United We Stand

by Ephraim Silverberg

A D'var Torah on Parashat Nitzavim, posted to the Usenet newsgroup net.religion.jewish on September 10, 1985, five days before Rosh Hashana of the year 5746.

Ephraim Silverberg, writing from the Technion and the University of California at Berkeley, takes up the assembly described in Devarim 29: the entire Jewish people standing before Moshe Rabbenu at his final address — leaders, elders, children, wives, the convert in the camp, from the woodchopper to the water-drawer. The Torah's insistence on including every rank and condition, Silverberg writes, is not incidental; it is the heart of what it means to enter the covenant.

Drawing on the Lubavitcher Rebbe's recent Shabbat Re'ey discourse on mercy and unity, and a Ba'al Tfilah's address before Yom Kippur services at an Israeli army base, Silverberg offers close readings of the three pillars that "dispel the evil of the decree": Teshuvah not as repentance but as return to the Source; Tfilah not as petition but as the binding of the soul to the Giver of Life; Tzedakah not as charity but as the recognition that another's need is, in justice, as valid as one's own.

"You are standing this day, all of you, before Hashem, your G-d, your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, your children, your wives, and the Ger (convert) that is in your camp, from the chopper of your wood, unto the drawer of your water." (Devarim 29:9)

Although this week's Parasha deals with Moshe Rabbenu's speech to the Jewish people shortly before his passing, I would like to concentrate more on the essence of the assembly of the Jewish people rather than the contents of the Parasha.

We see the emphasis that the Torah makes in stressing that in the gathering of the Jewish people, all facets of society were included — illustrating the importance of true unity among Jews regardless of spiritual or material standing.

The Month of Elul

In his discourse of Shabbat Re'ey (delivered four weeks prior to this posting), Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, stressed the need to act in a kind and merciful manner towards one's fellow Jew, especially in the month of Elul — "the month of mercy." Furthermore, he emphasized the severe prohibition of talking disparagingly about a Jew or a group of Jews: if one wishes to try to correct the improper behavior of his friend, this should be done through loving persuasion and not, heaven forbid, through anger. With so many enemies of the Jewish people throughout the world, it is essential that we be united, especially during this time of year when we need the mercies of Hashem as He judges us.

Teshuvah, Tfilah, and Tzedakah

Last year, I had the unique privilege of spending Yom Kippur at an Israeli army base. The Ba'al Tfilah addressed the Minyan prior to the services; I would like to share his words with the readers of net.religion.jewish:

One of the more memorable passages of the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur prayers is the passage:

"And Teshuvah, and Tfilah, and Tzedakah dispels the evil of the decree."

This sums up the three main types of divine service of a Jew during these Days of Judgement. What are the meanings of these actions? The common English translation is "repentance (teshuvah), prayer (tfilah), and charity (tzedakah)." All three translations are inexact and do not convey the true meaning of these words.

Teshuvah means not only to repent, but to return. The essence of a Jew knows no evil; only through exterior influences does the Neshama (soul) err and stray from the just path. When a Jew does Teshuvah he returns to Hashem, his Source, and regains his former position before he strayed from the path. Indeed, "in the place that Ba'alei Teshuvah stand, not even the completely righteous can stand."

Tfilah is of the same root as the verb "Tofel" (bind, attach), as in the Mishnaic expression "HaTofel Klei Cheres" (one who binds or combines clay vessels). The Tfilah of a Jew does not only consist of a series of requests and praises; through Tfilah, he binds his soul to Hashem, the Giver of Life.

Tzedakah derives from the word "Tzedek" (justice). The giving of Tzedakah is not only an act of charity or kindness — it is an act of justice, indicating that we recognize that we do not justly deserve to be richer than the Jew receiving the Tzedakah, and through our giving of Tzedakah we rectify this situation and give him what, in just terms, should be his as much as that of the giver. This does not diminish the tremendous merit in the giving of Tzedakah — only indicates that one should take care not to become arrogant as a result of one's generosity.

Closing Blessing

May we all have a Shana Tova U'Mitukah (a good and sweet year) and may each and every one of you, along with the rest of the Jewish people, be blessed with a year of material and spiritual blessings — and may this coming year be the year of the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu with the Full and Final Redemption of the Jewish people soon in our days. Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova.

Colophon

Written by Ephraim Silverberg ([email protected]), affiliated with the Technion, Israel, and the University of California at Berkeley. Posted to the Usenet newsgroup net.religion.jewish, September 10, 1985, on 25 Elul, 5745. Original Article-ID: techunix.8509102324.AA03863.

Preserved from the Usenet archive (UTZOO tape collection, batch b51) for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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