From the Israelites at Sinai, God 
asked for much more. He asked them 
in effect to recognize Him as their 
sole sovereign and legislator. The 
Sinai covenant came not with seven 
commands as for Noah, or an eighth 
as for Abraham, but with 613. The 
Israelites were to incorporate God-
consciousness into every aspect of their 
lives.
So, as the covenants proceed, God 
asks more and more of His partners, or 
to put it slightly differently, He entrusts 
them with ever greater responsibilities. 

CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED 
Something else happened at Sinai that 
had not happened before. God tells 
Moses to announce the nature of the 
covenant before making it, to see whether 
the people agree. They do so no less than 
three times: “Then the people answered 
as one, saying, ‘All that the Lord has 
spoken we will do.’” Ex. 19:7
“The people all responded with a 
single voice, ‘We will do everything 
the Lord has spoken.’” Ex. 24:3
“The people said, ‘All that the Lord 
has spoken we will do and heed.’” Ex. 
24:7
 This is the first time in history 
that we encounter the phenomenon 
enshrined in the American Declaration 
of Independence, namely “the consent 
of the governed.” God only spoke the 
Ten Commandments after the people 
had signaled that they had given their 
consent to be bound by His word. God 
does not impose His rule by force. At 
Sinai, covenant-making became mutual. 
Both sides had to agree.
So, the human role in covenant-
making grows greater over time. But 
Nitzavim takes this one stage further. 
Moses, seemingly of his own initiative, 
renewed the covenant: “All of you are 
standing today before the Lord your 
God — your leaders, your tribes, your 
elders and officials, all the men of 
Israel, your children, your wives, 
the strangers in your camp, from 
woodcutter to water-drawer — to enter 
into the covenant of the Lord your God 

and its oath, which the Lord your God 
is making with you today, to establish 
you today as His people, that He may 
be your God, as He promised you and 
swore to your ancestors, Abraham, 
Isaac and Jacob.” Deut. 29:9-12
This was the first time that the 
covenant was renewed, but not the last. 
It happened again at the end of Joshua’s 
life (Josh. 24), and later in the days of 
Jehoiada (2 Kings 11:17), Hezekiah (2 
Chron. 29) and Josiah (1 Kings 23: 1-3; 2 
Chron. 34: 29-33). After the Babylonian 
exile, Ezra and Nehemiah convened 
a national gathering to renew the 
covenant (Nehemiah 8). But it happened 
first in today’s parshah.
It happened because Moses knew it 
had to happen. The terms of Jewish 
history were about to shift from Divine 
initiative to human initiative. This is what 
Moses was preparing the Israelites for 
in the last month of his life. It is as if he 
had said: Until now God has led — in a 
pillar of cloud and fire — and you have 
followed. Now God is handing over the 
reins of history to you. From here on, 
you must lead. If your hearts are with 
Him, He will be with you. But you are 
now no longer children; you are adults. 
An adult still has parents, as a child 
does, but his or her relationship with 
them is different. An adult knows the 
burden of responsibility. An adult does 
not wait for someone else to take the 
first step.

TIME TO ACT
That is the epic significance of 
Nitzavim, the parshah that stands 
almost at the end of the Torah and 
that we read almost at the end of the 
year. It is about getting ready for a new 
beginning: in which we act for God 
instead of waiting for God to act for us.
Translate this into human terms and 
you will see how life-changing it can 
be. Many years ago, at the beginning 
of my rabbinical career, I kept waiting 
for a word of encouragement from a 
senior rabbinical figure. I was working 
hard, trying innovative approaches, 
seeking new ways of getting people 

engaged in Jewish life and learning. You 
need support at such moments because 
taking risks and suffering the inevitable 
criticism is emotionally draining. The 
encouragement never came. The silence 
hurt. It ate, like acid, into my heart.
Then, in a lightning-flash of insight, 
I thought: What if I turn the entire 
scenario around. What if, instead of 
waiting for Rabbi X to encourage me, I 
encouraged him? What if I did for him 
what I was hoping he would do for me? 
That was a life-changing moment. It 
gave me a strength I never had before.
I began to formulate it as an ethic. 
Don’t wait to be praised: praise others. 
Don’t wait to be respected: respect 
others. Don’t stand on the sidelines, 
criticizing others. Do something 
yourself to make things better. Don’t 
wait for the world to change; begin the 
process yourself, and then win others to 
the cause. 
There is a statement attributed to 
Gandhi (actually he never said it, but in 
a parallel universe he might have done): 
“Be the change you seek in the world.” 
Take the initiative.
That was what Moses was doing in 
the last month of his life, in that long 
series of public addresses that make up 
the book of Devarim, culminating in 
the great covenant-renewal ceremony 
in today’s parshah. Devarim marks the 
end of the childhood of the Jewish people. 
From there on, Judaism became God’s 
call to human responsibility. For us, 
faith is not waiting for God. Faith is the 
realization that God is waiting for us.
Hence the life-changing idea: When-
ever you find yourself distressed 
because someone hasn’t done for you 
what you think they should have done, 
turn the thought around; do it for them.
Don’t wait for the world to get better. 
Take the initiative yourself. The world 
is waiting for you. 

The late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served 

as the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew 

Congregations of the Commonwealth, 1991-2013. 

His teachings have been made available to all at 

rabbisacks.org. This essay was written in 2017.

continued from page 83

SPIRIT
A WORD OF TORAH

84 | SEPTEMBER 22 • 2022 

