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

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L E A R N 
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A T 

A F H U .
O R G / N A N O

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pi
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wi
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KNOWLEDGE 
MOVES 
US.

JUDITH 
SHENKMAN 

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