Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech 23 Elul 5763, 20 September 2003

Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech (Deuteronomy 29:9-31:30)

By Shlomo Riskin  

Efrat, Israel - The Sages of the Talmud, who attempted to link the Torah portions read on particular Sabbaths to the historical events of those periods of the year, inform us: _Ezra decreed for Israel to declare the curses of Torat Kohanim (Leviticus 26) before Shavuot and the curses of Mishneh Torah (Deuteronomy 28 - Ki Tavo) before Rosh Hashanah. What is the reason? Let the year conclude together with its curses_ (B.T. Megillah 31b).

Since the Torah catalogues the horrific list of curses as a result of Israel_s refusal to obey the commandments of the Torah, one can well understand the significance of prescribing the first dire warning of chastisements on the Sabbath prior to Shavuot, the Festival of the Giving of the Torah: simply put, _Keep My Torah or else_, says G-d. But why the second catalogue of curses before Rosh Hashanah, the anniversary of the creation of humanity, the day in which we coronate the Almighty as the King of the Universe? And besides, we read Ki Tavo _ the portion of the second chastisements _ last Sabbath. This Sabbath before Rosh Hashanah is Nitzavim-Vayelech!

We have previously explained that the first declaration of doom and exclamation of exile refers to the destruction of the First Temple _ and since the Israelites were allowed to return to Israel and begin to rebuild the Temple after only fifty years of Babylonian exile, the chastisements in the book of Leviticus conclude with the optimistic guarantee: _And despite all of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I shall not hate them and I shall not despise them to destroy them, to nullify my covenant with them, because I am the Lord your G-d. I shall remember the initial covenant for them when I took them out of Egypt& I shall remember the land_ (Leviticus 26: 42,45,44)

On the other hand, the second dire devastation refers to the destruction of the Second Temple _ after which we were scattered to all the peripheral places of the globe and have only begun our return now, almost two thousand years later, and still without any immediate prospects of rebuilding our Temple. Hence these chastisements conclude without any promise of restoration, merely with the words, _These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab&_ (Deuteronomy 28:69, Ki Tavo). It is only in the following Torah portion of Nitzavim, this week_s reading on the Sabbath immediately prior to Rosh Hashanah, that the Bible guarantees our eventual return to Israel- but only after we repent by returning to G-d, His Torah and His land, as a result of our own free will (Deuteronomy 30:1-20). Moreover, we attempted to prove in last week_s interpretation that this third _covenant_ of Ki Tavo-Netzavim is not the previous particularistic Israelite covenants of nation-state (Genesis 15- _covenant between the pieces) and religion (Exodus 19,20,24 _ covenant at Sinai), but is rather the universal covenant of world redemption, Israel_s mission to teach humanity ethical monotheism, and to bring the world to a period of peace and tranquility.

This understanding explains why the Talmudic Sages refer to this third covenant as the covenant of areivut, co-signership, inter-dependent responsibility: if we fail to convince the other nations to accept the fundamental morality of ethical monotheism, the seven Noahide laws revolving around the prohibition against taking an innocent life, then in a global village with increasing nuclear proliferation all of humanity will be doomed to destruction.

And this understanding will also provide a greater significance to the suffering of Israel throughout the generations. We who come with the message of a G-d who created and loves humanity, who demands freedom, justice and humanity, will obviously be scapegoated by all the opposing forces of exclusive domination by a particular minority, totalitarian enslavement, and conquest by the terror of the sword and suicide bombers.

And perhaps, if we fail in our mission to influence the nations (Maimonides, Laws of Kings, 8,10), it is largely because we have failed to become a holy nation and a kingdom of priest-teachers, it is because our light has not shined brightly enough to remove the black holes and to re-shape the chaotic corners which pervert human potential. It is only just that the nation privileged to carry the banner of redemption must become the _suffering servant_ (Isaiah 53) if it allows that banner to fall from its hands. Hence Nazism, Communism and Islamic Fundamentalism started out against Judaism but ultimately threatened (and threaten) the entire world!

And so we read Nitzavim _ the conclusion of Ki Tavo- before Rosh Hashanah, the festival of G-d_s coronation, of the world_s perfection (tikkun), by means of Israel_s message of redemption. And so the Torah portion opens, _You stand today, all of you, before the Lord your G-d, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, your children, your wives, your strangers in the midst of your camp, from the hewers of your wood to the drawers of your water, to pass over into your covenant with the Lord your G-d&_ (Deuteronomy 29:9,10,11).

Who is the archetype _hewer of wood_? Patriarch Abraham, of whom the Bible says, _he hewed wood for a whole burnt offering_ when he took Isaac to the binding on Mt. Moriah (the Temple Mount). And who is the archetype _drawer of water_? The prophet Elijah, of whom the Bible says, _And he (Elijah) said, Fill four jars with water and pour it on the whole burnt offering and on the wood_, when he made his contest between the Almighty and the idol Baal atop Mount Carmel. Abraham to whom G-d gave the charge, _I will bless those who bless you, and as for those who curse you, I shall show them the light. And the nations of the world shall be blessed through you_ (Genesis 12:3); Elijah, the herald of universal redemption, of whom G-d says, _Behold I am sending to you Elijah the Prophet, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord_ (Malakhi 3:24).

Abraham, the first Jew, and Elijah, the last Jew are both committed to world redemption. They are indeed the flagship beacons of our people, committed to perfecting the world under the Kingship of the Almighty, to turning (and returning) unto Him all the wicked of the earth, so that all the residents of the world will know and recognize the Lord of peace and justice. This must be the message with which we enter Rosh Hashanah.

Shabbat Shalom and Hag Sameach.  

Return to Ohr Torah Stone