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Parshas Nitzavim

Included in the list of people who are standing before G-d to accept the covenant are proselytes (29:10). Why are they singled out for special mention if they have already converted to Judaism?

The answer is because they teach us the lesson of enthusiasm. They are Jews by choice, because they have been wowed by what they see in the Torah and its way of life. Those born into Judaism are often Jews out of habit, not out of passion. How was King David able to attribute all of his success and good things in life to G-d? Because his great-grandmother was Ruth, the proselyte. Her enthusiasm for Judaism was contagious and she passed it down in her DNA to King David who adulated G-d through his songs and praises in the book of Tehillim (Berachos 7b).

“Today you are all standing before G-d to be brought into the covenant” (29:9). Why stress the word “today” We always exist in the present. The point is that each day is a new beginning and beginnings are always new and novel.

Each day we wake up to a new creation because never mind how many times we have studied the same Torah, Mishna or Talmud, it is always new. We always see something in it we never noticed before. It is this enchantment with the new that we must keep alive each day of our lives. “G-d’s acts of kindness have not ceased. His mercies have not been exhausted. They are renewed every morning” (Eicha 3:22).

“It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant. I am making it with those of you who are standing here with us today and with those who are not yet here with us today” (29:13.) The covenant with G-d was not only given to the generation that received it, but it was given to them to pass it down to future generations, as if they too were present. It is each generation’s responsibility to be a carrier of Judaism. That is also why Avraham was chosen to be G-d’s trailblazer of monotheism “in order that he will command his children and his household after him to keep G-d’s way doing charity and justice” (Bereishis 18:19).

“And you will return unto G-d” (30:2). The word “ad” means that sincere repentance has wings. If flies over the heads of the gatekeeper angels, who may be skeptical of one’s sincerity, directly to G-d, who understands and accepts it. The prophet uses the same expression: Shuva Yisrael ad Hashem Elokecha.

“G-d will cause you to return and he will have pity on you and he will return and gather you from all the nations into which he dispersed you” (30:3).

Because the Torah uses the word “veshav” (30:3), and G-d will himself return, instead of the word “veheishiv,” and G-d will cause you to return, Chazal teach that G-d goes into exile with the Jews and returns with them.

He always identifies with our pain. We know that the prayers of one who beseeches G-d for the recovery of another, as if he needed the recovery himself, are answered immediately. Furthermore, if the person who prays for the other is suffering from the same pain himself, and needs a recovery too, he will be answered first. We know this from Avraham who prayed that Avimelech should be cured from his barrenness first, even though Avraham was barren too. Immediately after that, it says “VeHashem pakad” – G-d attended to Avraham’s problem first.

So, like Avraham, G-d puts himself in our shoes, joins us in the Diaspora and thus hastens the redemption.

But there is an additional meaning to this verse. It should be noted that the word “veshav” is used twice in the same verse. This is because there are two returns to Eretz Yisrael. There is one return before Mashiach by Jews who volunteer to go and live is Israel. G-d, so to speak, goes with them and joins them in this pre-messianic aliyah. We call it “aschalta degeulah,” the beginning of the final redemption. G-d appreciates those that begin the rebuilding of the land before Mashiach comes, so that when he does arrive, there is something for Him to see. Then G-d returns a second time when Mashiach finally comes and brings back the remainder of the Jews who remained in exile until the coming of the Mashiach.

It should be noted that the pasuk heralding G-d’s return to the land of Israel (29:3) comes after the pasuk heralding our return to G-d and our obedience to his Torah. That is because G-d can only return to a land that is loyal to His Torah. Until that time arrives, Israel is still part of the Diaspora. The real return to Israel, which will sweep up all the Jews of the universe in its wake, will only come after Israel makes itself hospitable to His presence and welcomes Him back to his embassy on earth, the Beis HaMikdash.