Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat NitzavimRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Nitzavim · נצבים · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:05Parashat Nitzavim. This week's parashah has 40 pesukim.0:10This is the shortest parashah that we encounter up till now,0:15and it's the first of the four shortest0:19parashiyot. This doesn't mean it's the shortest of the four, but it's the first ones.0:22The last four parashiyot in the Torah, in Sefer Devarim as well, obviously,0:26are the shortest parashiyot throughout the whole Torah,0:30and the first one of them is Parashat Nitzavim.0:32Usually, Parashat Nitzavim is read together with Parashat Vayelech,0:36and as all the sefarim bring down, that the words of the parashah begin with the0:43words, Atem nitzavim hayom, which the sefarim point out that hayom, today,0:47is referring to the yom hadin, the Day of Judgment,0:51which means that this is an allusion to the day of Rosh Hashanah.0:57And as the follows out, that Parashat Nitzavim is always read right before Rosh Hashanah, the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah.1:03Sometimes Nitzavim Vayelech, and sometimes Nitzavim,1:05but it will always be Nitzavim before Rosh Hashanah.1:09Also, what's unique about this parashah is that in Sefer Devarim,1:14the only person who is narrating was Moshe Rabbeinu.1:17Parashat Nitzavim is the last parashah where Moshe Rabbeinu is the only narrator.1:23Next week's parashah, Parashat Vayelech, we find already HaKadosh Baruch Hu,1:26Hashem, speaking in the parashah, communicating to Moshe.1:30Up till now, wherever we mentioned Hashem spoke,1:33was always Moshe Rabbeinu telling us how Hashem spoke.1:37Let's get to the topics of the1:39parashah. We divided the1:41parashah, although it's a short parashah, we divided into the four topics,1:45and they are: number one, renewing the pact between the Jewish people and Hashem.1:51Number two is the parashah of the1:54teshuvah. Number three is a small little parashah where the Torah calls it,1:58we name this part the mitzvah that's close to us.2:01And finally, the fourth part of the parashah is... Choosing between life or death, as we'll explain.2:09No mitzvot in this week's parasha,2:12and we get to the parasha in depth.2:15These last four parashiyot that we mentioned are not only the shortest parashiyot in the Torah,2:20they also all took place on Moshe Rabbeinu's last day of his life, Zayin Adar.2:28This is when Moshe Rabbeinu was 120 years old, as Rashi points out.2:31Hayom, Moshe Rabbeinu points out that today was his last day of2:36living. And we go to the first part of the parasha where Moshe Rabbeinu renews the pact with the Jewish people.2:43Moshe Rabbeinu gathered all the Jewish people on his last day of his life, and he addresses them. Why?2:48How come he gathered? What was his purpose?2:51Torah tells us clearly that he gathered them, le'ovreicha b'brit Hashem Elokecha u'v'alato, in order they should come into the covenant.2:58He wants to make a pact.3:00Again, what's the pact done for?3:02Why now, in the last day of his life?3:05And didn't we already make a pact?3:07So the Or HaChaim points out that although we had a brit already, we had a pact with HaKadosh Baruch Hu,3:12but that was done by Har Sinai when Hashem wanted to give us the Torah.3:15He made a pact with us that we must keep the Torah.3:18However, that pact was broken.3:20When? When the Jewish people had the chet ha'egel, when they made the sin with the golden calf.3:25So therefore, says the Or HaChaim, now Hashem, or Moshe Rabbeinu, had to get all the Jewish people again3:32to renew that pact, to tell them that we are entering this treaty,3:36that this book that we just learned is not just information, but we're bound to it.3:41All of us are bound to it.3:43Who is bound to it?3:45Everyone.3:47And Moshe points out,3:48kulchem, you're all standing here today.3:51And then he specifies, don't think somebody maybe is an exception,3:55I generalize. No, no, no, no, no.3:57Everybody. Moshe lists over there in the parasha all the classes of the Jewish people,4:01from the leaders, from the workers, from the laymen, from the low class to the high class,4:08young, old, men, women, everybody.4:11Not only that. But even the children are not yet born,4:15the future generations are all bound by this pact.4:18And Moshe Rabbeinu had to do this now.4:19Why now?4:21Because, first of all, like we mentioned, this is the last day of his life,4:23if not now, when?4:24Number two is Moshe also,4:26this is the time when leadership was being switched.4:28As we'll see in Parashat Vayelech,4:30Moshe is on his final day of leadership,4:33Yehoshua is coming to take over.4:34So therefore, we had to renew the pact with the new leader.4:38And also, as Chazal point out,4:41Parashat Nitzavim is right after the Torah talks about all the klalot in Parashat4:47Ki Tavo, all the curses, all the terrible things that will happen, unfortunately,4:51when Jews do not keep the Torah.4:53And rabbis point out that the Jewish people, when they heard that,4:56they said, You know, it's over for us.4:58Hey, we're human. We make mistakes.5:00We will eventually sin.5:03And with all the klalot, with all the curses that we read in Parashat5:07Ki Tavo, the Jewish people felt that this will destroy the Jewish people.5:10We will cease to exist as a nation,5:13because when we make a mistake, we're going to be destroyed.5:16Moshe Rabbeinu noticed that, and he gathered everybody.5:19He told them, We're making a pact.5:20I want you to promise that you're going to keep whatever it says in Torah,5:23and you're bound to even the curses and all the bad things, and the good things that will come5:27also if you keep the Torah, or if not,5:30chas v'shalom. But you should know, these bad things are not going to destroy you.5:34It's the opposite.5:36These bad things will happen in order to safeguard us,5:40that we shouldn't lose ourselves, that we should not get mixed with the nations.5:44We should remain as a Jewish people.5:47And the pact was as simple as it is,5:51as we mentioned in the Torah, and as we mentioned before,5:54whatever it says in the Torah, we must keep.5:56Everything, everything must be kept.5:59And if we do not keep the Torah,6:02if we do not keep, we choose not to observe what it says over here,6:06then there are terrible things that could happen.6:09But if we keep the Torah, then great things will happen also.6:12We will be blessed.6:15Amongst the pact that Moshe is making with the Jewish people,6:18he points out something very, very important.6:20He says, You know, I gathered everybody here today,6:22and I'm speaking to you guys about making this promise6:25that we're all going to be bound to what it says in the Torah.6:28Maybe, maybe amongst this whole big nation here that I'm addressing,6:32maybe somebody's thinking, you know,6:34Moshe could speak whatever he likes, but I'm not interested.6:38It doesn't affect me.6:39Baruch Hashem, I have a good life. I'm living well.6:42I'm okay.6:45I'm not bound to this promise over here.6:48This will not affect me. This doesn't bother me.6:50I couldn't care less.6:51Moshe says, Has v'shalom, somebody has such a thought.6:54Moshe Rabbeinu warns that if somebody has such a thought6:58and he plans not to keep the Torah,7:00don't think that he'll get away.7:03Hashem will take His vengeance upon this person.7:06That person will get punished.7:07And not only that person,7:09but we are all bound to each other7:11to make sure that we keep the Torah.7:13And therefore, if a person amongst the Jewish people7:16is not keeping the Torah,7:17we will also be punished.7:19This is where the famous statement of7:22Kol Yisrael arevim zeh lazeh. All the Jewish people are guarantors of each other.7:26As Chazal point out in7:28Masechet Sotah, this took place only after they crossed the Jordan.7:30Up till now, each person was liable for his own sins.7:34Once we crossed the Jordan River7:35with Yehoshua, we entered7:37Eretz Yisrael, then we became bound to each other forever.7:40And if therefore one Jew amongst the Jewish nation is sinning,7:44it affects all the Jewish people.7:45So the obvious question is,7:47Why should I suffer for his mistake?7:50And that's part of the deal.7:52Yeah, we're all one nation.7:53How are we supposed to know what the guy does?7:55So Moshe Rabbeinu points out, don't worry about it.7:58Hanistarot la'Adonai Eloheinu.8:02V'niglot lanu uvaneinu ad olam, which means, sins and what people do in hiding, that is not our obligation to know and to find out.8:11That, don't worry about it. Hashem will take care of that.8:14We're only supposed to haniglot, that which is revealed is our obligation.8:18That which we can see. We know what people are thinking. We see what people are doing.8:22If we see them sinning, if we see other people not keeping the8:26Torah, we have an obligation to make sure that they keep the Torah,8:30to bring them to classes, to teach them, to educate them.8:33We cannot just sit by the side and say, Let me live my life.8:36Live and let live. No. We are bound to each other.8:39We're all guarantors to each other. We're liable for each other.8:41And this is how Moshe concluded the pact with the Jewish people.8:45We move on now to the second part of the parashah, Parashat8:51HaTeshuvah. This parashah, this part of the parashah, the Ramban points out8:56that when Moshe Rabbeinu was saying it, he was not speaking about events that happened already.9:01Rather, it was a prophecy of what will be in the future.9:03In the words of the Ramban,9:08Kol ha'inyanah lo hayu v'lo נבראו. Whatever it says in this part of the parashah has not happened yet, has not been created yet.9:13It's speaking about the future, where the Torah tells us that eventually you as a nation will do teshuvah.9:20And therefore, if somebody was reading this, the Torah, and says,9:23Look, it says over here clearly if the Jewish people don't keep the Torah,9:27they will be punished, they will get wiped.9:30And maybe at one point in history somebody will look up and say,9:33Hey, you know, look at what's going on. The Jewish people have forgotten their religion almost.9:37Everybody's gone. Everybody's doing something else and mixed with the nations.9:41Here, this part of the parashah guarantees that the Jewish people eventually will do teshuvah.9:47And as a result of doing teshuvah, Hashem tells them that you will— Merit to all return to Eretz9:54Yisrael, even if you're at the ends of the corners of the world.9:57Hashem promises that He will collect the Jewish people from all ends of the world and bring them to the land of10:02Israel. And as the Gra has a famous calculation,10:06where he says that Sefer Devarim corresponds to the last thousand years, or not the last, but the year 5,000 to the year10:166,000. According to that calculation, it comes out that Parashat Nitzavim and Vayelech,10:21and some say only Nitzavim, is around the time that we live in,10:24in the era that we live in now, in 5775. It corresponds to our century,10:29which we have seen the Baal Teshuva movement, which we see clearly,10:37veshavta ad Hashem Elokecha. Many, many people are returning, are coming back to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.10:41And we merited to see with our own eyes the fulfillment of this part of the Torah.10:47We move now to the third part of parasha.10:50Really, the third part of parasha was the beginning; I included it in the second10:54one. We left it by itself because the Torah speaks over here of a specific mitzvah.10:58The Torah says, Ki ha-mitzvah zot, this mitzvah, lo rechokah hi. It's not a far mitzvah; it's far out for you.11:05Lo bashamayim hi, it's not in the heavens.11:12Ki karov eilecha ha-davar me'od, it's very, very close to you.11:15Beficha uvilvavcha la'asoto, it's in your mouth, it's in your heart, you could do it.11:18What's this mitzvah? Torah doesn't tell us what this mitzvah.11:21Hashem tells us, listen, I'm giving you a mitzvah that's very, very close to you.11:24Here we have two opinions.11:27According to Rashi, this mitzvah is referring to the study of Torah.11:31God tells us that don't think the study of Torah is something beyond you,11:35it's too difficult, too hard.11:37No, no, no, no. It's very, very close to11:38you. Everybody can do it.11:40The Ramban says, no, this mitzvah specifically talks about teshuvah, which is repenting.11:46Don't think it's so hard, you've drifted so far you cannot return.11:49No. Everybody can do it.11:51It's very, very close to you.11:53Everybody can do it.11:54And as Chazal, the rabbis point out, the Torah says it's not in the heavens.11:59What do you mean it's not in the heavens?12:00It means to say, don't think that it's so hard it's in the heavens.12:04But there's another meaning, say the rabbis.12:06If it would have been in the heavens, you would have had to climb up to the heavens and bring it down.12:12Hashem did us a favor. He made it very close to us.12:14We could all access it. We could all access the Torah, and we could all access teshuvah.12:19And finally, we move on to the last part of the parashah.12:23The last aliyah in the parashah, Moshe Rabbeinu reiterates what he says and tells us in plain and simple words,12:33Re'eh natati lifneichem hayom et hachayim v'et hatov. Listen, you see in front of you today, I've given you life, I've given you what's good,12:39and I've given you the other side, et hamavet v'et hara, death and evil.12:44They come hand in hand.12:45The good is keeping the Torah.12:46The evil is not keeping Torah.12:50And you choose.12:51And Moshe Rabbeinu concludes,12:54Uvacharta bachayim. Make sure that you choose life.12:57This is the pact that we entered with HaKadosh Baruch Hu,13:00which our great-great-great-grandfathers accepted and abinds us as well.13:05And Moshe Rabbeinu concludes,13:08Uvacharta bachayim. One more advice: choose life.13:11Trust me,13:13this is what's good for you.13:14Keep the Torah, for that brings life with it,13:19kiyam chayenu v'orech yameinu. And finally, a short lesson from this week's parashah.13:24This parashah, like we mentioned, is always before Rosh Hashanah.13:28And Moshe Rabbeinu addresses all the Jewish people.13:30And there's really a question that we could ask:13:32why does Moshe Rabbeinu repeat himself?13:35He says,13:36Atem nitzavim hayom13:38kulchem. You're all standing here today.13:40Kulchem. What does kulchem mean?13:41All of you.13:42And then afterwards, the next pasuk,13:45Moshe speaks about who the people are:13:48the leaders, the officers, the children, the women, the ger.13:53Why does Moshe repeat himself?13:55He already said everybody,13:56so obviously it includes the children and the old and the converts and everybody else.14:00Why did he have to repeat it?14:02And the answer is14:03that when you're addressing a group of people,14:08you're bound to have different types of people, as Moshe says,14:10and you're bound also to not really hit the point to somebody,14:15because everybody is on a different level.14:17When you have different people,14:18there are people on different levels.14:19And therefore some people might say,14:21Hey, you know what?14:22That doesn't apply to me.14:23I'm more religious than that.14:24Or some people say,14:25Yeah, I'm much lower level. Moshe is talking to the leaders.14:28Everybody will always point fingers.14:29It's not me, it's somebody else.14:30He's talking to somebody else.14:32Moshe Rabbeinu wants to emphasize,14:34listen, this pact, this deal includes everybody,14:36no matter which level you're on.14:38We're all bound by this Torah.14:41Everybody.14:41Don't think everybody, I mean14:43in general a specific group.14:44I mean every single person.14:46Hear what I've told you14:48and apply it to your own level.14:51So therefore we are here, standing before Rosh Hashanah,14:53and we have the same message.14:56We have a pact. We're going to a new year,14:59and we have to come in with a promise15:01that we are binding ourselves to become better.15:05And although maybe we're at different levels,15:09it doesn't exempt us.15:11Torah and religion is not only for the religious;15:15it's for every Jew.15:16And every Jew, no matter what level he's on.15:19Could go a little bit higher,15:20and he's expected to go higher.15:22That's the pact that we accepted15:25by Natan Moshe Rabbeinu,15:26and that's a pact that we accept upon ourselves15:29every year as we go through another Rosh Hashanah.15:31Shabbat shalom, and ketiva vachatima tova.