You Are Standing Today: The Powerful Message of Parashat Nitzavim

Parashat Nitzavim brings us the final portions of Moses’ address to the people of Israel. It opens with these words:

“You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your God, your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, every person of Israel. Your children, your wives, and the stranger within your camp, from your woodcutter to your water drawer. To enter into the covenant of Hashem your God and His oath, which Hashem your God is making with you today” (Deuteronomy 29:9–11).

Standing Before Hashem on Rosh Hashanah

We have mentioned many times that every verse in the Torah is interpreted on four levels: pshat, remez, drash, and sod. The sages of Kabbalah reveal that whenever the word “today” appears in the Torah, beyond its plain meaning, it also refers to “the day,” with the definite article, of the year. What is the most important day? Rosh Hashanah, of course, the “head” of the year.

Moses tells the people of Israel, “You are standing today, all of you.” At the end of the previous portion, the Torah elaborated at length on the curses that might come upon the people of Israel. Sadly, the Jewish people have experienced a great many of them in painful ways. Now Moses says that despite everything, “you are standing today.”

“Standing” is in the present tense: “In the face of all the terrible suffering described here, you are still standing; your stance remains firm and your posture upright. All the suffering will pass over your heads, and you will outlast it all... More than that, the suffering itself guarantees your eternal existence, because it will lead to the improvement of your deeds.”

“Likewise, you are standing! You live and endure forever! I am being gathered to my people, and Joshua, to whose care I entrust you, is also destined to be gathered to his people. So too will all the leaders who arise after him, generation after generation. They will all pass from the world, and the character of the leaders will change. Only you, the nation, are immortal, eternal, and enduring forever... The nation is the ‘monument,’ the eternal pillar of Hashem’s Torah” (Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch).

Indeed, later in the portion, Moses details and foretells what will happen to the Children of Israel if they stray from Hashem’s path. He describes the exile and suffering that will come upon them:

“And all the nations will say: Why did Hashem do this to this land? Why this great blaze of anger? And they will say: Because they abandoned the covenant of Hashem, God of their ancestors, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods they had not known and who had not been assigned to them. Then Hashem’s anger burned against that land, bringing upon it every curse written in this book. Hashem uprooted them from their land in anger, fury, and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as is the case today” (Deuteronomy 29:23–27).

But Moses continues with the heavenly promise: Despite everything, the people of Israel live and endure.

“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse that I have set before you, and you take them to heart among all the nations where Hashem your God has driven you, and you return to Hashem your God and listen to His voice, in accordance with everything I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and all your soul, then Hashem your God will restore your captivity and have compassion on you. He will return and gather you from all the peoples among whom Hashem your God has scattered you. Even if your outcasts are at the farthest edge of the heavens, from there Hashem your God will gather you, and from there He will take you. Hashem your God will bring you to the land your ancestors inherited, and you will inherit it; He will do good for you and make you more numerous than your ancestors” (Deuteronomy 30:1–5).

The people of Israel will return in teshuvah, and Hashem will return them to their land.

Even in Exile, Hashem Is Leading Us

Hashem always watches over the people of Israel, perhaps especially during periods of exile.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch finds a beautiful hint within the verse: “Hashem uprooted them from their land in anger, fury, and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as is the case today.” The letter lamed in the word vayashlichem (“and He cast them”) is written larger than the other letters in the Torah scroll.

The large lamed comes to teach us about history. The large lamed “shades” the letter shin before it, so that within the word vayashlichem appears the word vayolichem, meaning “and He led them,” or vayeshchem, from the word yesh, meaning “there is.” In other words, even when we seem to have been “cast away,” the truth is that we are being led, guided, and sustained by the Creator.

Just as this is true for the Jewish people as a whole, it is true for every individual. A person may drift further and further from Hashem’s path, but they are not ready to erase the image of the shepherd.

One reason the people of Israel are compared to a dove, “You are beautiful, my beloved, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves’ eyes” (Song of Songs), is that young doves naturally do not lose sight of their dovecote. They will fly away and move far from it, but only far enough to still keep it in view.

That is the Jewish people. Parts of the nation may move away from the dovecote and the warmth of home, but thankfully, they still keep that place in sight. Nearly every Jew turns to Hashem at some point in life, whether in times of trouble or on other occasions.

Each of us can say: “Hashem appeared to me from afar” (Jeremiah 31:2). At least from afar, if not from close by.

Every person goes through different seasons in life. There are good times, when someone feels connected to the Creator of the universe and to their own inner truth, and there are times when a person feels “in exile,” far from the Creator and from their natural place, disconnected from their own inner point of truth.

Just as the Jewish people have been promised that they will remain steady and enduring, so too must every individual, even one who feels in exile, know that Hashem is with them in every situation. Even when someone feels they are inside a dark tunnel, if they look carefully, they will see the light of Hashem present “from afar.” Far away, yet close.

The Message of Parashat Nitzavim Before Rosh Hashanah

Especially now, as Rosh Hashanah approaches, when a person takes stock of themselves and looks back over the past year, with all its changes and different circumstances, they may ask: “Why did Hashem do this to this land? Why this great blaze of anger?”

But the answer is the continuation of the verse: “Because they abandoned the covenant of Hashem, God of their ancestors.”

If a person wants a good year, they must remember that “Teshuvah, prayer, and charity avert the severity of the decree.” If they commit themselves to being closer to the Creator, they will merit a better year.

A person must never despair of themselves, under any circumstances. The Creator of the universe promised that He would never abandon the people of Israel, and He loves every Jew in every situation. The Creator’s hand is extended in every circumstance, and when a person wants to return, all they need to do is reach out their hand to the Creator’s hand.

If we approach Rosh Hashanah with this understanding, remembering, on one hand, that the Creator always watches over us, and on the other, that our connection to Hashem is embedded within each of us, we will merit a good and sweet year.