Walk Through the Parsha by Rabbi David Walk

The Highway of Life
Nitzavim-Vayelech-5767
September 7, 2007
It's remarkable that it's time for Rosh Hashanah again. The years definitely slip by more quickly the further we are down the road. We can tell it's the Holiday season again not just by looking at the calendar, but paying close attention to the weekly Torah readings. Every year we read Nitzavim immediately before Rosh Hashanah and either Vayelech together with it or on Shabbat Shuva of the Ten of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I saw a cute idea to explain this strategy of our Sages. They divided up the Torah readings in our present format about the ninth century and named them with pedagogic purposes in mind. These two parsha names mean stand firm and he walked. The idea is simple but profound. We must analyze our behavior at this time of year and decide which acts are good and which less positive. The good deeds must be firmly reinforced and the negative ones must be abandoned. We assess our deportment and stand firm on some and walk away from the others.

At least part of this idea is expressed in the parsha as well. In chapter 30 it says, 1. And it will be, when all these things come upon you the blessing and the curse which I have set before you that you will consider in your heart, among all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you, 2. and you will return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will listen to His voice according to all that I am commanding you this day you and your children, 3. then, the Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you. These verses describe how God is going to bring us all back from all the far flung regions into which we have traveled at some future date. The whole tenor (no reference to the great Luciano Pavarotti, may he rest in peace) is one of movement away from negativity towards something better, namely home, both figuratively and literally (Israel). Since the development is back to where we once belonged, we call it teshuva (repentance), which really means return.

The problem in those verses, which must be resolved, is the use of the two terms banished and dispersed. The Hebrew is hidichacha and hephitz'cha. Since we believe that Hebrew has no synonyms, what's the difference between these two words which we use interchangeably? So, what's the disparity of nuance between the two terms? Coming to our rescue is the Kli Yakar (Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Lunzhits, 1550-1619). He explains that the first term means the actual physical separation that Jews experienced by being forced and pushed (hidachacha) into exile. On the other hand the second expression refers to spiritual separation from the mitzvoth, through dispersion (hephitz'cha). Maimonides (1135-1204) in the glorious seventh chapter of the Laws of Repentance says: Great is repentance which draws a person near to the Divine Presence, as it is written, "O Israel, return to the Lord your God". It is also written, "`Yet you have not returned to Me', says the Lord", and it is also written, "`If you will return, O Israel', says the Lord, `return to Me'" - i.e. if we return in repentance we will be attached to God. Repentance draws near [even] those who are far away - one day someone can be hated by God as an abomination and a distant loathsome object, and [through repentance] he can be loved the next day, and be [held] close and endeared. Maimonides isn't discussing physical distance. He's referring to a spiritual gap.

So, our parsha is predicting two future events of equal moment. One is the much awaited ingathering of the exiles including the ten 'lost' tribes, while the other is the equally essential repentance route which we will all travel. This idea is prevalent in this week's Haftorah, the seventh and last in the series leading up to Rosh Hashanah. In the Haftorah we say, "Pass, pass through the portals, clear the way of the people, pave, pave the highway, clear it of stones, lift up a banner over the peoples (Isaiah 62:10)." The repetition of the verbs pass and pave is significant, because, just as we said above, each refers to another aspect of the return (Teshuva) process, one physical to Israel and the other spiritual to God. The Hebrew word (ivru) which we translated as pass really means to cross over or to transform. It is the word Avraham (English: Hebrew) used to describe himself when he crossed the theological barrier into monotheism as well as the physical barrier of the Euphrates River. This explains the last phrase in the verse. We will again be a banner or example to the nations after we've crossed this barrier because we will return to the special category of Avraham as being unique among humans. We will not only believe in monotheism, but will lead a life characterized by commitment to its principles. That would be unique, not just following God's dictates and example in the house of worship, but in every aspect of life.

So life really is a trip. The right way to complete the voyage is to pave the road with good deeds and to remove the stumbling blocks of indecent behavior.

This is what we should all be contemplating in the week running up to Rosh Hashanah. We should be planning our return to that path described in the parsha. Life is a continual series of forks of the road. Choosing the right direction to continue the journey is critical for success on the trip. In many ways it's like a cosmic board game. The ultimate object is to get home. Bon voyage!