Parashat Nitzavim

Torah Portions

In Nitzavim (“Standing”), Moses addresses the Israelites, emphasizing the importance of following God’s covenant and of not worshiping other gods. He describes the process of repentance and returning to God, and stresses that God’s commandments are achievable and “not in the heavens.”

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Here and Not Here

TANAKH

In Parashat Nitzavim, Moses addresses the people of Israel, who have gathered together. He speaks of their covenant with God and emphasizes that the covenant applies to future generations as well.

I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before our God יהוה and with those who are not with us here this day.

Deuteronomy 29:13-14

What Will People Say?

TANAKH

In Deuteronomy 29, Moses prophesies of a future in which the people of Israel stray from their covenant with God, resulting in suffering for them and the promised land. He describes the conversations people would have when they see the destroyed land.

all nations will ask, “Why did יהוה do thus to this land? Wherefore that awful wrath?” They will be told, “Because they forsook the covenant that יהוה, God of their ancestors, made with them upon freeing them from the land of Egypt; they turned to the service of other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not experienced and whom [God] had not allotted to them. So יהוה was incensed at that land and brought upon it all the curses recorded in this book.

Deuteronomy 29:23-26

Near, Not Far

TANAKH

In the Torah portion, Moses continues to urge the people of Israel to live according to the commandments. He encourages them that the Torah’s instructions are not too difficult for them.

Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.

Deuteronomy 30:11-14

This Day

COMMENTARY

As the Torah nears the end, Moses nears the end of his life. According to the renowned 11th-century northern French rabbi and commentator Rashi, Moses gave the oration of Parashat Nitzavim on the very day of his death.

אתם נצבים YE ARE STANDING THIS DAY [ALL OF YOU BEFORE THE LORD] — This teaches that Moses assembled them in the presence of the Omnipresent on the day of his death, in order to initiate them into a covenant with Him.

Rashi on Deuteronomy 29:9:1

The Third Covenant

MIDRASH

In the third verse of the Torah portion, Moses tells the people of Israel that they are entering into a covenant with God. A passage in Midrash Tanchuma explores the nature of covenantal relationship with the divine.

(Deut. 29:11:) “To enter into the covenant with the Lord your God....” Three covenants did the Holy One, blessed be He, make with Israel when they came out of Egypt, one when they stood before Mount Sinai, (one at Horeb,) and one here. But why did he make [a covenant] with them here? Because they had revoked the one which He had made with them at Sinai, when they said (of the golden calf in Exod. 32:4), “This is your god, O Israel.” For that reason He made [another covenant] with them at Horeb and established a curse over it for whoever would go back on his words. Now the word, enter (rt…

Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 3:1

Two Paths

MIDRASH

In Parashat Nitzavim, Moses lays out the choice the people of Israel face in how they will conduct their lives. Eighth-century midrashic work Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer expands on the verses with symbolic descriptions of the different life paths.

THE TWO WAYS
RABBI ELIEZER said: I heard with my ear the Lord of hosts speaking. What did He speak? He said: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil" (Deut. 30:15). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Behold, these two ways have I given to Israel, one is good, the other is evil. The one which is good, is of life; and the one which is evil, is of death. The good way has two byways, one of righteousness and the other of love, and Elijah, be he remembered for good, is placed exactly between these two ways…

Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 15:1-5

Not in the Heavens

MIDRASH

In Deuteronomy 30:12, Moses states that the commandments are “not in the heavens.” A midrash in Devarim Rabbah offers multiple interpretations of this phrase.

“It is not in the heavens, to say: Who will ascend for us to the heavens, and take it for us, and communicate it to us, that we will perform it” (Deuteronomy 30:12).
Another matter, “for [this] mitzva…it is not in the heavens” – Moses said to them: ‘So you will not say: Another Moses will stand and bring us another Torah from Heaven, I am already informing you: “It is not in the heavens,” as nothing of it remained in Heaven.’
Another matter, Rabbi Ḥanina said: It and all the tools of its craft were given…

Devarim Rabbah 8:6

Hidden and Revealed

LITURGY

A somewhat mysterious verse in Parashat Nitzavim states that the hidden matters are for God, while the revealed ones are for “us and our children.” The verse has been interpreted in different ways and is quoted in the Yom Kippur confessional.

For [transgressing] positive commandments, and for [transgressing] prohibitive commandments, whether the prohibition can be corrected by a specifically prescribed act, or whether it cannot be corrected by a specifically prescribed act, for those of which we are aware and for those of which we are not aware. For those of which we are aware, we have already declared before You and confessed them unto You; and for those of which we are not aware, before You they are revealed and known, as it is said, “The hidden things belong to Adonoy, our God…

Machzor Yom Kippur Ashkenaz, The Morning Prayers, Amidah 104

The Return

CHASIDUT

In Parashat Nitzavim, Moses describes to the people of Israel a future narrative of their straying from God’s commandments, punishment in exile, and ultimate redemption. 19th-century Chasidic leader Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izhbits analyzes the section on redemption, understanding it as a personal process of repentance.

“And it shall be, when all of these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall take them to your heart among the nations, to where Hashem has driven you. And you shall return unto Hashem your God, and heed His voice … And if your exiles shall be in the outermost regions of the cosmos, from there Hashem your God will gather you, and from there He will take you … And Hashem your God will circumcise your heart … to love Hashem your God … And Hashem your God will put all these curses upon your enemies and on those who hate you … And you shall…

Mei HaShiloach, Volume I, Deuteronomy, Nitzavim 6

The Question of Free Will

JEWISH THOUGHT

Do we have free will? Spanish scholar Rabbi Bachya ibn Pekudah, in his 11th-century philosophical treatise, struggles with this question and brings textual evidence both to deny and affirm human free will.

We find, however, in the book of the Torah a contrary view, namely, that a human being's visible acts are in his own power. He can choose then as he pleases. They are effected by his choice and free will and he is accordingly liable to reward or punishment for service and transgression respectively, as it is said, "See, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil" (Deut. 30:15). ". . . therefore choose life" (Deut. 30:19). "Through your hands this has come" (Malachi 1:9). "For according to a man's act, He requites him" (Job 34:11). "A man's folly perverts his way" (Prov…

Duties of the Heart, Third Treatise on Service of God 8:5

Sky Blue, Wassily Kandinsky 1940. It is not in the heavens, [for you] to say: Who will go up for us to the heavens and get it for us and have us hear it, that we may observe it? (Deuteronomy 30 12)