Shabbat Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech - 5784

Shabbat Parashat Nitzavim-Vayeilech - 5784

Rabbi Hal Miller

  You (pl) are standing here today, all of you (pl), before Hashem your (pl) God,

  your (pl) heads, your (pl) tribes, your (pl) elders, and your (pl) officers, all the

  men of Israel [Devarim 29:9]

  your (pl) small children, your (pl) women, and your (sing) convert who is in the

  midst of your (sing) camp, from the hewer of your (sing) wood to the drawer of

  your (sing) water [29:10]

  for you (sing) to pass into a covenant of Hashem your (sing) God, and into His

  oath that Hashem your (sing) God forges with you (sing) today [29:11]

  in order to establish you (sing) today as a people to Him and that He be a God to

  you (sing) as He spoke of you (sing) and as He swore to your (sing) forefathers, to

  Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov. [29:12]

  Not with you (pl) alone do I forge this covenant and this oath [29:13]

  but with whoever is here, standing with us today, before Hashem our God, and with

  whoever is not here with us today. [29:14]

The words 'you' and 'your' in English can be either singular or plural, depending on

the number of people being spoken to. In verses 29:9-13 the Hebrew goes back

and forth between singular and plural (denoted above as pl or sing). Obviously the

Torah knows the difference. Why the variations?

These verses begin and end with the plural. In the first, Moshe is clearly speaking to

everyone standing there as individuals, and in the last verse he includes all the rest

of the souls of Israel for all time. The plural 'you' and the word 'us' fit well. Verse 10

continues the list in 9, adding the children and women, but then it switches to singular.

Moshe must intend something different in the middle.

Perhaps the key is in verse 12, "in order to establish you today as a people to Him". At

this point, Moshe is speaking to one unified people, as opposed to peoples or individuals,

thus singular makes sense. How do we handle the transitions before and after?

Verse 11 speaks of a covenant between God and 'you'. That covenant is not to be

with each member of the multitude but with the entire people as one. Each Jew is

responsible for ensuring the welfare of all other Jews. From verse 11, there is only one

camp. Converts, woodcutters and water drawers are all part of the single people despite

being of perhaps varying social status.

Moshe is teaching that every individual in the nation of Israel, for all time, is an equal

part of the one whole, bound to each other and bound to God. As Rav Hirsch writes,

"an individual, however pious himself, can never consider his task fulfilled since his duty

includes all the community and all the future".