This week’s portion – Nitzavim-Va’ye’lech – is an elegant
example of high quality found within small quantity (“a little that holds the
plentiful,” to translate a favorite Mishna saying). Indeed, despite being one of the shortest in the entire Five
Books – in fact, so short that there are two portions combined here – these
portions contain profound and comprehensive treatment of some of the greatest
philosophical puzzles about faith that has been of interest to us since
time immemorial.
To recap, we are currently reading one of the very last
portions of the cycle, and as we have noted the main theme here is a summary of
the relationships between the Chosen People (a term we discussed last week) and
the Lord our God. If you recall, last
week’s portion introduced us to the ideological framework of Judaism –
the duty to commit and follow all the Mitzvot (orders of God) in order
to avail God to treat us as a part of the Chosen People. This week the
discussion moves to the realm of actual implementation, or compliance in
legal parlance, of that framework. And what does the Portion have to say on
compliance? Two very important
things: First, everyone has the ability
to perform and follow the Mitzot. Second, everyone has the duty to do so.
Sounds confusing? Let us approach the
text, which is one of the most exquisite ever written.
Following the Mitzvot - Anyone Can Do It
After concluding that in order to stand before God we should
properly follow his ordinances, the following question may be presented: But
what if one is not capable of doing all that? What if the Torah’s duties are so
lofty, so complex, and so intricate to follow that only a super-human can
follow them properly? Can a simple person follow all those requirements
properly? The text’s answer is clear, concise, unequivocal, and beautiful:
(11) For this Decree (Mitzvah) that I order upon you this
day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond your reach. (12) It is not in
the heavens, so that you may say “who amongst us is capable of ascending to the
heavens and receive it for us and translate its meaning to us so we may observe
it”? (13) Neither is it beyond the great sea, so that you may say “who amongst
us is capable of crossing the great sea and receive it for us and translate its
meaning to us so we may observe it? (14) [No,] For this thing is all too close
to you; in your heart and in your speech you may observe it.
(Deut. 30:11-14). Indeed, I personally always liked to hear
that the Torah “is not in the heavens” (“Lo Ba’sha’ma’yim hee”). I think this is a direct message from the
biblical text itself – and its true author – to anyone interested in reading it
by themselves. Indeed, over the many years since the text has been written,
many a person (and many an institution) have attempted to persuade us that it
is their interpretation – and theirs alone – that controls the “true”
meaning of the text. But the text itself espouses an entirely different view, a
much more democratic one, according to which this text, the original text, without
intermediaries, was given to the people and for the people (although, at least
according to some, not by the people). Thus, it is always very
comforting to return to the text and to find this beautiful phrasing – “it is
not in the heavens,” explicitly denying the notion that others (who may,
in their own mind, ascend to the heavens or cross the great sea) should read it
for us.
The lesson here is quite important. In the Torah’s (own)
mind, if you would make the effort to read and follow the Mitzvot yourself, you
have satisfied your end of the bargain (and would become “chosen,” although, as
I have noted last week, only in the eyes of God, not vis-à-vis your fellow
human beings). To be sure, there is no harm in asking for help in understanding
the text; there is no harm in turning to a Rabbi and accepting his (or her)
Halachic authority. But these are acts of a personal choice, and this is
key: No one can, or should, claim that only he (and it is mostly “he,” hardly
ever “she”) speaks for God, and that only his view of what God orders counts.
This is not the way Judaism intended to be, and in my mind – this is one of the
most beautiful aspects of all of Judaism and one in which we may truly
distinguish ourselves from other religions (such as the Catholic Church).
Choose Life
The second point – after establishing that each of us may
approach the text directly and without intermediaries – deals with the actual values we should follow. Again, the text
could not be more beautiful in describing one of the greatest philosophical
puzzles of all times – that of life versus death; good versus evil; and freedom
of choice versus moral determinism under the rule of God. Again, the message
could not be clearer:
(15) Look as I have presented before you today both life
with [its concomitant] good, and death with [its concomitant] evil. (16) For I
command you this day to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to
keep His commandments, His laws, and His rules, that you may thrive and
multiplied … (19) I have testified before you today both the heavens and earth;
Life and death I have provided to you, the blessings and the curse, and shall
choose life for you and your offspring shall live.”
(Deut. 30:15-19). This great order – to always “choose
life,” to always prefer life over death – despite sounding somewhat obvious is
one of deepest, most profound Mitzvot in the entire Torah. (It is also one of
the more practical ones; thus, for example, between a funeral and a Bar Mitzvah
(or another “simcha”) that happen to fall on the same day, the decree of
“choose life (over death)” always prevails).
Indeed, even devoid of context this decree requires that
between two options every one of us should always opt for the “life” and “good”
option over the “death” and “bad” option, for that first option represents
viability, optimism, and hope over death, cynicism, and hopelessness. This is even more true once the context is
brought into the fore, where the choice is even deeper: It is God who puts before each of us the
option of “life and prosperity, death and adversary.” We can always choose one over the other – we have the power to do
so; but if we are observant Jews, if we choose to be committed to our end of
the bargain with God, then we must follow him and choose life. Choose the life of fulfillment, not only of
the Mitzvot (religious decrees), but of your own life as you see it – because
there is no meaning to life, unless you really choose to live your life
in a meaningful way. And, at the end of
the day, perhaps this is the greatest choice you have been given on this earth:
the choice of how to lead your own life.
Shabat Shalom.
Doron
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