84 | SEPTEMBER 26 • 2019
Spirit
torah portion
T
he Torah portion of
Nitzavim is always read
on the final Shabbat of
the Jewish year, right before
Rosh Hashanah. This is no
accident; it reflects the fact
that the portion contains sev-
eral major Torah themes.
Rashi, the foremost com-
mentator on the
Torah, explains that
Moses gathered the
entire Jewish nation
on the day of his pass-
ing in order to have
them recommit to the
Sinai covenant, where
the Jews had accepted
the entirety of Torah
almost 40 years earlier.
Rav Shneur Zalman
of Chabad points
out that while Moses
addressed the whole
nation, he also broke
them down into 10
categories, representing the
entire spectrum of Jews, rang-
ing from the “leaders” to the
“water carriers.” And, (based
on the syntax of the verses),
Moshe seems to imply that
each one of the 10 groups
plays a leadership role amongst
the Jewish people, even the
woodchoppers and water car-
riers.
The unity of the Jewish peo-
ple is not such that everyone
is expected to do everything in
the same way. Rather, it is an
organic unity where everyone
has a unique mission, all of
which complement each other.
It is like the unity of the body
where mind and heart, arms
and feet, liver and spleen, and
fingers and toenails all perform
their unique and individual
roles to create a perfectly
functioning human being.
Sure, brain and heart are more
“important”— but without
hands and feet, brain and heart
can’
t accomplish anything.
So, too, with the Jewish
people. The primary mission
of scholars is intense devotion
to Torah study; of artists, to
bring the world to a deeper
appreciation of the Almighty
through art; of “water car-
riers” – i.e. businesspeople,
to maintain ethical business
practices and practice charity
as charted out in Torah. All
of us have unique missions in
life, and together we form
the perfect body of the
Jewish people. We are all
leaders because we are all
uniquely indispensable to
the perfect functioning of
the entire nation.
Another related theme
is addressed in verse
29:28: “The hidden [sins]
are for Hashem but the
revealed [sins] are for us.”
The Talmud derives from
this statement that all
Jews are areivim, guaran-
tors for each other, even
to the point that they are
held responsible for the sins
of their Jewish brethren. It is
precisely because we view our-
selves as organic parts of one
whole that we are held respon-
sible for each other’
s actions.
So, it’
s all about acknowl-
edging and understanding
that each of us has a unique
role and purpose in life. Every
single person is indispensable in
God’
s divine scheme. And we
are responsible for one another
as a head is responsible for a
hand and an eye is responsible
for a toe. We are one.
May the Almighty grant us
all the wisdom to recognize
the organic unity of the Jewish
nation. And, in this merit,
may we all be blessed with
much revealed goodness, a
wonderful year both materi-
ally and spiritually, a year of
personal redemption and the
collective redemption of the
entire world with the coming
of Moshiach.
Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg is a rabbi
at Tugman Bais Chabad Torah
Center in West Bloomfield.
Parshat
Nitzavim:
Deuteronomy
29:9-30:20;
Isaiah
61:10-63:9.
Rabbi
Elimelech
Silberberg
Out Of Many, We Are One
The
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on
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gge
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L E A R N
M O R E
A T
A F H U .
O R G / N A N O
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ew Uni
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oneer
i
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esear
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hat
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JUDITH
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