Parashat Nitzavim

Torah Gems - September 26th

This week's Torah Gems were prepared by

Sam Tarlin

Parashat Nitzavim

At the beginning of the parasha, Moses tells the assembled, "And I am not making this covenant and this oath with you alone, but with the one who is here standing with us today in front of the Lord our God, and with the one who isn't here with us today."

So the question arises, is it fair that a covenant can bind future generations that had no part in accepting it? In addressing this fundamental question, Nehama Leibowitz, in her commentary, cites Abravanel's answer. A man's heirs, Abravanel reminds us, are responsible for his debts even though they weren't around when the debt was incurred. The debt, of course, is from Israel to God for God having, 1. Freed Israel

from Egyptian bondage; 2. Given to Israel the Torah (the means toward spiritual perfection) and 3.Provided as a loan to Israel the land they were to inherit. Abravanel

concludes, "Since the foundation of the covenant and this eternal subjection to the Almighty derived from the departure from Egypt, this historic fact was continually referred to by the Almighty and on the lips of His prophets, and all the feasts of the Lord were 'a memorial of the going out of Egypt'; for this indicated their eternal bondage."

Leibowitz argues with Abravanel's metaphor. "A child," she writes, "can always forego his inheritance and consequently rid himself of any obligations and debts involved. On the other hand, the binding nature of the Sinaitic revelation on the Jewish people is absolute and cannot be foregone." And it is true, I find it compelling to stress that we cannot shake off the debt since neither can we shake off our

inheritance. Today's generation of Jews would still be slaves if Israel had not been redeemed; we all benefit from the Torah in that it has had a huge impact on the world we live in; and currently Jews occupy the land of Israel.

Harold Kushner, in the Etz Hayim commentary, follows a similar line of reasoning: "Many aspects of our lives were determined by decisions of our parents and ancestors, including when and where we would be born, what skills and physical qualities we would possess, and where and how we would be educated." In other words, we each, Jew and non-Jew, inherit the covenants of our forebears because they are built into us and cannot be discarded.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, rather than choosing the metaphor of indebtedness, finds a partial parallel to the Sinaitic covenant in the United States Constitution. It is interesting to contemplate that parallel in this context (a different one than the one in which he suggests it). As Americans, we've inherited the Constitution even though we had no part in it. And we've inherited the consequences of America's acts as it has been guided by that document over the course of 230 years, even if we didn't agree with them. And as Americans we're bound to live up to the Constitution's ideals, as best we can understand them.

SHALOM