Shabbat-B'Shabbato – ParshatNitzavim

No 1591: 28Elul5775 (12September2015)

AS SHABBAT APPROACHES

Compatibility of a Couple - by Rabbi Oury Cherki, Machon Meir, Rabbi of Beit Yehuda Congregation, Jerusalem

The nations of the world often view their land as either a father or a mother. Such expressions as "Mother Earth," "Fatherland," and Patria (father) in various languages are an expression of a similarity between a parent and the land. This is the root of the feelings of a patriot from among the nations, which feel a natural suckling stemming from the land. However, in the collective unconscious, such a concept generates a feeling of a terrible sin of incest with the collective mother, something of a massive Oedipus complex on a national level. And that is why the ideological movements that raised the banner of the link to the earth felt a need to cast doubts on the importance of morality and fled into a barbaric state. Putting roots deep into the earth interferes with the innate Divine image of mankind.

And that is the source of the dichotomy of human culture – between left and right, between nationalism and cosmopolitanism. The tragic option of the nations is to choose between remaining true to the nation and the land and to hate the rest of the world, or to love the whole world and to abhor their own nationalistic roots.

This division does not exist in the nation of Yisrael. From the very start of its existence, from the time that G-d chose Avraham to bring a blessing to all the families of the earth, he was commanded to go to the Land of Canaan and to establish there a nationalistic entity, a "great nation" [Bereishit 12:2]. That is, our nationalistic approach serves the purpose of mending the world. Thus, everything that strengthens the nationalistic identity of Yisrael provides additional strength for love of all mankind. On the other hand, any weakening of our nationalistic feeling causes harm to our universal mission.

This can give us a basis to understand the unique relationship between the nation of Yisrael and its land. The mother which gave birth to our nation is the Land of Egypt, about which we are told, that G-d "came and took one nation out of another" [Devarim 4:34]. We are not allowed to return to Egypt permanently but we are allowed to visit there, in the same way that a son visits his mother. The Land of Israel, on the other hand, is described in this week's Haftarah as a mate, as the female counterpart of the nation of Yisrael. "... So will you settle the land. Just as a young man marries a maiden, so will you your sons settle in you." [Yeshayahu 62:4-5]. The relationship between a man and a woman dependsnot on natural instinct but on choice. A couple must agree to live together, and in order to do this each one must find favor in the eyes of the other. There can be a crisis of companionship, and there are cases when a man and woman remarry after having been divorced.

However, the basis for the link between our nation and our land is a matter of morality. It is also very strong. The Land of Israel is not merely a territorial foundation into which the nation will gather, it is an intrinsic element of its existence. Just as one would not expect that for momentary gain a man would be willing to give up parts of his wife's body, so we should not expect our nation to be willing to give up any parts of our land (our identity) for short-term political expediency, which of necessity can only be a delusion, since the basis of such a move would be an attempt to deny our own innate self.

There is no need to choose between man and the land. Mankind ("ha'adam") is the land itself ("ha'adama").

Rabbi Cherki is the head of Brit Olam – Noahide World Center, Jerusalem

POINT OF VIEW

"... And for the Nations" [of the European Union] "about which It Will be Said..."- by Rabbi Yisrael Rozen, Dean of the Zomet Institute

"When the Supreme Being gave the nations an inheritance, when He separated man from man, he established the borders of the nations the same as the number of Bnei Yisrael" [Devarim 32:8].

A Deluge

Europe is seething with the invasion of refugees/immigrants/job-seekers from the Third World, who are crowding its borders. Tens of thousands of people are trying to make their way into Germany and other lands which have wealthy economies. Some of these people are indeed refugees from the sword, but most of them have simply discovered the "New World," which sparkles and attracts them with its high standard of living, its welfare state, and broad human rights. Most of those who are knocking at the borders are Moslems, but as far as I can see for the time being (and the emphasis is important: for the time being) this is not part of a religious Moslem conquest. This is a population which indeed grew up in Moslem culture and surroundings, but I venture to suggest that a large number of them are ready to abandon their religious-cultural past. They are certainly not inclined to engage in a fundamentalist approach, and they evidently would like nothing better than to become part of the "European enlightenment."

I can sympathize with the decision-makers in Europe, who are torn between the Schengen Agreement (from about 20 years ago), which cancelled any border controls among the member states (except for England), providing for free movement among the countries in Europe, and their desire to maintain their own national and political independence, and especially to protect the welfare of their own people, without sharing their treasures with the Third World.

When I try, as usual, to look at the issues from the point of view of Judaism and the Torah - and also to ask the question, "What is good for Israel?" - I find that I have various things to say.

Universalism Trumps Nationalism

I was never very much impressed in principle with the idea of European Unity from the Jewish point of view. This is not only because of practical issues, since the European Union is usually quite opposed to Israel on such matters as economic boycotts and in legal issues (through the International Court in the Hague), but mainly in political terms (it is identified with the pro-Palestinian approach) and for its strong support of the Israeli left.

In the Torah of the sages, throughout past generations, much is said about Yisrael as opposed to the "seventy nations of the world." Even if seventy is not an absolute number (there are 193 member states in the United Nations, but not all of them are nations), it is significant as "the number of the children of Yisrael" who descended to Egypt (see the verse quoted above), which is also equal to the number ofNoach's descendants after the Deluge. Our sources speak of "seventy oxen sacrificed on Succot, symbolizing the seventy nations of the world," "seventy tongues," and "seventy wolves" which harass Yaacov, represented by sheep. The creation of separate nations is a consequence of the collapse of the idea of the Tower of Babel, and Divine blocking of the notion that the people were "one nation with one language... and from there, G-d distributed them all over the earth" [Bereishit 11:6,9].

As far as I can see, national unification is an attempt to establish a new tower of Babel, and it is against the nature of the world and the decree of the Holy One, Blessed be He – and "it will not succeed" [Bamidbar 14:41]. Moreover, in my eyes the European Union is an attempt to give preference to universalism over nationalism. This post-modern approach can also be found within our nation – a weakening of our nationalism for the good of "the world" – mostly among "enlightened westerners." This approach of weakness appears with many faces, and there is no room to list them here. I will hesitatingly add one more point: As far as I can see, the "religion of human rights" was born as a result of the deification of the idea of universalism – but we will not expand on this theme here.

I stand on the sidelines and I wonder: will this universalism continue to exist? As I noted above, I have always had my doubts about the ability of the European Union to continue to exist, based on the Jewish conviction that the hearts of men are oriented towards a national bias from the day that the world was created. Will the huge flow of refugees from the east into Europe bring about cracks in the universalism-based unity and show that my gut feelings were correct?

Is this Good for the Jews?

So much for my thoughts about this matter. From here on, I will discussthe political outlook, the consequences for Israel.

On one hand, I – and probably many others – have afeeling of "we told you so!" You supported the Palestinians! You deified the idea of human rights! You lectured us from the leftist side of the picture! Now see the boomerang that is coming straight at you! Our behavior towards the work immigrants to Israel from Africa and our policies towards foreign workers in Israel will turn out to be many times more "enlightened" than what will yet happen in Europe.

On the other hand, since it seems to me that the European Union will not stop the flow and new waves will follow in sequence, we can assume that we today, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, we can expect serious geopolitical transformations to take place in the world. The way things go, we cannot expect this to give us anybenefit. Even if this is not (yet?) a matter of a Moslem conquest, and as noted above, not a declared overrun of Islam – in the end, the nations of the European Union will bow down before the Arab world – the Third World. And in the international "clearing house," we will be asked to pay a price for these events.

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, when "a declaration will be made about the nations" [from the prayer U'Netaneh Tokef], my heart is full of trepidation that even nations which are considered relatively "enlightened" will be moved into the "dark." "And they will be added together with our enemies" [Shemot 1:10].

There is indeed good reason to pray hard this year.

LET YOUR WELLSPRINGS BURST FORTH

You are Standing – On Judgement Day - by Rabbi Moshe Shilat, Director of "The Torah of Chabad for Yeshiva Students"

The Baal Shem Tovtaught:

"'You are standing today' [Devarim 29:9] – 'Today' means Rosh Hashanah, which is Judgement Day, and you are standing. You stand strong, which means that you are exonerated in your judgement. This is the blessing of the Holy One, Blessed be He, on the Shabbat when you would normally recite the "Birchat Hachodesh" for the seventh month, which is a sworn source of abundance for all of Yisrael throughout the year for all of Yisrael."

In this week's portion, which is always read before Rosh Hashanah, the Torah continues to take note of the wondrous mutual responsibility that is typical of the nation of Yisrael, between all the souls and the various population types – from "your heads and your elders" and down to "those who draw your water." [29:10]. Everybody stands together. All of Yisrael are one perfect "stand," and everybody can be compared to a specific limb which is needed by all the others. The foot needs the head to guide it, but the head also needs the foot, which brings it from place to place. When a Jew mixes in together with all the other Jews, he receives a promise of a blessingfor the coming year, since clearly the community of Yisrael as a whole is worthy of being written down and sealed for a good life. When a person goes out beyond his own personal limits and is included as part of Yisrael, he is certainly a tool for providing a blessing for the nation.

Entering for an Effort

On the day that he died, Moshe gathers the nation of Yisrael "to pass into the covenant... which your G-d is making with you today, in order to establish you today as a nation for Him, and He will be a G-d for you" [29:11-12].

This statement is quite remarkable.Yisrael became a nation at the time of the giving of the Torah, certainly not "today" – on the last day of Moshe's life! It is true that in the portion of Ki Tavo (and other places) where the phrase "today you became a nation" appears, Rashi explains that "every day you should approach the matter as if the covenant was made today." However, in this week's portion Rashi gives another explanation.

Commenting on the words "in order to establish you today," Rashi writes: "He entered so strongly, to make an effort to establish you before Him as a nation." What is it that specifically happened "today" and not at another time? The Rebbe of Lubavitch gives a wonderful explanation of this matter. The fact that we were chosen as the nation of G-d is indeed something that happened when we received the Torah, and a covenant about this was made at the time. We are the nation of G-d, and He will never replace us with any other nation. The innovation of this week's Torah portion is that the Holy One, Blessed be He, "came in" and made a special effort – to establish us as existing in front of him. Not only to "belong to Him" but to be "before Him." That is the in-depth meaning of the first two words in the portion – "You are standing... in front of your G-d."

A Huge Blessing

The Torah notes for us in this week's portion that G-d works hard. "He entered strongly to make an effort," so that we will stand before Him, choose the good, and serve Him. This not only means that no matter what happens we will "belong to him," since this is the covenant that was made in the past, at Mount Sinai! The innovation here is that we will continue to be "before G-d" all the time, that we will be a nation close to Him. G-d raises us up so that we will be successful in serving Him. We are His nation, and we have a close relationship with Him.

According to the Baal Shem Tov, the word "today" is Rosh Hashanah. At the beginning of every new year, the Holy One, Blessed be He, takes the trouble to labor on our behalf and to lift us up in front of him. Our task is to accept His yoke and to become His nation. In this way, we will receive the huge blessing of G-d, and we will be privileged to enjoy a good year filled with sweetness, including physical and spiritual abundance within the community of Yisrael. Amen!

FROM THE TREASURY OF CHASSIDIC STORIES

A Mentor and a Disciple in the Middle of a Big Forest - by Zev Kitzis, Kibbutz Hadati Yeshiva and Bar Ilan University

I was not privileged to personally know Rabbi Amital, of blessed memory, but I will still try to follow in his path, paradoxical as this may seem. By the term "paradox" I mean that it is almost impossible to follow and to mimic a person who had a famous slogan, "I am not interested in having little 'Amitals' who will follow me." However, that is the specific point which interests me today – a rejection of mimicry, of exaggerated admiration and of excessive clinging of a student to his mentor.

During the Days of Awe, before Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Amital would repeat to his students an allegory that was attributed to Rabbi Chaim of Tzantz. (This was also the practice of his son-in-law, Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, in the yeshiva where I had the privilege of studying.) Here is the story:

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A man went into the forest and lost his way for a few days, not knowing the way out. Suddenly, he saw another man coming towards him in the forest. His reaction was joy, since now he was sure that he could find out how to get on the right path. But when the two met the first one asked the second one, "My brother, please tell me the correct path, for I have been wandering around here for several days." And the man replied, "I cannot tell you what the right path is, for I too have been lost in this forest for many days. But I can give you some advice – don't follow the path that I took, it is a path where you get lost. Let us look for a new path together."

And Rabbi Chaim would say, after telling this story: "My friends! I can only say this to you: We will no longer continue on the road we have taken so far, because on this path we get lost. Let us look for a new path."

[Darchei Hachaim, with added notes, Everything that is Written for Life, page 67.]

* * * * * *

Rabbi Chaim evidently repeated this allegory many times, and he sometimes added, "It is written, 'Know Him in all your ways' [Mishlei 3:6]. Who am I to guide you?" And he even said, "I ask of you, my dear sons, that you go on better paths than the one I took." [Ibid, page 113].

The task of the Chassidic Tzadik in Rabbi Chaim's parable is not to be an all-knowing guide. Rather, he is revealed as a person who can make mistakes and even get lost himself. This specific ability makes it possible for him to guide his disciples and to make them strong. The Chassidic mentor is always searching. He teaches his disciples to search, to stay on the move, and to discover things for themselves.