Questions — Parshah Nitzavim
Devarim 29:9-28
The construction of verses 1-2 can be read to designate the woodchoppers and the watercarriers as a distinct group or as the range of people within the previously listed groups. Rashi and Nachmanides read them as a distinct group or groups: Gibeonites, Canaanites or the mixed multitude. Another interpretation, reading the phrase as a description of the range of people in the previously mentioned groups (probably Hasidic) interprets the difference between woodchoppers and watercarriers as the range between those who are dry and those who are wet, that is between those with no Torah and those with much Torah. Are there alternative interpretations that can be made based on the two possible readings of the grammar of the sentence?
Does the phrase ”even the stranger within your camp,” obviate the readings of Rashi and Nachmanides?
Why does Moses need to say “Atem Nitzavim” - You are presenting yourselves? Is this not self-evident yet by this point?
Is the covenant that is being “concluded this day,” a new covenant or is it the completion of a previously worked out covenant? If so, is this the covenant made with the Avot, the Covenant at Sinai, or another covenant?
If it is the covenant with the Avot, those present and those in the future then when does the covenant begin? Does it end? Is it a standing element inherent in the world?
Why does Moses need to add “with its sanctions”? Isn’t this obvious? Is the idolater who Moses only imagines understood to believe that the covenant comes without the sanctions or does the idolater believe that they can evade the sanctions and is just playing the odds? The idea of the “moist and dry alike” that had been applied to the woodchopper and watercarrier appears here. It is clearly the source of the interpretation of the earlier verse, but does the earlier interpretation work with this specific use of the imagery. If not, what is a workable understanding? Why is God the one who blots out the name of this person? Is this because this person’s behavior is done secretly? Hasn’t this come up before recently? Why the repetition then?
This single person who is posited appears to be the seed of a phenomenon that will spread over all of Israel and be known throughout the world. Is this section to be read as a prophecy also? As a transformation of the curses into prophecy? Why is the fall of the Israelite commonwealth laid out so repeatedly without any equal answer (until later and separately?}? The chapter concludes with a distinction: Secret acts are left for God to sort out and overt acts are for us to deal with. In the rabbinic tradition we are to accept martyrdom before committing a limited number of sacrilegious acts in public, but are allowed to save ourselves if the acts only need to be done in private. Does the rabbinic idea contradict the biblical injunction?
Chapter 30
“When all these things befall you…” Is this really a prophecy that all of the elements of the blessings and cursed will befall the people of Israel? What kind of prophecy is that?
“And you return…” This is clearly a prophecy. This implies that the Israelites will inevitably have a cyclical relationship with God. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a realistic portrayal of human nature in large groups? Should we read this text as applying to groups, following the Peshat, or reread it to relate to us as individuals? Is it acceptable to read it following the Peshat for application to our lives today?
If God does not bring us back to the Land of Israel has God really taken us back? Are we not taken back to God if we live in the diaspora as so many Israelis like to point out as if it were a reflex action? (Verse 30:3). This seems a merciful action on the part of God in the next verse. The covenantal relationship again seems to have a cyclical aspect. How does this relate to the Yamim Nora’im and to the idea of Teshuvah as we discuss as rabbinic Jews?
“Then the Lord will open up your heart…” Free will. How much of what is happening here is part of God’s pageant and beyond our control - even when it is a positive thing for us? Why does it have to be win/loss with those who oppose us? Is this a different theology than what we see in the later prophets?
Why after the role of Israelite free will is challenged are we then told, “It is not in heaven, etc.”? Is what is in Heaven inaccessible or even irrelevant to us? Should we not want what is in heaven? What are the constraints on our free will if we do really have it?
Is “with all your heart and all your soul” too much to ask all the time? Is this what sets off the cycle, rather that the person whose mind goes astray to idolatry?
Why are the heavens and the earth good witnesses?
Is our commitment to the covenant dependent on the way that our descendants uphold their end of it?
