Shabbat Torah Study:

Shabbat Nitzavim – Vayeileich, Deut. 29:9-30:20 & 31:1-30; Isaiah 61:10-63:9 & 55:6-56:8

September 4, 2010; 25^th of Elul, 5770

Shalom, Chaverim!

1.                   Old man Moses uses an elegant turn of phrase in his dramatic summation: “from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water.”  (29:10)

According to the p’shat (plain meaning) of the text, who is Moses talking about?

What might be another reason why this phrase appears here? According to the midrash (Rabbinic exegesis) who is “one who chops your wood?”  and who is “the one who draws your water?”  Hint: with whom is Moses making this covenant? Just those who are actually there?  See 30:19 – who are the witnesses to this covenant that Moses swears?  Further hints: See Gen. 22, Isaiah 12. Whose job is it to announce the coming of the Messiah?

2.                   A verse about concealed acts and overt acts ends chapter 29 and provides transition to chapter 30.   The language and tone seem out of place to me, almost as if a verse from the wisdom literature we’ve encountered in Supper & Study had been lifted out of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, or Job and dropped right into Deuteronomy.  Do you agree?

Anyway, why are concealed acts of concern to the Lord while overt acts are of concern to people? What does this have to do with the High Holy Day season that is nearly upon us?

What could truly be “covert” to an all-powerful, almighty, all-seeing God?  Doesn’t G1d know everything, even what’s in people’s hearts and minds?  See also 30:19 and see if you can articulate why I think these two ideas go together.

3.                   We’ve talked a fair amount about love vs. fear as motivators (and the roles of love vs. fear in the Christian and Jewish Bibles and in Christian and Jewish theology).  Look at 30:1-10 et seq.  Are love and fear (or mercy and justice) really either/or choices? 

4.                   This week’s haftarah is the one associated with Parashat Nitzavim, even though Nitzavim-Vayeilech are read as a double portion and we might expect the 2^nd haftarah to be read.  Haftarat Nitzavim, Isaiah 61:10-63:9 is always read on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah.   Pay close attention to 63:1-6 as opposed to 7-9, and include them in your consideration of question 3, above.

5.                   Moses is 120 years old when he dies.  (Dt. 31:1)Ever since, this has been considered what we might say in English “a ripe old age.”  In Israel, people say “ad mei-AH es-REEM,” “[may you live] until 120” on people’s birthdays.   What do you hope to accomplish in your life?  What (blee AH-yeen ha-RA/without tempting fate) would make you say, “now I’ve done everything on the bucket list?”

6.                   On the same topic, we’ve seen several last pleas to the loved ones before the old man takes his last breath – from Jacob/Israel through, now, Moses, and David and Solomon too leave final messages to their posterity.  Ever since, there has been a Jewish custom of leaving an “ethical will.”  (Why I’ve never seen a Hebrew or Yiddish term for this, I don’t know).  Please take a look at this link: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/life/Life_Events/Death_and_Mourning/Dying/Ethical_Wills.shtml

Keep this under your kippot, but I’m going to be talking about Ethical Wills and summing up life lessons on Yom Kippur afternoon as my Yizkor sermon.  What would your final message to those loved ones who survive you be?

7.                   Moses and Joshua adjure the Israelites to “be strong and resolute.” (Chazak ve’ematz.)  (Dt. 31:6,7) Israelis say this to one another, especially comforting each other after terrorist attacks.  It is customary for the whole congregation to rise and chant “Chazak, chazak, v’nitchazeik!” (be strong, be strong, and let us strengthen one another) upon completing the reading of a book of the Torah.

8.                    Does the prophecy of anger beginning at 31:17 remind you of anything?  Where else have we talked about dire warnings about what someone is going to do?  What are some of the similarities or differences in this situation?   And by the way, back to that discussion of what’s hidden to an omniscient and clairvoyant God, notice yet another “witness” here.

9.                   Please do take a look at Haftarat Va-yeilech, Isaiah 55:6-56:8.  Why would we read this piece now?   Notice 56:5 – a phrase from this verse gave itself to be the name of Israel’s National Holocaust memorial and museum.  What is the name and why did they choose it? See also 56:7 for a much beloved Biblical turn of phrase, much beloved in the Reform movement, especially in congregations like this one.