Parshat Nitzavim
Rabbi Jablinowitz
BS”D
Parshat Nitzavim
The Gemara in Megillah 31B teaches that we read the tochacha in parshat Ki Savo before Rosh Hashanah in order to fulfill Tichleh Shanah U’kelaloseha, Tachel Shanah U’birchoseha. We want the previous year’s curses to be completed in order that we should begin the New Year with all its blessing. Tosfos on the Gemara adds that we don't read Ki Savo right before Rosh Hashanah, rather we always read parshat Nitzavim right before Rosh Hashanah in order that we should have a break between the reading of the tochacha and the new year. The Ohr Gedalyahu adds the reason we add Nitzavim before Rosh Hashanah is more than to give us a break from the curses from last week. The Shabbos before every Chag has within it the influence of the impending day. And Rosh Hashanah is the same; this Shabbos already contains elements of the unique atmosphere we experience on Yom Hadin and reading Nitzavim this Shabbos expresses this sentiment.
One important illustration of this is the mitzvah of Teshuvah. We read in this week's parsha (Chapter 30, Pasuk 2), V'Shavta ad Hashem Elokecha, You shall return to Hashem. And when the Torah says a few pasukim later (Pasuk 11), Ki Hamitzvah Hazos, the Ramban learns it is a reference to the mitzvah of Teshuvah. And as the Torah indicates, the path to Teshuvah involves making a clear and stark choice. It's a choice between blessing and a curse, a choice between life and death. As the Seforno teaches in the beginning of parshat Re'eh this is the ultimate choice for a Jew. There is no in-between status of neither a blessing nor a curse; either Bracha or Kelalah. As the Ba'alei Musar teach us one is either going up or going down; there is no status in the middle of "treading water".
Towards the end of the parsha we are beseeched to choose life (Chapter 30, Pasuk 19), U'Bacharta B'Chayim. The Ohr Gedalyahu teaches that choosing life means choosing Torah. The Torah is referred to as an Eitz Chayim, a Tree of Life. When we say in davening during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, Zachreinu L'Chayim, Remember us for life, it doesn’t merely mean allow us to continue to breathe. Rather it means give us the life of Torah, a life where studying Torah and walking in its ways is the focus of our life.
The Gemara in Avodah Zarah 4B teaches that Bnei Yisrael weren't really worthy of committing the sin of the Golden Calf. The reason they did so was so that Hashem could teach us the notion of Teshuva. The Sfas Emes adds that the beginning of our parsha shows the extent of the Teshuva process. When Moshe Rabbeinu says to Bnei Yisrael Atem Nitzavim Hayom Kulchem, You are all standing here today, it is a reference to the famous Gemara in Berachos. The Gemara in Berachos 34B teaches, Bemakom She'Ba'alei Teshuvah Omdin Tzadikim Gemurim Einam Omdin. The place where Ba'alei Teshuvah stand, total Tzadikim may not stand. Bnei Yisrael were standing before Moshe Rabbeinu as full-fledged Ba'alei Teshuvah in a place so high that even great pious men could not stand. Even Moshe Rabbeinu himself, who was not involved in the sin of the Golden Calf, stands outside from the great Ba'alei Teshuvah of Clal Yisrael. Atem Nitzavim Hayom, you are standing here today, but not Moshe who didn't reach the level of the Ba'alei Teshuvah of the Chet Ha'Egel.
This is the parsha we read before Rosh Hashanah. Even though we've sinned throughout the year, we still stand firm before Hashem as Ba'alei Teshuvah, as our forefathers taught us we are totally capable of. And the Zohar Hakdadosh teaches that the word Hayom in our parsha is a reference to Rosh Hashanah. Precisely on Rosh Hashanah, the day of judgment, we stand firm in the place of Ba'alei Teshuvah before Hashem. As Rashi says on pasuk 12, Moshe presented Bnei Yisrael as a Matzeivah. They stood before Hashem firm as a monument expressing the notion of Teshuvah on Rosh Hashanah. And the mitzvah of Teshuvah allows to move forward and grow to the point that we manage to exceed our previous status. This is what Bnei Yisrael taught us by sinning at the Chet Ha'Egel and subsequently doing Teshuvah; Bemakom She'Ba'alei Teshuvah Omdin Tzadikim Gemurim Einam Omdin.
May we be inscribed this year in the book of life, the book of Torah, and reach levels this year unattainable in previous years.
Good Shabbos and Kesiva V'Chasima Tova
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