Rabbi Neal's Weekly Commentary

Copyright 2011 Neal Joseph Loevinger

Torah Portion: Nitzavim/Vayelech

This d’var Torah was originally distributed by Kolel: The Adult Center for Jewish Learning during the year 5761 and can be found in its archives.

Nitzavim-Vayelech (Deuteronomy 3:23-31:30)

OVERVIEW

At the beginning of parashat Nitzavim, Moshe gathers the entire Israelite people and gives them a stern warning to uphold God’s covenant. Terrible things await the person who does not observe the commandments, but God will take back in great mercy anyone who sincerely repents. The parsha ends with words of encouragement: Moshe tells the people that upholding the Torah is not too difficult or too strange, but entirely within their capabilities.

IN FOCUS

“This commandment that I am prescribing to you today is not too mysterious or remote from you. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who shall go up to heaven and bring it to us so that we can hear it and do it?’ ” (Deuteronomy 30:11-12)

PSHAT

In the final hours of his life, Moshe pleads with the Jewish people to observe God’s commandments after his death and their ascension to the Land of Israel. He tells them that they are quite capable of observing Torah laws, and that God is very merciful to all who return to holy ways. In this famous passage, Moshe tells them that the Torah is meant for daily living by ordinary people- it is within the grasp and means of every Israelite.

DRASH

Lo b’shamayim hi- “it is not in the heavens.” On its simplest level, Moshe is telling the people that Torah and Jewish living are not out of the reach of ordinary people- anybody who wants to can do it. On another level, this verse validates everyday Jewish practice and ethics, without requiring mystical practices or esoteric secrets. Rashi comments:

“It is not in the heavens” – for if it were in the heavens, you would have to ascend in pursuit to study it.

I think Rashi is saying: one doesn’t need to “ascend to Heaven” to study and practice Torah. One doesn’t need to be especially pious, or “spiritual,” or extraordinary- Torah is for people with “both feet on the ground,” as it were. After all, in the preceding chapters of Deuteronomy, the Torah has discussed laws of eating, clothing, sex, money, war, politics, crime, treatment of animals. . . all part of daily living, not of “going up to Heaven.”

[A related story is told of the Baal Shem Tov who refused to enter a synagogue- saying that it was full of prayers. When his surprised listeners questioned this, he replied that prayers should rise to heaven, but because here they remain cluttering the prayer hall, there was no room for him to enter. Ed.] The Hasidic master R. Menahem Mendel of Kotzk (a.k.a. the Kotzker Rebbe) makes the point even more pungently:

“It is not in the heavens”- The Torah is not found among the “heavenly” Jews, those who seek to climb into the highest of the Heavens.

The Kotzker Rebbe’s statement is probably a barb aimed at those Jews who spent their time seeking mystical experiences rather than helping others in the community, but we can also understand it another way. The true test of Torah is not in our most “spiritual” and detached moments, as vital as those are. The truest manifestations of Torah are in earthly axctions- feeding people, buying things, selling things, taking care of ourselves and others, refraining from gossip, acting compassionately with those right in front of us.

Please note, I don’t think either Rashi or the Kotzker was against spirituality, as such; certainly deep prayer and development of the inner self is important in any form of sincere Judaism. Rather, I think they are saying that spirituality cannot be separated from our goodness and integrity, nor does it depend on esoteric knowledge. “It is not in the heavens”- nor confined to the synagogues, study halls, Kolels, universities, or Judaic web sites. It begins in our hearts and mouths, with an attitude toward daily actions, and a resolve to strive for more holy living in all our affairs.