Еврейская мысль к Дварим 4:29

Even the as yet unborn will all succeed in their allotted task, if they will heed the same principles. (verse 14) In stage number two, Moses addresses himself to the few who instead of coming closer to G'd, remove themselves further and further from Him, until He exiles them and they taste the result of their estrangement. Having described the nation in its constituent parts and state of near perfection, Moses proceeds (verse 15) to express the fear that even at this stage the odd person might suffer a relapse and return to the corrupt Egyptian ways. Such individuals might comfort themselves by the thought that by reason of their belonging to the meritorious majority, their individual misdeeds would go unheeded. Moses therefore emphasizes that such individuals will not escape the wrath of G'd, and would be dealt with in accordance with the punishments listed in the previous section of the Torah. Moses describes that if the estrangement from G'd should become wholesale and lead to banishment of the people from their land, a teshuvah movement will commence amongst the exiles. Since this represents a return to G'd, G'd in turn will reciprocate with an ingathering of the exiles to the land of our inheritance, until, eventually, G'd will be doing even more for us than He has done for our forefathers. (30,1-10) Exile from the land of Israel, is the natural consequence of wilful estrangement from G'd and His Torah. The teshuvah discussed here is that of the nation as a whole, just as the estrangement though initially comprising only a few individuals, had gradually embraced the nation as a whole, with the resultant devastation described in our chapter. Once started on the road to rapprochement with G'd, the latter will also reverse the process of physical removal from the land. A man who is desperately sick and rejects all food intake due to a feeling of revulsion, will die unless he overcomes his distaste for food, and summons up enough willpower to eat at least a little. Once he has eaten a little, the newly supplied energy will make it easier for him to eat more and thus regain more of his former strength. In this way we can understand Isaiah chapter 55, who at first glance appears to contradict Moses. In Deut. 4,29, Moses seems to make successful establishment of the bond between Israel and G'd dependent on Israel making the first move. Isaiah 55,6, on the other hand, seems to say that there are moments when G'd is approachable regardless of human input. The fact is, that there is no contradiction here at all. Moses addresses himself to the beginning of the penitence process; at that time there has to be an input by the sinner. Isaiah speaks of the continuation of the penitence process, the second stage as it were. The first stage arrests the ongoing estrangement from G'd; the second stage concerns itself with the rapprochement to G'd. Our chapter thirty in Parshat Nitzavim deals with three stages of the penitence process and the respective responses by G'd. Each stage represents a higher and more comprehensive level of penitence, followed by a correspondingly greater response from G'd. Each level of teshuva, stems from loftier motivations. Isaiah 46,2, makes the point that when a beast is loaded down with idols, it must shake off its load in order to survive. If, on the other hand, a beast is loaded with fodder, shaking off its load will expose it to death by starvation. On the contrary, the taking on of additional supplies will enable the beast to complete its trek through the desert successfully. Jews in exile who want to shake off the yoke of the Torah will only advance the day of their total destruction. However, if they increase their burden in the knowledge that they carry the seeds of their survival, they will gradually become stronger and ultimately overcome their exile. The message of our Parshah is that teshuvah has to begin due to one's feeling afflicted. It will bring redemption in its wake. Since the mitzvah of teshuvah is so powerful in its ramifications, one could have assumed that one would have to ascend to Heaven to secure it. But Moses tells us, that it is not so difficult to attain, the matter is very close at hand, "you can perform it with your mouth and with your heart." (30,11-14)

And in being told "The remnant of Israel and the saved of the house of Jacob will no longer lean on their smiter, but they will lean on the L-rd, the Holy One of Israel, in truth," we are being told a wondrous thing indeed. And that is that, beyond a doubt, in respect to those forces operating against a man, the closer they are to the man himself, the weaker their power to rescue him and to attenuate his evil, and the proportionately farther away, the stronger. The analogy given is a man's being sentenced to be flogged. The injuring instrument closest to him is the whip, which has no power whatsoever to attenuate his injury. Least removed from the whip is the smiter, the representative of the official or the judge. He is more powerful in this regard than the closest cause, the whip, but he is still weak in the rescuing of the smitten one, being permitted only to reduce the force of the lashes a little, but not to suspend them, being, as he is, subject to the authority of the official or the judge. The official and the judge, similarly, though they be a more distant cause, cannot exert full jurisdiction, being answerable to the king. Yet this poor, smitten fool appeals to the smiter or to the judge and not to the official or to the king, who really wields the authority. Not so the wise man — he turns to the most distant cause, the king. This is reminiscent of our present state of affairs. We lean upon our smiters and all of our preoccupations are with the close causes, which have little power to save us. It is in this regard that Scripture indicted the Jews for soliciting the kings of Egypt. And it was, likewise, in this regard that it indicted Asa, viz. (II Chronicles 16:12): "Even in his illness he did not seek the L-rd, but the physicians." Similarly, those who fear foul air and make their entire goal the improvement of its quality, as others do in respect to foul foods — such as these turn to correct weak, close causes and lean upon their smiters. But he whose eyes have been opened by the L-rd leans upon Him. He improves his deeds and regrets his past evils and thereby obtains healing for both his soul and his body. As our sages of blessed memory have stated (Yoma 86a): "R. Chamma said: 'Great is repentance, for it brings healing to the world, as it is written (Hosea 14:5): "I will heal their backslidings; I will love them freely."'" And R. Shmuel b. Nachman said in the name of R. Yonathan (Yoma 86b): "Great is repentance, for it lengthens a man's days and years, as it is written (Ezekiel 18:27-28): 'And when the evildoer turns away from his evil … he shall indeed live.'" And though one's repentance proceed from suffering and affliction it is accepted and valued by the Blessed One, this being one of His profound kindnesses. This is subsumed in the verses (Deuteronomy 4:29-31): "And you will seek from there the L-rd your G-d, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things come upon you in the end of days, and you return to the L-rd your G-d and heed His voice. For the L-rd your G-d is a merciful G-d; He will not forsake you and he will not destroy you. And He will not forget the covenant of your fathers — what He swore to them."Indeed, there is somethinG-demanding explanation here, for our sages stated (Yoma 86b): "Who is regarded as a penitent? R. Yehudah answered: 'One who was confronted with the transgression once, twice, and three times, and desisted from it.' R. Yehudah qualified the statement: 'With the same woman, at the same age period, and in the same place.'" If this be so, how can one who has passed the days of his youth ever perform a complete repentance? And if you would say that this is, indeed, the case, that his repentance can never be perfect and complete, this is not so. For it is stated by our sages (Kiddushin 40b): "Even if one was completely wicked all of his days and he repents at the end, no [former] wickedness is to be held up to him, as it is written (Ezekiel 33:12): 'And the wickedness of the wicked one will not be a stumbling block to him in the day that he repents of his evil.'" Now "at the end" he is not in the same age period! And, similarly, our sages have said (Yerushalmi Chagigah 2:1): "'You return a man until dust' (Psalms 90:3) — [You return him with repentance] until his life is crumbling into the dust [at death]." The matter, however, is to be understood as follows:

And in being told "The remnant of Israel and the saved of the house of Jacob will no longer lean on their smiter, but they will lean on the L-rd, the Holy One of Israel, in truth," we are being told a wondrous thing indeed. And that is that, beyond a doubt, in respect to those forces operating against a man, the closer they are to the man himself, the weaker their power to rescue him and to attenuate his evil, and the proportionately farther away, the stronger. The analogy given is a man's being sentenced to be flogged. The injuring instrument closest to him is the whip, which has no power whatsoever to attenuate his injury. Least removed from the whip is the smiter, the representative of the official or the judge. He is more powerful in this regard than the closest cause, the whip, but he is still weak in the rescuing of the smitten one, being permitted only to reduce the force of the lashes a little, but not to suspend them, being, as he is, subject to the authority of the official or the judge. The official and the judge, similarly, though they be a more distant cause, cannot exert full jurisdiction, being answerable to the king. Yet this poor, smitten fool appeals to the smiter or to the judge and not to the official or to the king, who really wields the authority. Not so the wise man — he turns to the most distant cause, the king. This is reminiscent of our present state of affairs. We lean upon our smiters and all of our preoccupations are with the close causes, which have little power to save us. It is in this regard that Scripture indicted the Jews for soliciting the kings of Egypt. And it was, likewise, in this regard that it indicted Asa, viz. (II Chronicles 16:12): "Even in his illness he did not seek the L-rd, but the physicians." Similarly, those who fear foul air and make their entire goal the improvement of its quality, as others do in respect to foul foods — such as these turn to correct weak, close causes and lean upon their smiters. But he whose eyes have been opened by the L-rd leans upon Him. He improves his deeds and regrets his past evils and thereby obtains healing for both his soul and his body. As our sages of blessed memory have stated (Yoma 86a): "R. Chamma said: 'Great is repentance, for it brings healing to the world, as it is written (Hosea 14:5): "I will heal their backslidings; I will love them freely."'" And R. Shmuel b. Nachman said in the name of R. Yonathan (Yoma 86b): "Great is repentance, for it lengthens a man's days and years, as it is written (Ezekiel 18:27-28): 'And when the evildoer turns away from his evil … he shall indeed live.'" And though one's repentance proceed from suffering and affliction it is accepted and valued by the Blessed One, this being one of His profound kindnesses. This is subsumed in the verses (Deuteronomy 4:29-31): "And you will seek from there the L-rd your G-d, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things come upon you in the end of days, and you return to the L-rd your G-d and heed His voice. For the L-rd your G-d is a merciful G-d; He will not forsake you and he will not destroy you. And He will not forget the covenant of your fathers — what He swore to them."Indeed, there is somethinG-demanding explanation here, for our sages stated (Yoma 86b): "Who is regarded as a penitent? R. Yehudah answered: 'One who was confronted with the transgression once, twice, and three times, and desisted from it.' R. Yehudah qualified the statement: 'With the same woman, at the same age period, and in the same place.'" If this be so, how can one who has passed the days of his youth ever perform a complete repentance? And if you would say that this is, indeed, the case, that his repentance can never be perfect and complete, this is not so. For it is stated by our sages (Kiddushin 40b): "Even if one was completely wicked all of his days and he repents at the end, no [former] wickedness is to be held up to him, as it is written (Ezekiel 33:12): 'And the wickedness of the wicked one will not be a stumbling block to him in the day that he repents of his evil.'" Now "at the end" he is not in the same age period! And, similarly, our sages have said (Yerushalmi Chagigah 2:1): "'You return a man until dust' (Psalms 90:3) — [You return him with repentance] until his life is crumbling into the dust [at death]." The matter, however, is to be understood as follows: