Parshas Nitzavim – Vayelech

United We Stand, Divided We Fall!

‘‘You stand, this day all of you before Hashem your G-d; the heads of your tribes, your elders and your law officers, every man of Yisroel.” (Devarim 29:9)

Rav Chaim Volozhin zt”l said a beautiful parable. A nobleman’s carriage was traveling in a rainstorm. The carriage veered off the road and the wheels sank in the mud. No matter how much the nobleman lashed his four horses, the horses were unable to extract the wagon from the mud. A peasant with three small ponies passed by. He told the nobleman to unharness his four horses and attach the peasant’s three ponies to the carriage. The nobleman laughed at this suggestion. How could three small ponies accomplish what his four strong horses could not? The peasant insisted and the nobleman had nothing to lose, so he agreed. When the ponies were harnessed to the wagon, the peasant lashed his whip once. As soon as he did that, the ponies struggled and pulled the nobleman’s carriage out of the mud. The nobleman was shocked!  Three small ponies accomplished what four strong horses could not! The peasant asked him where he got his horses. The nobleman said that he bought them from four of the world’s finest stables. The peasant said that this was why the nobleman’s horses failed in their task. “Your horses are rivals and feel animosity towards each other. When one is lashed, the other three are happy and do not try to help. My ponies might be small, but they are brothers. When one is lashed, the other two try to save him with all their strength. Therefore, my three ponies accomplished more than your four grown horses”. (Love Your Neighbor by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin)

The Torah (Devarim 29:9) says, “‘‘You stand, this day all of you before Hashem your G-d; the heads of your tribes, your elders and your law officers, every man of Yisroel.”          

Rashi explains that the more prominent people were mentioned first.

Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky says the Torah first speaks to all Klal Yisroel and then lists a hierarchy, with the heads of the people followed by lesser officials. Then the Torah refers to every man in Israel. That suggests that no one should be considered more important than another. He explains that the Torah is teaching us that although man assigns importance to others based on their positions in life, Hashem does not differentiate. When all Klal Yisroel, all the Jewish People, are standing before Hashem, they are all equal in His eyes.

The Torah (Devarim 30:4) says, “If your exiled one will be at the edge of the heavens, from there Hashem your G-d will gather you and from there He will take you.”  

Many commentaries are bothered by the words, “from there will He take you” which seem to be extra. How is that different than “from there will Hashem your G-d, gather you”?

HaKsav VeHaKabalah explains that Hashem will gather you from your exile and will take you back as a nation, as you had been previously.

Rabbi Shimshon Chaim Nachmani zt”l, in his Zera Shimshon, (sourced in Zera Shimshon 2 by Rabbi Nachman Seltzer) says that according to the Talmud (Yoma 9B) the reason that Klal Yisroel went into exile was because of baseless hatred that they had for one another. Our final redemption will only come when there is peace and love between all members of Klal Yisroel. This is the explanation of the pasuk. Hashem will “gather you”. Hashem will make peace among the Klal Yisroel, and they will be “gathered together”. Then Hashem will “take you” out of exile.

The Birchas Kohanim (Bamidbar 6:24-26), the blessings of the Kohanim are recited in the singular, not plural. Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov says that this teaches us that our greatest blessing is togetherness. We have many differences amongst Klal Yisroel. However, there are also many commonalities. Focusing on the similarities and the fact that we were all created in the image of Hashem will help us identify more with others and will lead to greater unity. (Growth Through Torah by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin)

Rav Yisroel Salanter says that we should focus on the good qualities of others. That will help us feel love for them even at times when they upset us.

The Torah says (Vayikra 25:38), “I am Hashem your G-d who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, to be a G-d for you”. Why does the pasuk repeat “to be a G-d for you”?

Sforno explains that the purpose of Creation was for Klal Yisroel to interact with one another, as we are all part of one neshama, one soul. Each act of kindness that we do helps bring unity among Klal Yisroel.

There is a fable about an old man, nearing his death. He called his sons to give them some parting advice. He ordered his servants to bring in a bundle of sticks wrapped together. To his eldest son, he commanded, “Break it.” The son strained and strained, but with all his efforts was unable to break the bundle. Each son in turn tried, but none of them was successful. “Untie the bundle,” said the father, “and each of you take a stick.” When they had done so, he called out to them: “Now, break it,” and each stick was easily broken. “You see my meaning,” said their father. “Individually, you can easily be conquered, but together, you are invincible. Unity gives strength.”

Much of the world is united against Klal Yisroel. It is important that we push aside the differences that we have with one another. We must focus on our similarities. We need to focus on the positive traits of those who do not share all of our beliefs. We should do acts of kindness with one another, especially to those who do not share our beliefs. We should remember that we are all part of the same neshama! Our efforts can bring unity, which in turn will bring our final Redemption!

May it come speedily in our days!

Parshas Nitzavim-Vayelech

Do You Want To Be Like THAT GUY On The Train!

“You stand this day all of you before Hashem; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Yisroel.” (Devarim 29:9)

How would you feel if you would have been the man on the train, the innkeeper, or the rabbi in the following stories?

The great mussar luminary, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter zt”l was traveling by train from Salant to Vilna. He was sitting in a smoking car holding a lit cigar. [This was before it was known that smoking is harmful to your health.] A young passenger approached him and started yelling about the smoke. Although it was his right to smoke, as it was a smoking car, Rav Yisrael immediately put out the cigar and opened the window to let the smoke out. The same fellow shouted again at the rabbi, telling him to shut the window as it was now getting too cold. Upon arriving in Vilna, the young man noticed the hundreds of people waiting to greet a famous rabbi who was on the train. When he realized that the great rabbi was the man that he had been very rude to, he became very distraught and profusely begged Rabbi Yisroel for forgiveness.

The Brisker Rav, Rav Yehoshua Ber Soloveitchik zt”l, was once caught in a blinding snowstorm. He and his wagon driver realized that they would have to find a place to stay overnight as the roads were becoming impassable. It was late at night when they arrived at an inn. After banging on the door for a while, the sleepy innkeeper finally opened his window and said that the inn was closed. The wagon driver called out and said that it was freezing outside and that the roads were becoming impassable. Grudgingly, the innkeeper came downstairs and opened the door. The innkeeper was not interested in tending to them, but he told them that they could stay in a side room. The room was cold, but it was much better than being outside in the frigid cold. The Rav and his driver settled in for the night. About a half hour later, more travelers were banging on the door of the inn. One of the travelers called up that the rebbe was downstairs, together with some of his followers. The innkeeper saw that there were about twenty travelers outside. That meant good business. He ran to open the door and greet the guests. He invited them in and brought them drinks and refreshments. Soon, they were all warm. The rebbe went to wash his hands and passed the side room where the other two travelers were shivering in the cold. The rebbe noticed them and recognized the great Torah luminary, the Brisker Rav. He brought the Brisker Rav into the dining room where the other chassidim were sitting. When the innkeeper returned to the dining room with more food, the rebbe castigated him for putting the gadol hador, the great Torah leader of that generation, in that frigid room and without giving him any refreshments to warm him up. The innkeeper had not recognized the Brisker Rav and immediately begged for forgiveness. He said, “I am sorry, I did not realize who you were.” … The Brisker Rav forgave him and taught him a very important lesson. ‘You are begging my pardon because I am the Brisker Rav. That is not why you should be asking forgiveness. You should be asking forgiveness because it was wrong of you to behave like that to any Jew that may have come to your inn. No one should be left in the cold.” (Around the Maggid’s Table by Rabbi Paysach Krohn)

Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky zt”l was one of the Torah leaders of his generation. One day, as he was taking a walk, he noticed a five-year-old girl crying. He stopped what he was doing [which was most likely learning], went over to the girl and asked her why she was crying. She said that she was crying because her friend made fun of her dress. Rabbi Abramsky asked her for her name. She said that it was Shoshana. Rabbi Abramsky told her to tell her friend that the rabbi said her name was beautiful, and her dress was beautiful. The young girl ran back to her friends with a big smile on her face. (More Maggid Stories for Children by Chaviva Krohn Pfeiffer)

The first pasuk in our Parsha says that you are all standing before Hashem referring to the nesiim, the leaders of the twelve shevatim, tribes, together with all the people. The Yalkut Shimoni says this pasuk teaches us that even though the nesiim and other officers were leaders over the people, and the people had to listen to them, in the eyes of Hashem all the Jews were equal.

The Alshich zt”l says a similar point. In the beginning of Parshas Matos (Bamidbar 30:2) Moshe first told a particular commandment to the nesiim before teaching it to the rest of the Jewish nation. Rashi explains that Moshe did this to honor the nesiim. The same procedure was followed with the teaching of the Ten Commandments. First Moshe taught the laws to Aharon, then to Aharon’s sons and then to the nesiim. Only afterwards did Moshe teach the laws to the rest of the Jewish nation. (Shmos 34: 31-32. see Rashi there). In our Parsha, the pasuk says, “You stand this day all of you before Hashem; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Yisroel.” (Devarim 29:9). The Alshich questions why Moshe changed the pattern and said the current message to the entire Jewish nation, at one time. The Alshich says that the words of the pasuk itself answer the question. Previously, when Moshe taught the people, he honored the nesiim by teaching them first, before the rest of the nation came to him. Here, all the people were already standing together before Hashem to make a covenant with Hashem. Once everyone, the nesiim, the officers, the elders, … and the water carriers were all standing before Hashem, there was no distinction between “greater” and “lesser” people. Once they were all standing before Hashem, there was no way for a human to determine which person was greater in the eyes of Hashem or which person deserved more honor. Someone whom the people feel is deserving of honor and prestige may actually be considered lesser than a simple Jew, in the eyes of Hashem. Hashem has a different equation than we do, to determine who is a more honored person.

According to the Alshich we cannot discern who is greater in the eyes of Hashem. How would we feel if the person whom we had treated disrespectfully, suddenly became our boss? How would we feel if, after 120 years, we go to Heaven and see that someone whom we had treated disrespectfully, is highly respected in Heaven?

Obviously, we should treat everyone with respect, as everyone is created in the image of Hashem.

An added motivation to do so may be the realization that the person whom we disrespect may be among the most respected up high. We don’t want to be like the man on the train or the innkeeper who found out

    that the people to whom they acted rudely were well-known and highly respected people.

We should try to be like the rabbi who treated everyone, even a five-year-old girl, with respect.