Weekly Reading Insights:
Nitzavim/Vayelech 5771

Overview of the Weekly Reading

To be read on Shabbat Nitzavim-Vayelech, 25 Elul 5771/Sept. 24th, 2011

Torah: Deut. 29:9-31:30
Haftorah: Isaiah 61:10-63:9 (7th of the Seven Haftorahs of Consolation)
Pirkei Avot:  Chapters 5-6

Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20) opens with G-d making a covenant with the Jews, establishing them as His nation. He tells them that if they stray from the Torah, evil will befall them, but that when they return they will be rewarded with blessings, and will be returned to their land. G-d sets before them the choice between good and evil, but warns them to stay away from evil.
Vayelech (Deut. 31:1-30) opens with Moshe telling the Jews that he has reached the age of 120 and will not be entering the Land of Israel with them. He summons Joshua in front of the Jewish people, telling them that he will lead them into the land, and that they should be strong and brave. Moshe tells them about Hakhel, that at every seven years, during the festival of Sukkot, they should gather the men, women and children together, and read the specified portions from the Torah. Moshe wrote 13 Torah scrolls, one for each of the tribes, and one for the Ark.

Nitzavim is the 8th Reading out of 11 in Deuteronomy and it contains 2575 letters, in 657 words, in 40 verses
Vayelech is the 9th Reading out of 11 in Deuteronomy and it contains 2123 letters, in 553 words, in 30 verses

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This coming Shabbos is the last Shabbat of the year 5771. And with this special time comes unique opportunities. First, we are able to repair any damage we have caused on all the previous Shabbatot (whether in the mitzvos or spirit of Shabbat) by now acting in a positive way, by having good intentions and by making resolutions not to make the same mistakes in the year to come.

Secondly, on a somewhat deeper level, this is the Shabbat before Rosh Hashana ( next week's Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday). The Zohar explains (in Parshas Beshalach) that each Shabbat is a vessel for all the blessings for the coming week. This Shabbat blesses Rosh Hashana. Since Rosh Hashana is not just the beginning of the year, but also the head of the year (Rosh means head), our behavior on Rosh Hashana sets the pattern for and influences our behavior for the entire coming year, similar to the way the head controls the body. Therefore, this Shabbat will affect our behavior and the blessings we will receive for the entire coming year.

To maximize this opportunity requires more than just fixing actions and intentions that are broken. This Shabbat has to be planned in advance: how, where, and with whom we will spend our time, where we will pray, what we will study, and even what we will say. I personally try to take care of the physical and technical aspects of this Shabbat as early as possible, leaving me time to meditate and consider how I will invest in the more spiritual aspects.

A very important aspect of preparing for this Shabbat is to consider the teachings of the weekly Torah portion. This week there is a double portion, Netzavim and Vayelech. Netzavim begins with the words, "You are standing today, all of you, before G-d your Lord: your leaders, your tribes, your elders, your officers, every Jewish male, your children, your wives, your converts within your camp, from the wood cutters to the water carriers, to enter into a covenant of G-d, your Lord." Rashi explains that Moshe is bringing the Jewish people into a new covenant with G-d just before they enter the land, to replace the covenant that was spoiled by the sin of the golden calf 40 years earlier. The first lesson of these verses is that as we approach Rosha Hashana, each and every Jewish person is about to enter into a new covenant with G-d.

The Kli Yakar points out something especially interesting. Many of the commentaries discuss the covenant as being rooted in both the unity of the Jewish people before G-d ("all of you today") as well as their individual strengths ("your heads, your tribes, your elders"). The Kli Yakar says that there is another element, that of leadership. It is not enough for the people to be united together in a covenant, they need to become responsible for one another. A leader understands that his actions affect others and that he will be held responsible for another person's actions. Even more, we find that the leaders are also held responsible even if they did reprimand (but it did not help), because they should have instilled proper behavior in the first place. When a leader truly shoulders the responsibility of guiding the people everyone would act properly, even in private, for fear of being discovered. From this perspective, punishments that befall the Jewish people are not sourced in evildoers but rather in the lack of responsibility of the righteous. The Talmud says (Rosh Hashana 8b) that on the evening of Rosh Hashana, the leaders are called in before the heavenly court first and judged first, because the judgment of the nation is dependent on the leaders and how they acted towards the people.

Expounding on the relationship that the Jewish people has with leaders, the Ohr Hachaim teaches that to truly maximize the covenant with G-d you need to remember three things: 1) the Jewish people are only complete when the head (the leader) and the foot are unified. 2) Nevertheless, each member contributes his particular influence; the head and the foot need each other and complement each other. 3) From G-d's perspective, whether leader or follower, all are equal before G-d.

On a deeper lever, the Zohar (Chadash 104a) teaches that every Jewish person has a portion of the soul of Moshe, and the quality of leadership, within him. The most important aspect of this quality of leadership is not the control or power it gives us, but rather our ability to care for another and help him grow. As the Lubavitcher Rebbe writes (Hayom Yom), when a leader comes to reprimand, he has to first cut his fingernails so he will not claw. And when one cuts his nails one has to wash his hands afterwards, which means that one has to sanctify himself as a prelude to reprimanding. On a deeper level Chassidut explains that "cutting and washing" is a reference to drawing intellect into our emotions, clarifying our motives and purifying our actions and reactions in the light of our intellect.

Shabbat Shalom & Shana Tova, Shaul

Please also read my weekly Shabbat Law, below.

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For last year's essay by Rabbi Leiter on this week's Reading, see the archive.

from the Chabad Master series, produced by Rabbi Yosef Marcus for

www.ascentofsafed.com and www.kabbalaonline.org

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FROM THE SAGES OF KABBALAH

See our Kabbalah site, KabbalaOnline.org

Specifically, for an overview of the recommended articles in the columns:
Holy Zohar, Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary Kabbalists, and more,
click to

Netzavim-Vayelech

one sample:

Contemporary Kabbalists

All Your Heart and Soul

From the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; translated and annotated by Moshe-Yaakov Wisnefsky.

We must perform the commandment of teshuva (repentance) with all our heart and soul. One must now go beyond his normal, operative self that put him in his present predicament of having sinned and needing to return. He needs to transcend this self and seek a deeper, more essential layer of his identity where G-d means more to him than the indulgences to which he has become accustomed.

To continue, click here.

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For another sample of recommended Kabbalah articles on a variety of subjects,
click to the our weekly Kabbalah magazine

this week's:

KOL Magazine, Vol. 7, No.54

Get ready for the last Shabbat of year 5771 (see lead article)!
This is a chance to make up for and fix anything lacking from the previous 50 or so.
On Saturday night Askenazic Jews start the distinctive pre-Rosh Hashana Selichot prayers (see second article); Sephardim have been reciting them for three weeks already.
Next week will be a special Rosh Hashana issue. Article #3 is a preview; it connects the date of this Shabbat with the Day of Judgment.

Sample:

What is a Soul?

Adapted by Yosef Marcus from a discourse of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

"This is the day [in Hebrew, 'zeh hayom'] of the beginning of Your work, a remembrance of the first day for it is a chok [law] for Israel and a mishpat [statute] for Jacob.." (Liturgy of Mussaf Rosh Hashanah, from the Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 27a)

This prayer from the Rosh Hashanah liturgy serves as the prelude to numerous discourses discussing the inner dimensions of Rosh Hashanah. It represents the idea that Rosh Hashanah is more a celebration of the creation of man than that of the world. Who is man and why is his creation worthy of celebration?

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