Nitzavim Answers

Nitzavim-VaYelech 5729

Alef.

              Devarim 30:1-3

And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee,

and thou shalt bethink thyself among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath Driven thee,

and shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and hearken to His Voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul;

(that then)[1] the LORD thy God will Turn thy captivity, and have Compassion upon thee, and will Return and Gather thee from all the peoples, whither the LORD thy God hath Scattered thee. 

1.  a) Ibn Ezra and Abrabanel see the turning point at “and thou shall bethink thyself…”

     b) RaMBaN, R. Hirsch, Mendelsohn see the turning point at “and shalt return unto the Lord…”

     c) Chizkuni, King James see the turning point at “the Lord thy God will Turn thy captivity…”

2.  a) The beginning of personal introspection, the prerequisite for repentance, will only occur  after the Jews suffer all sorts of hardships.

     b)  Just because you begin to be reflective does not guarantee that you will draw the conclusion that you have to repent. HaShem will End your afflictions upon indications that you have truly repented, i.e., the fulfill of all Mitzvot.

     c)  Once you have repented and returned to a life of Mitzvot, as an indication that you are back in God’s Good Graces, He will Gather you from your exile.

3.  As long as the Jews do not repent, there is no reason for God to Remove their afflictions. Their repentance is necessary for their existential situation to significantly change.

4.  RaMBaM appears to understand the turning point to be c) above, but not because the people will choose on their own to do Teshuva, but rather because they are fated to do so. (This raises the question of behaviorism. Let us say that conditions can be arranged where there is so much negative reinforcement that people will comply with what was intended. How much significance does their action have since it was orchestrated  from without?)

Beit.

a) Chizkuni is attempting to account for the singular form of “HaKetuva” which appears to be modifiying multiple elements: Mitzvotav VeChukotav. Consequently he concludes that the singular form could still relate to a plurality of nouns by providing other examples of a similar phenomenon.

b) HaKetav VeHaKabbala is intrigued by the implications of the word “Kol”. Since with the exception of the first of the Aseret HaDibrot, the people hears HaShem’s Mitzvot by means of Moshe’s instructions, how are they to listen to the “Voice” of HaShem? The commentator answers that “Kol” is a reference to the Tora SheB’Al Peh that accompanied the Revelation of the Tora SheB’Ktav, and which will now be communicated by means of one’s teacher.

Gimel.

1. a) “מכל מקום...”—Nevertheless because the desire to repent is powerful

         “צריכים לקבל...”—it is necessary to accept this enlightenment of repentance as something from within that purifies and sanctifies.

         “התעוררות חפצה...”—an awakening of the desire on the part of the nation as a whole to return to its land, to its essence.

     b) R. Kook interpreted the nationalistic drive to reestablish the State of Israel as a manifestation of the desire for repentance and for the Jewish people to return to its roots.

     c)  Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of original Zionists were secular, from Herzl and beyond, and consequently could be categorized as lacking holiness, R. Kook nevertheless understood that holiness could arise out of an ostensibly non-holy context.

2.  It appears that R. Kook understands that a progression is being described in Devarim 30. First there will be a movement towards God even though the people do not realize what is driving the movement ("ושבת עד"). But over time it will become clear to everyone, including the penitents themselves, that the return is a return to HaShem (“כי תשוב אל”).

פרק ל' פסוק ב' "וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ וְשָׁמַעְתָּ בְקֹלוֹ כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם אַתָּה וּבָנֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ"

פרק ל' פסוק י' "כִּי תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ לִשְׁמֹר מִצְו‍ֹתָיו וְחֻקֹּתָיו הַכְּתוּבָה בְּסֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה כִּי תָשׁוּב אֶל ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ"

"הכתב והקבלה":

(י) "תשוב אל ה' ולמעלה (ב) אמר: "ושבת עד ה'". וטעם שינויים אלה, נראה לי שהוא בשינוי סיבות המביאות אל התשובה: אם התשובה היא מיראת העונש, שאין החטא נמחק לגמרי, ורושם החטא עדיין מחיצה מבדלת בין האדם למקום, בזה מחובר מילת "עד" עם התשובה, כי אף שבתשובה זו יתקרב האדם גם כן אל ה', בכל זאת רושם החטא עדיין נשאר מסך מבדיל בינו לבין המקום, ועניין התשובה "עד" ה' כעניין "בא עד הבית", שטעמו ההתקרבות אל הבית, עד שעומד סמוך אליו בריחוק מקום קצת.
אמנם אם התשובה היא מאהבת ה', שבה יתעלה מעלת השב, עד שאמרו חז"ל: "במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדין אין צדיקים גמורים יכולים לעמוד", כי יתעלה השב בזה אל דבקות ה' הגמורה - על תשובה מעולה זו תחובר תמיד מילת "אל ה'", ובמאמר "בא אל הבית", שהטעם בו ההגיעה אל תוך הבית ופנימיותו.

המלבי"ם:

ד"ה "כי תשוב אל ה'": שאז יבואו למדרגה גדולה כזו, מפני שהתשובה תהייה אל ה', לא כהתשובה בראש הפרשה שהיא רק "עד ה' אלוקיך".

It seems to me that R. Kook aligns better with MaLBIM than with HaKetav VeHaKabbala. The latter understands that “עד” implies a lower level than “אל” which is similar to R. Kook’s original Teshuva that is ensconced in “Chol” considerations, which will eventually become sanctified. HaKetav VeHaKabbala draws a distinction by the emotion that motivates the Teshuva, claiming that if it originates out of a sense of fear, then a barrier between the individual and God will remain, allowing for a coming close only “up to” but no further. On the other hand, when love motivates repentance, it becomes possible to come that much closer literally “to” HaShem.

3.  Just as the individual wishes to reconnect with his roots of holiness, R. Kook understands the national yearning for a Jewish homeland to be a manifestation of the same phenomenon and inner sensibility.

4.  My understanding of “רחמנא לבא בעי” is that HaShem Wishes that when we perform Mitzvot we do so with Kavana, i.e., the involvement of the heart. R. Kook seems to assume that there is a spiritual wellspring within every individual that strives towards holiness and God. Rather than this being a function of the self-conscious will of the individual, it is a reality that is inherent within him. Perhaps it could be conceptualized by assuming that this is the desire of the soul, independent of where one’s heart is at.

Daled.

It seems to me that the reason why it is necessary to mention the Beracha and not only the Kellala as a motivation to repent is in order to prevent the thought that man is fated to suffer and it has nothing to do with his will or actions. If there is an awareness that Kellala is not the only alternative, but the state in which a person finds himself could be one of Beracha as well, this will contribute to demonstrating that an individual’s situation is affected by the manner in which he pursues his religious obligations and in turn earns a response by HaShem.

Heh.

Yechezkel 18:31

Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

Ibid. 36:26

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

The difference between the person circumcising his own heart as opposed to HaShem Circumcising his heart, parallels the idea of a new heart coming from HaShem, or being renewed by the individual himself. On the one hand, a person has to have the will to repent. This could be represented by God Imbuing him with such a sensibility, desire. But ultimately it has to be a statement on the part of the individual himself in order for the act to have any meaning. It is also possible that the chronology is the opposite, i.e., in accordance with the principle of הבאין לטהר מסעיין לו   (one who wishes to purify himself, he will be given Divine Assistance in order to do so) perhaps, the first step is for the person to want to repent, and then he is helped with achieving a new heart/circumcising his heart.

3

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[1] This is the translation that I have installed on my computer reflecting a certain interpretive stance.