~Thoughts on The Parsha~
Parshas Nitzavim-Vayeilech
Chutes and Ladders:
Our Weakness is Our Strength
By: Daniel Listhaus
אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי ה'
אֱלֹקיכֶם רָאשֵׁיכֶם שִׁבְטֵיכֶם זִקְנֵיכֶם וְשֹׁטְרֵיכֶם כֹּל אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל:
טַפְּכֶם נְשֵׁיכֶם וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בְּקֶרֶב מַחֲנֶיךָ מֵחֹטֵב עֵצֶיךָ עַד
שֹׁאֵב מֵימֶיךָ: לְמַעַן הָקִים אֹתְךָ הַיּוֹם לוֹ לְעָם וְהוּא יִהְיֶה לְּךָ
לֵאלֹקים כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָךְ וְכַאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ לְאַבְרָהָם
לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב:
“You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem,
your G-d; Your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers – all the men
of Israel; your small children, your women, and your convert who is in the
midst of your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water,
for you to pass into a covenant of Hashem, your G-d, and into His oath that
Hashem, your G-d forges with you today, in order to establish you today as a
people to Him and that He be a G-d to you, as He spoke of you and He swore to
your forefathers, to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov.”
-Nitzavim 29:9-12
The
Chizkuni comments that the entire B’nei Yisroel – leaders, men,
women, children, converts, and servants – whether prominent or not, were all
gathered in from of Moshe to accept the bris of Hashem. The Medrash[1]
cites that Chizkiyah the son of Rebbe Chiya taught that the reason
why Parshas Nitzavim immediately follows the Parsha
containing the tochacha (literally: rebuke) and all the k’lalos
(curses) of Parshas Ki Savo, is because after hearing all
the horrible consequences of not following the way of Hashem, B’nei Yisroel became
very frightened and started thinking that perhaps the Torah is too hard to keep
and too much a responsibility to bear. Therefore, Moshe rabbeinu got up
and announced: “You are standing here today” – meaning, despite all the bad
things you have already transgressed while in the midbar (desert) and
despite the transgressions being right after accepting the Torah, you are still
alive to tell the tale.
The Malbim[2]
brings from the medrash[3]
that if we stop a moment to look back at history and those who rebel against
Hashem or wage war against B’nei Yisroel, we will find that those
nations do not last too long. The Dor Ha’Mabul was overturned and
destroyed completely. Sodom was completely wiped out, and Mitzriyim
(Egyptians) drowned in the sea. Yet, despite B’nei Yisroel’s history of being
repeatedly attacked since its inception as a nation, we are still here. Why?
Mark
Twain, in an essay, was clearly bothered by this question as well. He wrote:
“If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute
but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust
lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard
of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the
planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out
of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world's
list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and
abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his
numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in the world, in all the ages; and has
done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be
excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the
planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the
Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other
peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out,
and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them
all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of
age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his
alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces
pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”
Indeed,
the aforementioned medrash brings a passuk (verse) from Michah[4],
“Rejoice not
against me, my enemy; although I have fallen, I will rise; although I will sit
in darkness, Hashem is a light to me.” When we fall we get back up. The
punishments that Hashem sends towards us are never to annihilate us completely.
As much as they may threaten and as much damage as they might do, their destiny
is to be wiped out and ours is to remain. Just like a person who sets up a
metal beam and shoots wooden arrows at it – the arrows’ points touch the pole,
but the arrows crack in half in the process, so too the arrows that are aimed
at B’nei Yisroel – their points touch us and their threats are real but
they can never pierce us to the core, instead they are snapped in half.
The
world has a general perception that angels are greater than people. They are
closer to God, pure, and unaffected by the distractions of this world. However,
in truth it is that exact reason which makes people, and particularly B’nei
Yisroel, so much more prominent. Malachim are created by
Hashem in their form to fulfill a particular purpose. Just like no one would
praise a bee for making beeswax and honey, because that is what it is programmed
to do by nature, so too there is nothing particularly remarkable about a malach
remaining pure because it has no other option. Its very nature is to be in
the state it is in and has no choice to be or do anything other than what
Hashem commands it directly to do.
People
on the other hand are exactly the opposite. Although there are a number of “life
settings” which are determined before birth such as if we will be tall or
short, strong or weak, smart or not so smart, and rich or poor, we are also
born with the freedom to choose how to use our characteristics and talents. There is no point in praising someone
for being smart – he was born that way. However, someone who decides to use his
brainpower to help others is indeed praiseworthy. We are born with bechira (free
choice) and are challenged to utilize our bechira correctly. If we
choose the wrong things and use our talents in destructive ways, we will be
held accountable. However, if we are able to make a conscious decision to do
kindness and goodness with our abilities, in essence choosing to fulfill the ratson
(will) of Hashem, there is nothing better. In this way we as humans are
much dearer to Hashem when we do what is right. Malachim follow Hashem’s
word because they must, but we have the unique opportunity to follow because we
choose to and want to.
Malachim
are called “omdim” (standing) because their status is static. They
cannot choose between good and bad, they must just do what they are told to do.
We, however, are called “holchim” (moving) because our levels are constantly
changing based on our individual thoughts, speech, and actions. Unfortunately, in
the process, we often find ourselves sinking levels and taking steps rapidly
down the ladder. However, we must not allow these experiences to mislead us and
change our perception to think that bechira is a weakness of mankind. It
is not. Bechira is our strength and makes us stand out from all
creations and categorizes us as even more prominent than the holiest of malachim.
During the month
of Elul, and certainly as we get closer to the Yamim Noraim, we
often think of Hashem as a scary King waiting to punish us for all the things
we have done. However it is not like that at all. The fact that we are standing
here today is proof that Hashem loves us and is cheering for us to make the
right decisions. He does not give up on us and we should certainly not give up
on ourselves. Hashem is more than a king who punishes and rewards, He is a king
who protects His subjects and even more the B’nei Yisroel who are referred
to as His own children.[5] B’nei Yisroel
have special roots tied to Hashem which can never be severed. The arrows which sometimes
need to be shot at us to give us a wakeup call are meant to do just that. Never
will we be wiped out because we are chosen by Hashem as His nation with the privilege
of having the potential to use our strength of bechira in ways more
powerful than any other nation on Earth. And when we do wake up and choose the
path of following ratson Hashem, it becomes impossible, by definition,
for enemies and impediments to get in our way.
May
Hashem help us during the time of ani l’dodi v’dodi li (I am to my
beloved [Hashem] and my beloved is to me),[6] that Hashem’s
role of King and judge over the world includes the fact that we are His beloved
subjects and children who He has confidence in and cheers for our success in
utilizing our bechira properly.
[1]
Medrash Tanchuma – Nitzavim 29:9
[2]
Torah Ohr, Devarim 29:9
[3]
Medrash Tanchuma ibid.
[4]
Michah 7:8
[5]
See Avos 3:18
[6]
Shir Hashirim 6:3 – the first Hebrew letter from each word in the phrase
spells out Elul.
Photo Credit: via Google Images http://www.playthepast.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Chutes-and-Ladders.jpg
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