamah (הַשׁלָמָה) and anavah (עֲנָוָה), reconciliation and humility, is broken communities and relationships.
In Deuteronomy 30:15 we read, “See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil,” v. 16 teaching that is based on “God’s commandments, statutes and ordinances.” It was Maimonides who taught that a person’s actions are established on הרשות בידו (harshoot b’yado), or feel-will. In Torah a person can choose to do good or bad, have life or create death. We can read the words of Deuteronomy 29:20 through that lens. It says, “the LORD shall separate him to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law.” In the book of the law we read to love others as ourselves, take care of the windows and orphans, honor the immigrant as your own, stand for the common good, show gratitude for what has been given and what will be received, do not mistreat others financially or withhold from their needs, feed the poor, show fairness and do justice, all in the backdrop of giving thanks to God for life that has been given, celebrating that with the Shabbat and other festivals. The opposite is hate, selfishness, isolation, ungratefulness, thievery, division, dishonesty, and reliance on an inflated sense of self. In the language of Torah God had no room for this type of person because it was bad for the community (see Dt. 29:19 also), and while we might use different words and ideas, it is the same, mistreatment of others and an exaltation of self with a myopic worldview will end badly, creating bad and death between self, the community, and a connection to our understanding of God. Like the generation that stood at Mt Sinai, and the generation that stood on the outskirts of Canaan east of the Jordan, today we stand about to enter 5781 with the celebration of Rosh Hashanah. How will we enter that moment, what will we bring to it? How does the idea of reconciliation fit this time of transition into a new year? These are the type of questions we are supposed to be asking right now. Last week in Ki Yavo Moses taught to offer fruits from the land upon arrival, Ibn Ezra teaching it is not the best, but the first. For Torah הַשׁלָמָה (hashlamah), or reconciliation, is not about being perfect but willing to become, something that begins with anavah, the humility to invite change and renewal. The Haftorah this week begins by saying, “I will greatly rejoice in God, my soul will exult in my God who has clothed me with the garments of salvation.” Salvation (יֶשַׁע) is the garment worn, that garment being the cloths of reconciliation and renewal, standing upon the firm foundation of our conviction for right and justice to make the world we live a better place by being better people. I hope you also think that is something to rejoice about.
Shabbat Shalom
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