You are all standing this day before the Lord your God, the leaders of your tribes, your elders and your officers, every man of Israel, your young children, your women, and your convert who is within your camp both your woodcutters and your water drawers. (Devarim 29)

 

Once the disciples spent the Sabbath in Yavneh. R. Yehoshua, however, was not there on that Sabbath. When the disciples came to visit him, he said to them: "What new lesson did you have in Yavneh?" They said to him: "After you, master." He then said to them: "And who was there for the Sabbath?" They said to him: "R. Eleazar ben Azariah." Then he said to them: "Is it possible that R. Eleazar ben Azariah was there for the Sabbath and did not give you anything new?" So they said to him: "He brought out this general idea in his exposition of the text: You are all standing this day... your young children, your women, etc. Now what do the young children know about distinguishing between good and evil? It was but to give the parents reward for bringing their children, thus increasing the reward of those who do His will. This confirms what has been said: The Lord was pleased for His righteousness' sake, etc (Isaiah 42:21). Then R. Yehoshua exclaimed and said to them: "Is this not a new teaching? Behold, I am nearly eighty years old, and I never had the good fortune to get this teaching until this day. Happy are you, our father Abraham, in that Eleazar the son of Azariah is a descendant of yours. Surely the generation in which there is an Eleazar ben Azariah is not to be considered orphaned."

(Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael; Bo: Mesekhta DePas'ha 16 s.v. li hu, based on Lauterbach translation)

 

Why indeed did our Rabbi Moses, may peace be upon him, choose to have the men, women, children, and converts present while not mentioning such a thing or proceeding in this fashion in connection with the first covenant? His own words make it clear that the occasion made this necessary, for Moses wanted to enter them into this covenant and wanted to first tell them: "You have seen all kinds of idolatry practiced in Egypt, Midian, Moav, and in the land of Sihon and Og. There are among you men of wisdom and understanding, and perhaps one of you might harbor doubt regarding observance of the commandments and might make some claim or argument concerning idolatry. For this reason, I do not want anyone to speak secretly of the matter at all. That is why I have gathered you all here together before the Lord, and if there is anyone among you - great or small - with some doubt or complaint or thought regarding idolatry, let him make it public here and argue with me and I will remove any doubt he has and confound any claim." That is the sense of his saying, You are all standing [nitzavim] this day. The word hityatzvut [standing] does not refer here to [physical] standing or to being invited; rather, it refers to standing up in argument. Similarly: And Dotan and Aviram went out, standing [nitzavim] at their tents' entrances (Bamidbar 16:27), that is to say: that they stayed by their tents' entrances, arguing the matter and teasing everyone who came and stood against them.

(Abarbanel Devarim 29:9-14)

                                                  

On Continuity, Innovation, and Renewal

Deborah Weissman

In non-leap-years, these two short parshiyot are read together. Comparison of the two offers opportunities for many drashot concerning both the need for Nitzavim ["standing"], i.e., standing firm, perhaps within some particular tradition, as well as the need for Vayelekh ["and he walked"], i.e., change, transformation, and development. The combination of tradition and openness to change can characterize individuals, movements, institutions, and even entire cultures. We are now at the threshold of a new year, and we have heard more than once about how the word shana ["year"] alludes to two complementary ideas, on the one hand: leshanen [to recite over again], i.e., to return to the familiar, and on the other, leshanot [to change]. Entering the New Year, we always hope that the good things in our lives will repeat themselves, and that other things will change for the better.

 

I.

We speak of the topic of tradition and change, which is of central importance for the issue of leadership. Usually, human organizations experience a kind of "crisis" when changes of leadership become necessary. The transition from one generation of leaders to the next is supposed to guarantee continuity while bringing invigoration and a new message. Towards the end of his life, Moses said: For I know that after my death, you will surely become corrupted (Devarim 31:29). Rashi comments: "But actually, throughout all the days of Joshua, they [the Jews] did not become corrupt, for the verse states, And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua (Judges 2:7). [What, then, did Moses mean when he said that they would become corrupted after his death? We learn] from here that a person’s disciple is as dear to him as his own self, for as long as Joshua was alive [even after Moses’ passing], for Moses it was as though he himself was alive (Judaica Press translation)." A deep identification developed between Moses and Joshua. Joshua became a kind of "teaching assistant," so much so that according to certain midrashim he even organized the seating arrangements in his master's house of study. It is a great blessing and honor when a rabbi can appoint one of his students as his successor. In the best of circumstances, the veteran leader not only chooses his successor but also grooms and prepares him for his role. I believe that one of the great tragedies to befall our people in the previous century was that two great leaders - HaRav Soloveitchik, z"l, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe, z"l - died without choosing their successors, leaving a leadership vacuum in both the Modern Orthodox community and in the HaBaD movement. Recently a friend commented that to his mind, the only genuine Jewish leader remaining for our generation is Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (Even-Yisrael), may he live a long life.

Moses enjoyed an additional advantage as a leader: he was uncompromisingly committed to his goals. His commitment and the sense of mission and vision it engendered could inspire others. It is interesting to note that while Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are called "Our fathers" and Joseph "the righteous," the only title attached to the name of Moses, the greatest of prophets, is Rabbeinu - our rabbi. This reminds me of the inscription on Nehama Leibowitz, z"l's tombstone. Nehama asked that only one word appear upon it: mora - "teacher."

 

II.

Parashat Netzavim is always read before the Aseret Yemei Teshuva - the Ten Days of Repentance - and, appropriately, repentance is one of its central themes. Here are a few of its better known verses:

1. And it will be, when all these things come upon you the blessing and the curse which I have set before you that you will consider in your heart, among all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you, 2. and you will return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will listen to His voice according to all that I am commanding you this day you and your children, 3. then, the Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you. 4. Even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, the Lord, your God, will gather you from there, and He will take you from there. 5. And the Lord, your God, will bring you to the land which your forefathers possessed, and you [too] will take possession of it, and He will do good to you, and He will make you more numerous than your forefathers...

11. For this commandment which I command you this day, is not concealed from you, nor is it far away. 12. It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?" 13. Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and fetch it for us, to tell [it] to us, so that we can fulfill it?"

These verses - and with them, the entire Jewish conception of the repentance-process - are based on the fundamental assumption that people are capable of undergoing change. Lacking such faith, not only do all psychologically therapeutic processes become impossible, but all educational processes what-so-ever become impossible. As we have read in the Book of Jonah, repentance belongs to all humanity and not to the Jews alone. In fact, the repentance of Nineveh's populace serves as a model for emulation.

I mention all of this by way of introduction to a story I would like to tell you about the trips to Germany - and in particular, my visit to Berlin - which I made this summer. I believe that many Germans have undergone a process which they call metanoia - a Greek term whose meaning is very close to our Hebrew concept of teshuvah, or "repentance." Their transformation can serve as a model for other nations. Many of them take responsibility for their past and are among the most active critics of Holocaust denial. Contemporary German law considers Holocaust denial a criminal offense and not a few German leaders are genuine friends of the Jewish People and of the State of Israel. Angela Merkel, for instance, led world leaders this year in condemning the Vatican's embrace of Bishop Williamson - a Holocaust denier. Germany also sent a delegation of soldiers to Poland in order to participate in the March of the Living. It was decided that they would not appear in uniform but would take part as a gesture of solidarity with the thousands of Jewish youths from around the world that came to march through the death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

During my two trips this July - one to Berlin and the other to Stuttgart - I saw many official Holocaust memorial projects and met dozens of clergy, government officials, educators, and ordinary Germans who uttered sentences such as, "Germany has changed but it has not forgotten." Angela Merkel has herself stated that Germany bears special responsibility to preserve the existence and security of the State of Israel.¹ For the past fifty years, groups of German Christian students have been coming to study in Israel. This project was initiated by Friedrich-Wilhelm Marquardt (1928-2002), a Protestant professor who, after the Holocaust, developed a Christian theology emphasizing that Christians are obligated to preserve the existence of the People Israel. Each year for the past twenty years a group of religious Israeli Jews holds classes in the town of Denkendorf (just outside of Stuttgart) for German Christian communities interested in Judaism and Israel. The late Michael Shashar, z"l, and other members of Oz VeShalom-Netivot Shalom were and are involved in this important project. It may be said without exaggeration that tens of thousands of Germans have been exposed to Israel and to Jewish studies in one form or another.

I do not oppose the slogan, "We shall neither forget nor forgive." However, as I see it the slogan must be understood as saying that we will not forgive the Nazis and their henchmen. Nazism and all other similar ideologies must be banished from human society. This does not mean that we must ban Germany or the German people. Most Germans living today were born after the war. If they have genuinely repented the sins of the past we must extend them the hand of friendship and see in them potential partners for many different fields of endeavor. As for ourselves, we must take pains to avoid any phenomenon that involves even the slightest "dust of racism" - to paraphrase the Hafetz Hayyim in his book, Shemirat HaLashon. As the ultimate victims of racism, we must be very careful not to become racists ourselves, God forbid.

 

III.

5769 has been an especially difficult year for world Jewry. It saw the attack in Mumbai, the increasing occurrence of anti-Semitic incidents across the world, Operation Cast Lead and its consequences, the economic crisis and the Madoff scandal, incidents of corruption, fraud, and organ trafficking involving rabbis, increasing violence and... what didn't 5769 bring us? This time we will be able to recite the prayer with great sincerity: "Let the year pass with its curses..."

5770 - the Hebrew year TaSh'A - is on our doorstep. "Let the year begin with its blessings." Let us hope that the letter ayin of TaSh'A be an ayin tova ["a goodly eye"]. R. Ovadia MiBartenura explains that someone who has an ayin tova "makes due with what he possesses and neither asks for superfluous things nor is jealous when he see that his fellow has more than he." Eliezer HaLevi² adds this comment: "One who respects and values his fellow... ayin tova is the virtue by which one displays all his good-heartedness towards his fellow." If only...

1. Merkel spoke before attendees of the annual conference of the International Council of Christians and Jews, which I head. At that conference we published a document calling for processes to take place both within the churches as well as within the Jewish communities. For details, see www.iccj.org.

2. In his commentary on Pirkei Avot 2:9 (Sinai Publishers: Tel-Aviv, 1963).

Dr. DeborahWeissman is a member of Kehilat Yedidya in Jerusalem and heads the International Council of Christians and Jews.

 

Perhaps there is among you a man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart strays this day from the Lord, our God, to go and worship the deities of those nations. Perhaps there is among you a root that produces hemlock and wormwood.

(Devarim 29:17)

 

or family - That is something more unusual than a[n individual] man or woman [embracing idolatry], and then he says or tribe which is even more unusual, that an entire tribe join together in committing this criminal transgression. However, he does not speak of [the possibility that] all of them [would worship idols], since it is impossible that all of them turn that day to idolatry, for in that case they would not have entered the covenant of the Lord with its curses. After all, no one forced them [all], but perhaps a family or tribe might have entered the covenant out of fear of the majority.

(R. Yitzhak Shmuel Reggio 29:17)

 

It is not in the heavens... In your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.

It is not in the heavens - For if it were in the heavens, you would have to climb after it, and learn it.

(Rashi, ibid., 30:12, as per Eruvin 55a)

 

The meaning of the metaphor, It is not in the heavens - it is above man’s natural intelligence, as though it were in the heavens, necessitating the building of ladders to bring it to earth. Just as this is obviously impossible, so is it impossible to strain the intelligence with stratagems for completely understanding its [the Torah’s] meaning, and the Sages said in Eruvin (55a) that even if it is in the heavens, you must climb after it - this is but metaphor and figure of speech; if the matter is beyond your understanding, the obligation is to exert great effort. Then comes into effect the rule “You strove but found not - do not believe it!” The rationale is as per Rashi in Sanhedrin, that the Torah - desirous of assisting the assiduous student - asks its Creator to reveal to him Torah’s secrets.

(HaAmek Davar, ibid., ibid.)

 

And [the reason for] concluding the preceding chapter on Redemption with the words, to observe it is to compare the subject of Redemption to the story of Creation, which concludes with the words, that by creating, God had made. [trans. note - the Hebrew "la-asot" can be translated as "to observe," "to make," and "to do"]. The association of the end of time with the beginning of time teaches us that the two are similar respecting the natural processes and the natural order; in the time of the Messiah, nature will be as it was at the time of Creation. They [the Sages] explicitly said: "There will be no difference between the current world and that of the Messiah's time, other than that of subjugation to other nations."

(Rabbeinu Behayeiy, Devarim 30:15)

 

...in other words, that "creation" which man supposedly "creates" and forms in his struggles and efforts to be redeemed from evil, is the equivalent of the creation of heaven and earth…

It is worth noting that both the RaMBaM and Rabbeinu Behayeiy teach the concept of Messianic redemption - Geula - as the great and momentous mission of perfecting man within the framework of the world as it is. Man’s willingness to invest effort and to strive constantly to rule over his inclinations, these are the intent of the Torah as it states figuratively: In your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.

(Y. Leibowitz, Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Parashat HaShavua, pp. 913-914)

 

You were rebellious against God... until this day

He said this day in order to hint that he had only that day left to be with them; the plain meaning of the text is until this day. And it is written you were in the past tense, for they may have contemplated repentance in their hearts at that moment. This is similar to the law stating that if someone betroths a woman on condition that he is completely righteous, even though it may be discovered that he is totally wicked, we rule that she is betrothed, because he may have contemplated repentance at that very moment. (Kiddushin 49b).

(Or HaHayyim, Devarim 31:27)

 

Even Moses, our Rabbi, was justified only in telling Israel, You were rebellious - in past tense - with the implication being until this day. In his great despair and sadness, Moses foresaw that also after his death, the people would persist in their insubordination to God; yet despite this, he did not permit himself to tell them that they were rebellious at the time of his last words, because there is only One who is capable of reading man's innermost thoughts. From this we learn a great lesson in the subject of repentance, which is dependent upon man himself - at all times, without limitations of time or place.

(Y. Leibowitz: Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Parashat ha'Shavu'a, p. 919)

 

 

 

 

 

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