Weekly Reading Insights:  Netzavim

Overview of the Weekly Reading

Torah: Deut. 29:9-30:20
Haftorah:
Isaiah 61 (7th of the Seven Haftorahs of Consolation)

 

FROM THE CHASSIDIC REBBES MOSHIACH THIS WEEK

The month of Tishrei, the first two days of which are Rosh HaShanah, is not blessed by the congregants in shul on the Shabbat preceding it, unlike all other months of the year. Rabbi Shneur Zalman heard from the Maggid in the name of the Baal Shem Tov: Tishrei is blessed by G-d Himself, on the last Shabbat in the month of Elul. With the power of this blessing, Israel blesses the other months eleven times a year.

It is written [Deut. 29.9], Atem nitzavim hayom, "You stand this day." This day refers to Rosh Hashana, the Day of Judgment. Yet you remain standing firmly upright (nitzavim), meaning - you will be vindicated in judgment.

This assurance of vindication in the upcoming Rosh Hashana judgment - contained in the opening words of the weekly portion, Nitzavim - is G-d's blessing of Tishrei embodied in the Torah-reading.
(from Hayom Yom)

"You are standing this day, all of you, before the L-rd your G-d." (29:9)
"All of you" are before G-d, all of you are equal in His eyes. Your "leaders, elders and officers" are not considered any more important and privileged than your "woodcutters and water carriers."
(Kli Yakar)

"…And with whoever is not here." [29:14]
"Including the future generations to come," explains Rashi. When a Jew enters a covenant with G-d through committing himself to the observance of Torah and mitzvot, all the Jews of all the previous generations stand at his side, for they too are part of that covenant. Therefore there is no reason to be effected that the Jews are the least populous of all peoples, for on our side is the eternal bond with all our generations in the past and the future, arare and powerful strength.
(Likutei Sichos) [translated from Sichat HaShavuah #349]

"Lest there be among you a root that produces haughtiness and wormwood". (Deut. 29:17)
The initial letters of the last four words of this verse (SH-oresh, P-oreh, R-osh, V-la'anah) form an acronym of the word SHOFAR. This teaches us that the shofar blasts can remove any bad "root" that may be found within us.
(Mayana Shel Torah)

Further: Even if our actions, speech, and thoughts have been negative, we still contain within us the holy and pure sound of a shofar that is calling out to be close to God.
(Rabbi Wagensberg)

"…To add the drunkenness to the thirsty." [29:17]
Allegorically, the human-animal soul is referred to as "drunk." It indeed longs for pleasure, but the pleasure it longs for is purely physical. Inasmuch as this form of pleasure is readily available to it, it can easily quench its thirst. In contrast, the G-dly soul thirsts for G-dliness. This thirst can never be quenched as long as the G-dly soul is clothed in the physical body and faced with the concealment of this world. Only in the messianic future, when G-dliness will be openly revealed, will the Divine soul be "drunk" with Divinity.
[Lubavitcher Rebbe Chumash]

"The anger of G-d shall burn against this land... and G-d shall root them out of the land in anger... and cast them into another land." (29:26-27)
The curses and punishments enumerated in this section of the Torah are merely warnings, not promises that G-d must fulfill. Their purpose is to arouse the heart of man to choose good over evil so that they will never come to pass.
(Peninei HaGeula)

"Then the Lord your G-d will return your captives from exile, and He will have mercy upon you. He will gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your G-d had dispersed you." (30:3)
The Baal Shem Tov taught: Every single Jew must perfect and make ready the part of the Mashiach that relates to his own soul. As it is known, the word "Adam" is an acronym for the words "Adam, David, Mashiach." Adam's stature extended from one end of the earth to the other, and also included within him were all the souls of Israel. After the sin of eating the forbidden fruit, however, his stature was diminished. Likewise, Mashiach's soul will be made up of all the 600,000 souls of the Congregation of Israel, as it was before Adam's sin. Therefore, every Jew must make ready that portion of his own soul that corresponds to that of Mashiach until the entire structure of the worlds is fixed and established. Then there will be a universal Unification, without end. May it be soon in our days!
(Me'or Einayim, Pinchas) (From "Divine Light" by Tzvi-Meir Cohn)

"If any of you are dispersed at the outermost parts of heaven, from there will the L-rd your G-d gather you." (30:4)
No matter how far a Jew may be from Torah and Judaism, G-d promises to gather him back into the fold of the Jewish people when Moshiach comes. When a Jew is spiritually brought back from "the outermost parts of heaven," it hastens Moshiach's coming and brings the Redemption closer.
(Lubavitcher Rebbe)

"If your outcasts will be at the edge of the heavens, from there the L-rd your G-d will gather you." (30:4)
When a Jew sins, at that moment he becomes a "vessel" for the forces of evil from which his desire to sin originates. His soul becomes "scattered" and "outcast" among the various chambers of uncleanliness. It thus becomes necessary to "gather" him up, and restore him to the realm of holiness.
(Torah Ohr)

"The L-rd your G-d will circumcise your heart." (30:6)
Elsewhere in the Torah it states (Deut. 10:16), "And you shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart," i.e., that the individual Jew must perform the "circumcision" himself. How do we reconcile these two verses? The first stage of the "circumcision," i.e., removing the "obstruction" that separates the Jew from G-d, must be initiated by the individual. The second stage, however, of completely transforming the heart to good, can only be accomplished with G-d's help.
(Ohel Torah, quoting the Kotzker Rebbe) (from L'Chaim #637)

"But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you will do it." (30:14)
This teaches that it is in every Jew's power to bring the Torah closer to him. It is only dependent on our will, that we observe it with our "mouth" and "heart."
(Sefat Emet) (from L'Chaim #637)

"In your mouth and in your heart, that you will do it." (30:14)
Don't think that you have fulfilled your obligation "with your mouth" - just by speaking about doing a mitzva, or "in your heart" - just by thinking about doing one. Everything that is "in your mouth and in your heart" - all of these mitzvot - do it!
(Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotsk) (from L'Chaim #787)

"See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil." (30:15)
One should not perform good deeds in order to live; one should live in order to perform good deeds.
(Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk)


 

 

"The L-rd your G-d will return (with) your captives and have mercy upon you."
(Deut. 30:3)
Biblical grammar allows the verse to be read two ways: one, G d shall cause the exiles to return, or two, G d will return from exile with them (Zohar). The connection between the two is that so long as one Jew remains in exile, so does the Divine Presence.

Ending exile and gathering all the Jews is a difficult task. Each individual, whatever his or her status, has a personal exile which is part of and contributes to the general exile. All Jews must be redeemed to take the Divine Presence out of exile. The practical lesson is that all Jews must go out of exile for the Redemption to be true and complete. We are responsible not only for our personal redemption, but that of the entire Jewish people.
[from shluchim.com]

"Then the L-rd your G-d will turn your captivity." (30:3)
Rashi notes this means that "[G-d] will literally take hold with His hand every person... as it states, 'You shall be gathered one by one, Children of Israel.' " As we know that the Redemption will come about through repentance, the Torah clearly promises that every single Jew will ultimately return to G-d in repentance, as it states, "For not even one will be banished."
(Tanya)

"It will be when all these things have happened... you will return to G-d... and G-d will return your captivity and will gather you from among all the nations where He dispersed you." (Deut. 30:3)
All of the Prophets prescribed teshuva (repentance, return), and the Jewish people will be redeemed only through teshuva. The Torah has given assurance that Israel will do teshuva - at the end of its exile-and will be redeemed immediately, as it says: "It will be when all these things have happened... you will return to G-d... and G-d will return your captivity and will gather you from among all the nations where He dispersed you."
[L'Chaim 988]

The promise of Redemption occurs in Deuteronomy. There it states:

"G-d will return your exiles and have compassion upon you and will again gather you from all the nations where
G-d has scattered you. Even if your dispersed will be at the furthermost parts of the world, from there G-d will bring you into the land which your forefathers inherited and you shall inherit it and He will do good to you and increase your numbers above your forefathers."

The famous commentator Rashi explains that this passage specifies that every Jew will be redeemed: "G-d will literally seize by the hand each person and gather the children of Israel one by one."
[Adapted from Discover Moshiach in the Weekly Torah Portion (by Rabbi Berel Bell and the students of Bais Chaya Mushka Seminary of Montreal), as published on www.mashiach.org]

"If any of you are dispersed at the outermost parts of heaven, from there will the L-rd your G-d gather you." (30:4)
No matter how far a Jew may be from Torah and Judaism,
G-d promises to gather him back into the fold of the Jewish people when Moshiach comes. When a Jew is spiritually brought back from "the outermost parts of heaven," it hastens Moshiach's coming and brings the Redemption closer.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)[Reprinted with permission from L'Chaim Magazine (www.lchaim.org).]

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