Emmanuel's Email : Shabbos Tzetl: Nitzavim

Thursday, 2 September 2021

Shabbos Tzetl: Nitzavim

CANDLE LIGHTING

5:43pm - Candle Lighting, Friday.

6:40pm - Havdalah, Saturday.

(Melbourne Australia)

Eruv Status: TBA

Shabbat Shalom!

https://community.yeshivahcentre.org/topic.php?lid=3

PARSHAH IN A NUTSHELL

Deuteronomy 29:9–30:20

The Parshah of Nitzavim includes some of the most fundamental principles of the Jewish faith:

The unity of Israel: "You stand today, all of you, before the L‑rd your G‑d: your heads, your tribes, your elders, your officers, and every Israelite man; your young ones, your wives, the stranger in your gate; from your wood-hewer to your water-drawer."

The future redemption: Moses warns of the exile and desolation of the Land that will result if Israel abandons G‑d's laws, but then he prophesies that in the end, "You will return to the L‑rd your G‑d . . . If your outcasts shall be at the ends of the heavens, from there will the L‑rd your G‑d gather you . . . and bring you into the Land which your fathers have possessed."

The practicality of Torah: "For the mitzvah which I command you this day, it is not beyond you, nor is it remote from you. It is not in heaven . . . It is not across the sea . . . Rather, it is very close to you, in your mouth, in your heart, that you may do it."

Freedom of choice: "I have set before you life and goodness, and death and evil: in that I command you this day to love G‑d, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments . . . Life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. And you shall choose life."

HAFTORAH IN A NUTSHELL

Isaiah 61:10-63:9

This week's haftorah is the seventh and final installment of a series of seven "Haftarot of Consolation." These seven haftarot commence on the Shabbat following Tisha b'Av and continue until Rosh Hashanah.

The prophet begins on a high note, describing the great joy that we will experience with the Final Redemption, comparing it to the joy of a newly married couple.

Isaiah than declares his refusal to passively await the Redemption: "For Zion's sake I will not remain silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be still, until her righteousness emerges like shining light..." He implores the stones of Jerusalem not to be silent, day or night, until G‑d restores Jerusalem and establishes it in glory.

The haftorah then recounts G‑d's oath to eventually redeem Zion, when the Jews will praise G‑d in Jerusalem. The haftorah also contains a description of the punishment G‑d will mete out to Edom and the enemies of Israel.

Isaiah concludes with the famous statement:

"In all [Israel's] afflictions, He, too, is afflicted, and the angel of His presence redeemed them..."

Like a loving father who shares the pain of his child, G‑d, too, shares the pain of His people, and awaits the redemption along with them.

SAGES ON THE PARSHAH
sages nitzavim.pdf

You stand upright this day, all of you, before the L‑rd your G‑d: your heads, your tribes, your elders, your officers and all the men of Israel; your little ones, your wives, and your stranger that is in your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water (Deuteronomy 29:9–10)
The Talmud (Pesachim 50a) tells the story of Rav Yosef the son of Rabbi Joshua ben Levi, who fell ill and was at the brink of death when his father's prayers brought him back to life. When he came to, his father asked him: "My son, what did you see (in heaven)?" Rav Yosef replied: "I saw an upside-down world. Those who are on top here are on the bottom there; and those who are here regarded as lowly are exalted in heaven."
That the leader or the sage is superior to the wood-hewer or the water-carrier is only from our earthbound perspective, which sees a "hierarchy" of roles. But when "you all stand before G‑d," there is no higher and lower—what seems "low" here is no less lofty and significant in G‑d's eyes.
(Alshich)