Divrei Menachem

Divrei Menachem for Parashat Nitzavim Vayeilech

The Jewish people are about to enter into a Covenant with Hashem that will apply for generations to come. So, naturally, Nitzavim’s opening words address the entire nation - “All of you, from the heads of the tribes… to the drawer of water.”
A question now surfaces regarding the responsibilities of the individual to the wider community. For while the text initially speaks to the nation, it quickly slips into the use of the singular mode indicating that each individual must pass into that Covenant, whereby Hashem will be his G-d - “In order to establish you as a people to Him.”
Clearly, the whole is the sum of its parts; each of us has a stake in the destiny of the entire Jewish people. We each share the privileges and responsibilities. And, as recent his- tory proved, even when individuals imagine they can remove themselves from this Jewish equation, misfortune eventually catches up with them.
This notion is perhaps better understood with reference to the Torah’s incisive description of the self-serving “outsider” as, “A root that bears gall and wormwood.” For Ramban, this term refers to one who denies his true identity and considers himself immune from the Torah’s decrees. However, like the sick plant, that person will, in time, produce noxious and bitter fruit with all its attendant ills for both the individual and the Jewish community.

Shabbat Shalom, Menachem Persoff

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