The entire Book of Deuteronomy contains Moses’ final speeches, which he delivered during the last 37 days of his life. He began his first speech on the first of Sh’vat and concluded his last one on the seventh of Adar, which was the day he died. Rashi tells us that the speech which begins at chapter 29 verse 1 and continues over the last four short Sidrot in the Torah is a description of the events that took place on his very last day.
In this final speech, Moses assembled the whole of the nation. This was in order to re-establish the covenant with God, for the second time. In the first part of the speech, which is described in last week’s Sidra, Moses recounted the Almighty’s kindness towards the Israelites people throughout the journey in the desert. He wanted them to know that the purpose of their journey was to know and appreciate the Almighty. In particular, Moses focused on the extraordinary miracles that they had experienced. He reminded them that for 40 years their clothes did not did not wither and their shoes did not become worn down; they had not eaten any bread or drunk any wine.
In the beginning of the Sidra of Nitzavim, the people stand to attention so that Moses is able to organise the ceremony of the making of the covenant between Israel and God. The ceremony was the same as he had organised on the day when the Torah was given, 40 years earlier. This was necessary because he now had a new generation standing in front of him. In the earlier account we have more details about the ceremony, which are not mentioned here. In the earlier account we are told that Moses offered up a burnt offering and that he went on to sprinkle half of its blood over the altar and half over the people.
The Torah uses the expression ‘to pass through the covenant’. This implies that Moses erected two walls and the people had to pass through between them.
According to rabbinic interpretation, Moses used this extraordinary and emotionally-charged occasion to impress on the people the concept of AREIVUT, ‘National Accountability’. We find this in the last verse, in chapter 29 which reads: “The hidden sins belong to God; but the revealed sins belong to us and to our children for ever.” It means that crimes that a person commits secretly, only God knows and only God can punish. However, with respect to the crimes which people commit publicly and which are well-known, it is our duty, as a people, to eradicate them and punish the perpetrators.
The concept of Areivut is uniquely Jewish. The Hebrew root A’RV means to mix. The Talmud states: KOL ISRAEL AREIVIN ZEH BAZEH. It means that all Jewish souls are mixed together. Therefore, every Jew is an integral part of the entire body of the nation and all Jews are responsible for each other’s deeds, be they good or evil. The first time that this concept came into effect was in the days of Joshua. After the successful conquest of Jericho, Joshua prepared for the conquest of the second town, called AI. But his attempt to conquer it failed and the Israelites lost 36 fighters. Joshua was extremely distraught and when he fell in prayer before the Almighty, he was told that the defeat was due to the fact that one Israelite had sinned by taking for himself some of the spoils from the city of Jericho and hiding it in his tent. This had been specifically forbidden. Joshua was told to apprehend the man and punish him. Eventually, a man, by the name of Achan, was caught. He admitted his crime and was executed. We see that because one single person committed a crime, the whole nation suffered. Throughout Jewish history, we have seen, time and time again, that we are all in it together and that when the Jewish people suffer, no exceptions are made. No groups are spared. During the Holocaust, all the Jews were persecuted; both the very religious and also those who had become extremely assimilated.
The Sidra of Nitzavim is always read on the last Shabbat of the year, just before Rosh Hashanah. In its second half, from the beginning of chapter 30, the Sidra speaks about the concept of Teshuvah. It is one of the greatest prophetic speeches in the Bible. In it Moses looks into the future and declares that, after many centuries of the curse of exile taking it toll, the Israelites will remember the blessing and return to God, listening again to his Commandments. It will be an unprecedented national return. The Almighty will restore the Israelite nation to their homeland and gather all the scattered groups from throughout the world. One sentence in this speech stands out in its beauty. Moses states: “Though your scattered ones will be driven to the ends of the heavens, even from there, God will gather you and take you back”. This verse was incorporated into the prayer for the state of Israel, which is recited in synagogues every Shabbat.
In his introduction to the book OROT HATESHUVAH, the first chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kuk, writes about the centrality of the concept Teshuvah in the Religion of Israel. “The idea of Return has a major place in the Torah and life. All our personal and national hopes depend on it. It has the paradoxical characteristic in that it is both extremely easy to fulfil and also the most difficult to fulfil. It is very easy to fulfil in the sense that any intention to return to the Almighty is already a most important step in the right direction and is considered a great mitzvah. At the same time, it is the most difficult challenge, because no one in history has yet been able to achieve a complete Return to God.”
Rav Kuk maintained that the process of Teshuvah is a continuous yearning which will continue to be a powerful force in human history until the Messiah will arrive