×
Friend,    With Purim right around the corner, Sefaria is busy preparing for the “Purim bump” — the increase in users who visit Sefaria to celebrate the holiday. Last year, more than 100,000 people visited the library or used the app to connect with the holiday or read along with Megillat Esther. This year we’re expecting even more.    To help with our text and tech preparations ahead of this busy time, a generous Jewish foundation is matching all gifts to the library up to $36,000.    Please give today to help us meet your learning needs!     
Save "Nitzavim ~ the choice of return
"
Nitzavim ~ the choice of return

(ט) אַתֶּ֨ם נִצָּבִ֤ים הַיּוֹם֙ כֻּלְּכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶ֑ם רָאשֵׁיכֶ֣ם שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֗ם זִקְנֵיכֶם֙ וְשֹׁ֣טְרֵיכֶ֔ם כֹּ֖ל אִ֥ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (י) טַפְּכֶ֣ם נְשֵׁיכֶ֔ם וְגֵ֣רְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּקֶ֣רֶב מַחֲנֶ֑יךָ מֵחֹטֵ֣ב עֵצֶ֔יךָ עַ֖ד שֹׁאֵ֥ב מֵימֶֽיךָ׃ (יא) לְעָבְרְךָ֗ בִּבְרִ֛ית ה' אֱלֹקֶ֖יךָ וּבְאָלָת֑וֹ אֲשֶׁר֙ ה' אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ כֹּרֵ֥ת עִמְּךָ֖ הַיּֽוֹם׃

(9) You stand this day, all of you, before the LORD your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, (10) your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to water drawer— (11) to enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions;

(ו) וְהָי֞וּ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה אֲשֶׁ֨ר אָנֹכִ֧י מְצַוְּךָ֛ הַיּ֖וֹם עַל־לְבָבֶֽךָ׃
(6) Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day.

(ב) אשר אנכי מצוך היום. שלא יהו בעיניך כדיוטגמא ישנה שאין אדם סופנה, כחדשה, שהכל רצים לקראתה:

(2) "that I command you this day": They should not be to you as an antiquated edict, which no one takes to heart, but like a new one, which all run to read.

(א) וְהָיָה֩ כִֽי־יָבֹ֨אוּ עָלֶ֜יךָ כָּל־הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֗לֶּה הַבְּרָכָה֙ וְהַקְּלָלָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָתַ֖תִּי לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ֙ אֶל־לְבָבֶ֔ךָ בְּכָל־הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר הִדִּיחֲךָ֛ ה' אֱלֹקֶ֖יךָ שָֽׁמָּה׃ (ב) וְשַׁבְתָּ֞ עַד־ה' אֱלֹקֶ֙יךָ֙ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֣ בְקֹל֔וֹ כְּכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם אַתָּ֣ה וּבָנֶ֔יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ (ג) וְשָׁ֨ב ה' אֱלֹקֶ֛יךָ אֶת־שְׁבוּתְךָ֖ וְרִחֲמֶ֑ךָ וְשָׁ֗ב וְקִבֶּצְךָ֙ מִכָּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֧ר הֱפִֽיצְךָ֛ ה' אֱלֹקֶ֖יךָ שָֽׁמָּה׃ (ד) אִם־יִהְיֶ֥ה נִֽדַּחֲךָ֖ בִּקְצֵ֣ה הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם מִשָּׁ֗ם יְקַבֶּצְךָ֙ ה' אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ וּמִשָּׁ֖ם יִקָּחֶֽךָ׃ (ה) וֶהֱבִֽיאֲךָ֞ ה' אֱלֹקֶ֗יךָ אֶל־הָאָ֛רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יָרְשׁ֥וּ אֲבֹתֶ֖יךָ וִֽירִשְׁתָּ֑הּ וְהֵיטִֽבְךָ֥ וְהִרְבְּךָ֖ מֵאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ׃ (ו) וּמָ֨ל ה' אֱלֹקֶ֛יךָ אֶת־לְבָבְךָ֖ וְאֶת־לְבַ֣ב זַרְעֶ֑ךָ לְאַהֲבָ֞ה אֶת־ה' אֱלֹקֶ֛יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ לְמַ֥עַן חַיֶּֽיךָ׃ (ז) וְנָתַן֙ ה' אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ אֵ֥ת כָּל־הָאָל֖וֹת הָאֵ֑לֶּה עַל־אֹיְבֶ֥יךָ וְעַל־שֹׂנְאֶ֖יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר רְדָפֽוּךָ׃ (ח) וְאַתָּ֣ה תָשׁ֔וּב וְשָׁמַעְתָּ֖ בְּק֣וֹל ה' וְעָשִׂ֙יתָ֙ אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֺתָ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּֽוֹם׃ (ט) וְהוֹתִֽירְךָ֩ ה' אֱלֹקֶ֜יךָ בְּכֹ֣ל ׀ מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה יָדֶ֗ךָ בִּפְרִ֨י בִטְנְךָ֜ וּבִפְרִ֧י בְהֶמְתְּךָ֛ וּבִפְרִ֥י אַדְמָתְךָ֖ לְטוֹבָ֑ה כִּ֣י ׀ יָשׁ֣וּב ה' לָשׂ֤וּשׂ עָלֶ֙יךָ֙ לְט֔וֹב כַּאֲשֶׁר־שָׂ֖שׂ עַל־אֲבֹתֶֽיךָ׃ (י) כִּ֣י תִשְׁמַ֗ע בְּקוֹל֙ ה' אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ לִשְׁמֹ֤ר מִצְוֺתָיו֙ וְחֻקֹּתָ֔יו הַכְּתוּבָ֕ה בְּסֵ֥פֶר הַתּוֹרָ֖ה הַזֶּ֑ה כִּ֤י תָשׁוּב֙ אֶל־ה' אֱלֹקֶ֔יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃ (פ)

(1) When all these things befall you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you take them to heart amidst the various nations to which the LORD your God has banished you, (2) and you return to the LORD your God, and you and your children heed His command with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin upon you this day, (3) then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and take you back in love. He will bring you together again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. (4) Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the LORD your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. (5) And the LORD your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers. (6) Then the LORD your God will open up your heart and the hearts of your offspring to love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul, in order that you may live. (7) The LORD your God will inflict all those curses upon the enemies and foes who persecuted you. (8) You, however, will again heed the LORD and obey all His commandments that I enjoin upon you this day. (9) And the LORD your God will grant you abounding prosperity in all your undertakings, in the issue of your womb, the offspring of your cattle, and the produce of your soil. For the LORD will again delight in your well-being, as He did in that of your fathers, (10) since you will be heeding the LORD your God and keeping His commandments and laws that are recorded in this book of the Teaching—once you return to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.

~ How many times does the root shuv - to return, to turn, to repent - appear in these 10 verses?

~ What is the context of these words? Where is the text placing the Jewish people?

~ What is the expectation of the text regarding the behavior of the Jewish people?

1. Teshuvah, the real thing, is hard. Because it is supposed to bring transformation. And transformation is hard enough that very few actually volunteer for. We tend to think we are all right, that we are all good people. In all sides.

2. Transformation is not one shot. It does not simply happen and we attain nirvana and we are enlightened and that's it. NO, there is an aspect of long range and of ups and downs. And it can take years for transformation to actually bring forth fruit.

3. Teshuvah happens when we are in community, with people. Teshuvah is interactive - otherwise it is not teshuvah.

4. Teshuvah beacons in intense states, the majority of them not pleasant. Anger, Anxiety, Boredom, Disappointment, Dejection, Fear, Guilt, Grief, Impatience, Rejection are all great markers of Teshuvah - because due to the intensity of those feelings they have the ability to crack open our hearts and allow us to take a peek inside. To feel them for a moment is not necessarily a choice, to wallow in them is definitely a choice. The great drama of the High Holidays is the drama of choice.

How do we avoid routinization? In the Midrash Sifre on Deuteronomy we read: Take to heart these words that I charge you today— Hayom— Today— these words are not to be in your sight like some old ordinance, to which no one is paying attention any longer, but they are to be in your sight like a new ordinance toward which everyone is running.

Or in the words of the scholar and philosopher Martin Buber:

When we do not believe that God renews the work of creation every day, then our religious practice becomes old and routine and boring. As it says in the Psalms, “Do not cast me off when I am old.” That is, do not let my world become old.

Or in the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel: As civilization advances, the sense of wonder declines. Such decline is an alarming symptom of our state of mind. Mankind will not perish for want of information, but only for want of appreciation. The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. What we lack is not a will to believe, but a will to wonder.

Heschel is warning us. This is not a mere theological problem; it is a matter of life and death.

Alan Lew, “This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation.”p. 163

(א) אתם נצבים היום וכו' מחטב עציך עד שאב מימיך וכו'. ע"ז אמר שלמה המלך ע"ה (משלי ל',י"ט) דרך גבר בעלמה, היינו כענין יפתח שאמרו חז"ל (ראש השנה כ"ה:) יפתח בדורו כשמואל בדורו. ביאר זה, כי יפתח השלים בעולמו כל מה שרצה הש"י ממנו כשמואל בדורו, וע"ז תמה שהע"ה ואמר (משלי ל',י"ח) שלשה המה נפלאו ממני וארבעה לא ידעתי, דרך גבר בעלמה היינו המובחר בישראל, כמו שהוא משלים רצון הש"י, כמו כן בעלמה היינו הקטן בישראל, וזה פי' אתם נצבים היינו שאתם מקושר בהש"י, ראשיכם היינו מדרגה גדולה עד שואב מימיך שהוא מדרגה הקטנה, כלכם אתם מקושרים בהש"י, חטב עציך היינו מי שיש לו יראה פחותה, שואב מימיך היינו אהבה פחותה.

You are standing here...your wood chopper your water drawer etc. ... the way of a person in the world, that is, the preferred way of a Jewish person is to complete the Will of the Holy One of Blessing, that is, even the smallest one of Israel in the world - and this is the meaning of "you are standing": you are connected to the Holy One of Blessing. "Your heads": those are the ones in the higher level, "up to your water drawer" that is, the ones in the lower level - all of you are connected to the Holy One of Blessing. "Wood chopper": the ones who have a small sense of reverence [to Heaven]; "water drawer": [the ones who have] a small sense of love [to Heaven].

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible on our site. Click OK to continue using Sefaria. Learn More.OKאנחנו משתמשים ב"עוגיות" כדי לתת למשתמשים את חוויית השימוש הטובה ביותר.קראו עוד בנושאלחצו כאן לאישור