Nitzavim

Atem Nitzavim

An adaptation of the Maamar found in Likutei Torah

Summary

On Rosh Hashana, the entire Jewish People unites as one unit, so that G-d in turn may unite with us and be our king.  Although it seems impossible, logically, for Almighty G-d to relate to us mortals at all, or to be our king – as irrational as a mortal being "king" over sticks and stones – a special pact of love between G-d and the Jews makes Him want to do the impossible for us anyway.  We remind G-d of this pact on Rosh Hashana, when He renews His kingship over us in response to our heartfelt repentance.

Relevant Verses Bearing On This Discourse  (Deuteronomy 29:9-l2):

“You stand this day, all of you, before G-d your G-d: your heads of your tribes, your elders and your officers –  every man of Israel. Your little ones, your wives, and the stranger that is in your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water:  In order that you may pass into the covenant of G-d your G-d and into His oath, which G-d your G-d makes with you this day. [Namely,] that He establish you today for a nation to Himself, and that He be to you a G-d – as He has said to you, and as He has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”

____________________________

 

Because of its special relevance to Rosh Hashana, this week’s Torah portion, “Nitzavim,” is always read on the Shabbos preceding that holiday. This relevance is hinted at in the opening verses (Deuteronomy 29:9-11): “You [the Jewish People] stand this day, all of you, before G-d your G-d: [from] your heads of your tribes ... to the drawer of your water – that you may pass into the covenant of G-d your G-d ....” The expression “this day” (hayom in Hebrew) alludes to Rosh Hashana, as we find it used in the liturgy, “This day [Rosh Hashana] marks the beginning of Your creation [of mankind and the universe], reminiscent of the First Day.”

Specifically, the Hebrew word used here for “standing” (nitzavim) connotes cohesion: on this day – Rosh Hashana – the entire Jewish People (including every member of each of the ten spiritual categories that comprise the Jewish nation, which categories are alluded to in the verses quoted in the summary section above) stands united, as a single entity. By each individual realizing that, even if he or she is indeed a great person, there must be at least some small advantage which his or her fellow has over him or her, we all feel a greater bond between us – both in our daily lives, and on a more subtle level perceived by our souls. This bond of unity between us Jews is a prerequisite for G-d in turn, in a similar bond, to unite with us on Rosh Hashana. On Rosh Hashana, G-d reveals anew His sovereignty over us and we in turn proclaim ourselves His devoted subjects – renewing the purpose of Creation and bringing about the ideal unity between G-d and Man.

For a more detailed understanding of how to achieve this unity; also, the significance of repentance and why it is particularly appropriate on Rosh Hashana – we may take a clue from the next part of our verse: “that you may pass into the covenant of G-d your G-d.” The idea of a covenant (bris in Hebrew) is to cement a relationship between two parties, to create such a strong bond of unity as to defy intellectual definition, as to transcend logic.

Two close friends, for instance, might establish a pact between-themselves to symbolize that their friendship will be eternal; even if they become separated or if one should eventually wrong the other – so that you would reasonably expect their friendship to terminate – remembrance of the pact ensures their continued relationship. In a similar fashion, and out of His great kindness towards us Jews, G-d made with us a pact to stand by our relationship in times of strain: even if we transgress the will of G-d, and one might reasonably expect Him to abandon us (Heaven forbid), G-d remembers this covenant and has mercy upon us for its sake.

This concept lies at the crux of our entire worship service on Rosh Hashana, as is best expressed by the saying of our sages regarding this worship (Talmud, Rosh Hashana 16a): “The Holy One, may He be blessed, says [to us Jews], ‘Recite before Me [verses that make mention of My] kingship, in order to proclaim Me King over you; [verses that serve as] reminders, so that your remembrance may come up favorably before Me; and with what [can you accomplish this]? With the shofar [ram’s horn sounded on Rosh Hashana].’”

The significance of this is as follows:

Rosh Hashana, as mentioned above, is the day on which man was created at the beginning of time; this was an act of the purest kindness, since it was in no way prompted by any, action or merit on the part of yet-to-be-created Man. When the first man, Adam, was created, he recited the psalm (93), “G-d reigns; He is clothed in majesty...” (see Midrash, Vayikra Rabba, beginning of chapter 29). This is because, with the creation of mankind the awesome majesty of G-d became apparent; now that He had subjects over whom to rule, the sovereignty of G-d could be expressed, and Adam was so inspired by this revelation of G-d's kingship that he was moved to recite the psalm.

(And in fact, what Adam did was quite correct. Rather than recite psalms praising G-d for having made mankind in the first place, Adam praised Him for revealing His Kingship over us. It is worth some little thought that existence without G-d (Heaven forbid), existence without some element of the spiritual, would render man just another species; it is the fact that G-d singles us out and proclaims Himself king over us Jews in particular that gives our life significance – objective significance, as opposed to the subjective importance any given individual attaches to their own doings. Indeed, as mentioned above, it was the creation of subjects over whom to rule that facilitated the expression of G-d's kingship in the first place, and it is for that very purpose that we were created.)

Again, on the first Rosh Hashana – when Adam was created – this wonderful kindness on G-d's part – i.e., revealing Himself as king over us – was completely unprompted by any merit of ours. Now, however, we must show ourselves worthy of having G-d Himself as our king. Actually, every year as the anniversary – Rosh Hashana – of that first unsolicited kindness rolls around, G-d does continue to proclaim Himself king over the Jews, but this revelation of G-dliness must first be elicited by us.

What, though, can anybody possibly do to prompt G-d Himself to relate to us? The answer is that we must invoke the pact of love between G-d and us Jews. The way to do this is symbolized by the blowing of the shofar, and that is the meaning of “and with what [can you bring about this favorable remembrance of our pact, and My therefore proclaiming Myself King over you]? With the shofar.”

A shofar blast is the most basic of sounds, a simple horn-blow uncomplicated by notes, words, etc. It represents the inarticulate cry of our soul as it yearns for G-d, which cry, paradoxically, is the most eloquent expression of our love for Him. For there are two kinds of love for G-d: the more superficial is aroused by the individual’s contemplation of how wondrous is G-d’s universe, the staggering multiplicity of His creations, and how He is the One who gives life to them all. But when a Jew realizes that all these things are but creations of G-d; they are nothing but things He made, but have no resemblance whatsoever to G-d Himself – he or she breaks through to emotions at the very core and essence of his or her soul, awakening the innate feelings of love for G-d and yearning for Him alone that are buried deep in the heart of every single Jew. (Only the soul, being literally a part of G-d, can experience such an all-consuming, fiery love for G-d, its source.)

This yearning is all the more intense in one who repents of whatever transgressions he or she may have, since the very thought of having gone against the will of G-d makes one long all the more to come back, to unite with G-d from then on. Some emotions are simply too deep, too basic, to be expressed in words, and the inarticulate cry of the shofar is intended to represent this deeply rooted love and inexpressible yearning for G-d that we experience with heartfelt repentance. When G-d sees how deeply felt – from the very core of the soul – is the person’s, repentance and desire to unite with Him, He reciprocates by allowing His holiness to rest upon that person: it is as though G-d responds to heartfelt repentance by “putting His own heart” into the relationship, so to speak.

One may now really wonder, in view of all the above, how such a thing is possible, for      now that we have explained that through repentance G-d’s own “Essence” actually relates to a person (and on         a more collective level, to all the Jews), the original question – how can anyone possibly attain this level – is strengthened rather than answered.

This is where the unique nature of our covenant comes in. As is the nature of such a pact, this supra-rational covenant serves to perpetuate our relationship with G-d even when logic, reason, demands otherwise. In this case, it does indeed appear impossible, logically incomprehensible, that G-d Himself should relate to us as our king. One can certainly only be a king over those who at least relate to him: a man could never proclaim himself king over sticks and stones, only over other men. When you think about it, it seems as absurd for G-d, the Creator of the universe, to Whom any created being (including the loftiest angels) does not relate any more than stones relate to man, to be king over us mortals, as for the man with the sticks to “reign” over them. Yet out of His love for us Jews, G-d gave us this wonderful pact, which, transcendent of all that appears logically possible, arouses in G-d the desire to go beyond the natural order of things (for, after all, G-d is omnipotent) and relate to us as our king anyway. G-d on the one hand raises us up, and on the other hand, allegorically speaking, “lowers” Himself, so that we may indeed meet at the level of king and subjects. This is the meaning of the verse (see “summary” section above), “that you may pass into the covenant … in order to establish you [literally, “raise you up”] ... to be for Him a nation, and that He may be to you a G-d.” How truly awesome this pact is!

Still, we must ourselves be worthy of being G-d’s subjects. Just in case we are not exactly the most perfect subjects fit for the King of Kings, we try our best to bring G-d to renew His kingship over us anyway through heartfelt repentance, and through our worship on Rosh Hashana. That is the good advice G-d gives to us in the saying of our sages quoted above (for G-d truly wants to accept our repentance and be our king), “[The way to pray before Me on Rosh Hashana is to] recite before me verses of kingship and of remembrance, accomplished through the shofar”: Rosh Hashana is the most auspicious time to elicit G-d’s kingship, since it was on the first Rosh Hashana that G-d revealed his kingship over us out of pure kindness, not merited by anything we had done. By reciting verses on Rosh Hashana that mention this fact, we hope that G-d will overlook our sins and reveal His renewed kingship this year as well, regardless of our own spiritual standing. These are the verses on the theme of G-d’s sovereignty that we recite during the mussaf prayer on Rosh Hashana. We also “remind” G-d of the wonderful, supra-rational covenant between us, by means of the verses of remembrance in the mussaf prayer (which refer to G-d remembering the covenant). Finally, through heartfelt repentance, from the very essence of our souls – symbolized by the inarticulate soul-cry of the shofar, mentioned in the mussaf verses referring to shofar –  we indeed bring G-d to respond to us on a level stemming from His own very “Essence,” as it were, and thus relate to us as king on Rosh Hashana.

 

-- ### --

 

Ó 2001. Please note that the foregoing is an informal adaptation by a private person, and that, therefore, errors are possible. Also, the Hebrew original contains much more than could possibly be presented here, and constitutes a much more direct transmission of the Alter Rebbe’s teachings. Furthermore, the adaptation may contain supplementary or explanatory material not in the original, and not marked as such in any way. Thus, for those with the ability to learn in the original, this adaptation should not be considered a substitute for the maamar.
Good Shabbos! May we, together with all our brethren and sisters, the Jewish People everywhere, be blessed with a k’siva vachasima tova.