Torah Table Talk A New PaRDeS

Saw You at Sinai: Can the Past Obligate the Present and the Future?
Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelekh, Deuteronomy 29:9 31:30
This week Torah Table Talk is sponsored by Iris and Jeff Kubel in honor of our granddaughter, Sydney Rebecca Engels first birthday

Parshat Nitzavim, or the double Torah portion of Nitzavim-Vayelekh, is almost always read the week prior to the High Holy Days. This seems especially appropriate since the opening chapter of this Parashah contains a reaffirmation of Israels covenant with God. As Israel prepares to enter the Promised Land, Moses tells the people: You are standing this day, all of you, before the Lord your God. This covenant applies to all the people from the high-born to the humble. More than that, it applies to those who are standing here with us today, as well as those who, are not here with us this day. The covenant at Sinai, or at least the new one which Moses now makes with the people on the Plain of Moab, obligates not only the present nation of Israel but future generations as well. In reading these verses before the High Holy Days, we must ponder the nature of obligation. What does it mean to be obligated to God? In what ways does the past obligate the present and the future? It is important to remember that the community that Moses is addressing in this speech is not the generation that experienced the Exodus from Egypt or the Revelation at Sinai. In a sense, the entire book of Deuteronomy is an attempt to justify the covenantal obligations to a generation that did not personally experience the events that created them. Deuteronomy 29:13-14 I make this covenant with its sanctions, not with you alone, but with those who are standing here with us this day before the Lord our God and with those who are not here with us this day.

PaRDeS
1. Pshat Understanding the plain sense meaning of the text But with those who are standing here with us this day and with those who are not here with us this day: This idea is paramount for the whole theological-historical project of the Book of Deuteronomy. The awesome covenant, evoked through Moses strong rhetoric, whereby Israel binds itself to God, is a timeless model, to be enacted scrupulously by all future generations. The force of the idea is nicely caught by the rabbinic notion that all unborn generations were already standing here at Sinai. (Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses) My Commentary: The covenantal model which we find in the book of Deuteronomy and elsewhere in the Torah is not unique to Judaism. Nations made covenants with one another in which they obligated not only the co-signers of the covenant but future generations to live up to the obligation that had been agreed to. In fact, the Ten Commandments are modeled after such a covenantal agreement. It begins with a preface: I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt. And then it continues by stating what the consequences of this obligation are: You shall have no other gods before me; You shall not take my name in vain; You shall observe the Sabbath Day, etc. The way the rabbis expressed this generational obligation, as we shall see below, was by suggesting that we are not simply obligated by our ancestors but we were present at Sinai so that we were among those who agreed to this obligation. 2. Remez Allusions: Finding meanings hidden in the text How do we impose the oath on him? Rav Judah said: We adjure him with the oath that is stated in the Torah, as it is written, And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven. (Genesis 24:3) thus we find in the case of Moses our teacher: When he adjured Israel, he said to them: Know that

not according to your own minds do I adjure you, but according to the mind of the Omnipresent, and my mind; as it is said: Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath. But with him that stands here with us. (Deuteronomy 29:14) From this verse we know that only those who were standing by Mount Sinai were adjured; the coming generations, and proselytes who were later to be proselytized, how do we know that they were adjured also then? This is so because it is said, And also with him that is not here with us this day. (Deuteronomy 29:14) And from this we know only that they were adjured for the commandments which they received at Mount Sinai; how do we know that they were adjured for the commandments which were to be promulgated later, such as reading the Megillah? Because it is said: They confirmed and accepted. (Esther 9:27) They confirmed what they had long ago accepted. (Babylonian Talmud, Shavuot 39a) My Commentary: In the discussion from Shavuot above, the Talmud discusses whether an oath can be imposed upon a person. Another way of understanding a covenant is a promise. Israel made a promise to God at Mount Sinai. But how can someone be held responsible for promises that others have made. Shouldnt each generation be responsible and obligated by its promises? The Talmud suggests that the nature of a covenantal promise is different. Moses adjures he makes Israel accept these obligations not only on their own behalf but on behalf of future generations as well. The Talmud takes the expression, those who are not here this day to be a reference to the generations who would come afterwards. There are, of course, other ways of reading this expression. Some have suggested that it refers to members of the community who simply couldnt be present that particular day as Moses spoke to the community. In Etz Hayim, the authors suggest that this is a reference those who were physically or mentally handicapped but were still considered part of the community. In a Hasidic take on this expression, Those who are not present, is a reference to those who were physically but not mentally present at Sinai, or at the Jordan River. Some people might have been present but their mind might have been elsewhere they too are obligated! 3. Din Law: Applying the text to life There are two reasons why the law that God gave at Sinai is eternally binding. First, our forefathers made a covenant (agreement) with God in which the Israelites were promised the land of Israel and the status of being Gods chosen People in return for observing His commandments, and so we must observe the mitzvot because we promised to do so. You might say to yourself that this is not fair that you should be bound by what your ancestors promised but that would not be right; you should understand the event at Sinai as if you yourself were there and participated in the promise. As the Haggadah of Passover phrases it: In every generation a person must look upon him/herself as if he or she personally had come from Egypt. Incidentally, the same is true for secular law. The constitution of the country in which you live is binding upon you even though you were never asked whether you approved of it. Simply identifying as one of the its citizens and reaping the benefits of citizenship obligate you to obey it. (Rabbi Elliot Dorff, Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors to our Descendents) My Commentary: Rabbi Dorff suggests that there are two reasons for Israels eternal obligation. One, it would appear, is theological: the belief that God and Israel entered into an obligatory relationship (presumably) at Sinai. We agreed to observe Gods commandments and God, in turn, agreed to give us the Land of Israel and to make us his chosen people. We express this idea when we are called to Torah; we say that God chose from among all nations, and therefore, He gave us the Torah. The two acts are connected with one another. The second reason for our obligation is historical. Like the Ten Commandments, we are obligated out of gratitude. God took us out of Egypt and we are all obligated to see ourselves as if we personally went for from Egypt (and not just one generation long ago). In either case, this is not so different from the way we think about secular law. We are obligated by birth and citizenship to live by the rules of the land. If one chooses to become a citizen one must swear allegiance and exhibit an understanding of the laws of the land. But I suspect, as with converts, the American by choice often has more knowledge of his chosen identity than the person who is born

into that identity. The implications here are very interesting. It suggests that being Jewish is more a matter of citizenship than religion. 4. Sod The Meaning and Mystery of Faith We struggle with this idea of personal obligation. In an age of the sovereign-self, and a time when we celebrate personal autonomy we bristle at the idea of being obligated by others or by external forces. We also live in a society in which the purpose of law is to protect the rights of the individuals (the American version of the Ten Commandments is called the Bill of Rights) and not to create more obligations. In this regard Jewish law is different from secular law. We speak of people having moral obligations to participate in the welfare of society but not necessarily legal obligations. Of course we are obligated to pay taxes but some would argue that government is far too intrusive into the rights of the individual. Many of our obligations have to do with protecting us and others; for instance, you are not allowed to drive too fast or yell fire in a crowded theater. Judaism obligates us in our relationship with God and also in our relationship with other members of society: family, the needy, and the weak. So while the binding nature of law is not unique to Judaism, the nature of the laws is different in Judaism. The notion of the binding nature of law in Judaism raises a whole series of thorny issues. Does the obligation still exist if the historical or theological bases upon which they are explained are not quite what we think they are? Are there other reasons that we can give for the binding nature of Jewish law? Is God a necessary part of this equation? As we prepare to gather in prayer and self reflection on the High Holy Days, we ought to take some time to reflect on the binding nature of Judaism and what that means for us today. What does it mean to say we are commanded?

Questions to Ponder
1. Why was it necessary for Moses to make a new Covenant at the shore of the Jordan River? How is this covenant different from the one made at Mount Sinai? 2. What are the things about which you feel bound or obligated in your life? What is the basis of these obligations (if there are any)? 3. Do you feel that you have religious obligations? If so, what are they? 4. Mitzvah is more than a good deed. What does this word mean to you?
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All it takes to study Torah is an open heart, a curious mind and a desire to grow a Jewish soul.
Copyright 2011 Rabbi Mark B Greenspan