CHOCHMAT NASHIM: NITZAVIM, VAYELECH, HAAZINU, BEREISHIT:
THAT WILL BRING US BACK TO DO
By: Suri Davis
Moshe and the Jewish nation are standing on the precipice, once again transitioning, from a period of daily, revealed miracles, back to nature, where they will once again be toiling to produce, but this time, it is not for Pharoah, it is for the Melech Malchei Hamlochim/the king of kings, who we just recently coronated, as we do each year on Rosh Hashanah, with the blowing of the shofar.
Moshe went to each tribe to to speak with them before his death (Ibn Ezra). This week’s torah portion of Vayelech discusses, once again, that the people will enter the land and sin. In this week’s parshah, we have the commandment of Vayakhel, uniting, coming together to hear the recitation of the torah. Why together? Because we are our brother’s keeper, if we love another Jew, we care whether he sins, and what will become of him. If we let a brother sin, it is like permitting one boat passenger to saw a hole under his sit, which would sink the whole ship. Negative influences. Why it is so important to have good friends and neighbors.
The Maharal of Prague and the Mezritcher Maggid tell us that the song of Haazinu, takes the entire chapter 32 of Deuteronomy. In Hebrew, it is Lamed and Bet, the Bet is the first letter of the Torah and the Lamed is the last letter of the Torah, in other words, it encompasses the entire torah. G-d tells Moshe that this song of Haazinu should be memorized by all Jews so that when they are in need, they will sing this song and remind G-d of the covenants He entered with the Jewish nation. Reading the song, is unpleasant, for it rehashes the generations of sinning. It ends on an upbeat note with G-d avenging on behalf of His nations, those nations who harmed His nation.
The torah portion of V’zoth Habrachah is not read on Shabbos ever, it is read on Simchat Torah, so the next Shabbos portion is that of Genesis, renewal, rebirth. After an entire Bible book of forewarning and sin, with the acknowledgement that sin is inevitable, [that the Jews will be driven from their land twice, and thank G-d, we are so very fortunate to have returned to our homeland and rule it with G-d’s help] there is renewal, life is a cycle, and repentance is encouraged, renewal is G-d’s great gift.
Genesis begins with the Torah’s use of the Tetragramaton name of G-d, the name of judgment. You sin, you get punished, no mercy. Throughout the Torah, we see the cycle of sin, but most importantly, G-d’s providing man with the opportunity to repent, and G-d’s forgiveness.
In this season of the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we ask G-d for His continued grace in permitting us to repent, asking each other for forgiveness and opportunity to renew and revive relationships, going into the new year with a clean slate. This is the time of year we clean our souls of Chametz/unwanted unneeded leavening in our souls. Get rid of the baggage, it helps no one.
Gmar chatimah tovah. L’alter l’chaim tovim. A gut gezunt gebensched year. Happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
-Suri