Shabbos Parashas Nitzavim - 5776

Shabbos Parashas Nitzavim - 5776

Rabbi Hal Miller

And it will be that when he hears the words of this imprecation, he will bless himself in

his heart, saying, "Peace will be with me when I follow the craving of my heart", thereby

adding the watered upon the thirsty. [Devarim 29:18]

Right after we hear all the curses that will befall Jews who fail to follow the commandments,

this guy comes along and declares that all will be well with him if he follows his own view of

what's right and wrong. It even sounds like he will be rewarded for doing so, giving water to

the thirsty. What actually is the verse telling us?

Ramban says, "When he hears the others being cursed with these imprecations, he will bless

himself in his thoughts and say in his heart, "Peace will be with me" from all these when I

follow the craving of my heart. But G-d will not forgive him." Ramban goes on to explain that

this guy is relying on the fact that the rest of the people are doing teshuvah and he will be

included in G-d's acceptance of the nation as a whole, therefore he need not worry about being

singled out. This sounds more like we might expect, that this fellow is actually a sinner. But how

do we find that in the text?

Rav Hirsch looks at the word "b'shoreret", which he explains as stubbornness or craving. He says

that "the root shorer occurs in places where the strength of an animal is concentrated." He sees

the word as "tied to tzorer, to bind together, or a confirmation and authorization of his heart. He

only goes in the paths which are ratified, not by G-d, but by his own heart." From this we can

understand the Rashbam, who describes this fellow as a "deliberate sinner, whose motivation is

that seeing he is so well off, he does not worry about possible consequences for himself." In other

words, since he is comfortable in material and animalistic things, he believes that he does not

need G-d.

Sforno understands this fellow to believe that he is not sinning. If he were to breach the

covenant with G-d, that would be a sin, but this guy never, in his heart, fully accepted the

covenant. Thus in his mind, he has broken nothing by believing only in himself.

Nechama Leibowitz looks at the motive of this fellow. "What this evildoer wishes to do, to enjoy

the privileges of membership of the community without the duties that go therewith, is a

phenomenon not uncommon today. He wants to have the best of both worlds--to exclude

himself from the covenant but save himself from retribution by virtue of his membership of the

community. For this the L-rd will not forgive him."

What our verse is telling us is that all Jews are bound to the covenant and the mitzvos. There

is no getting out of it on a technicality, no relying on the good deeds of others. Each of us

must, on our own, accept the covenant and live it.