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nitzaVim םי ִב ָּצִנ
£And You Are Standing Today And You Are Standing Today And You Are Standing Today And You Are Standing Today And You Are Standing Today And You Are Standing Today
££££
All of You Before Godou Before God
All of You Before God
All of Y
Every year on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah, we read the
portion of Nitzavim, which begins with the following words: “And
you are standing today all of you before God” (Deuteronomy 29:9).
There are several reasons this portion is always read before Rosh
Hashanah, but the simplest one is that the Jewish people were
frightened by the ninety-eight curses mentioned in the previous
portion. If they failed to observe the commandments, they feared
they would almost certainly be wiped out. Therefore, Moses begins
Nitzavim by declaring that even if all the curses (God forbid) came to
pass, the Jewish people would still be “standing” before God, for He
would never abrogate the covenant He made with the Jewish people.
Indeed, the Torah continues by mentioning “the covenant of God,
your God, and His promise that God, your God, seals with you today,
in order to establish with you today as a people to Him and that He
be a God to you.” In order to better understand the first verse, we
will focus on the meaning of the words “today,” “standing,” and “all
of you” in this section.
While on a peshat level, the Torah’s mention that Moses is talking
to the people “today” does not seem out of the ordinary, the Sages
infer from this seemingly unnecessary information that the day
was somehow a special day. Some suggest that this was the day
Moses’ died and he had assembled all the people to transmit his last
teachings. Others suggest that this day alludes to Rosh Hashanah,
when the Jewish people and, in fact, the entire population of the
world pass before God in judgment. The first interpretation makes
sense given that Moses is clearly nearing the end of his life as the
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Vezot Haberachah 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 20 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:06 | SR:-- | Cyan
£The Dance of White FireThe Dance of White Fire
££The Dance of White Fire
After the yearly Torah reading cycle is completed on the morning
of Simchat Torah, we immediately begin the cycle again by reading
the beginning of Bereishit, recounting the creation of the world.
This practice connects the end of the Torah with its beginning, as
discussed in the previous section. This ceremonial completion and
immediate new beginning takes place following fourteen circuits of
joyous dancing and singing with the Torah: seven of which occur
Simchat Torah night and seven which occur on Simchat Torah
morning. While the Torah scroll is rolled from its end to its beginning
(or a second Torah scroll is readied for use), we find ourselves in a
very unique situation, a sort of spiritual no man’s land, suspended
somewhere between the end and the beginning. Although it only takes
a few minutes to roll or ready the Torah scroll for use, symbolically
speaking, these moments reflect an emotion that Simchat Torah is
imbued with – a sense of anticipation. For during the entire three
week period since Rosh Hashanah we have been living in suspended
animation, waiting for the new year to finally show its true face.
Since this will finally happen on the day after Simchat Torah – at the
end of the holiday season – we are now ready to conclude the Torah
and begin reading it again.
The Midrash teaches that the letters of the Torah are like black
fire engraved on parchment that is analogous to white fire (Yalkut
Shimoni, Yitro 280). To understand even a small part of the wisdom
encoded in the black fire takes a life time; the wisdom engraved in the
white fire is at present beyond human comprehension. On Simchat
Torah we do not emphasize studying Torah. Instead we dance on the
white fire as if all is an open book waiting to be revealed. This dancing
connects us in a most profound way to the Torah as an Orchard of
Delights.
The sense of suspended animation we are in is symbolized by our
dancing for hours in circles with the Torah scrolls; this, in turn, recalls
the verse from Job (26:6): “He hangs the world on nothingness.” The
numerical value of the Hebrew letters in this phrase is 913, the same
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