Parasha: Nitzavim · Aliyah: Fourth (Netzach)

והיה כי יבאו עליך כל הדברים, "It will be when all these things will come upon you, etc." Why did the Torah speak about "all these things," instead of merely writing: "when the blessing or curse will come upon you?" ...

Perhaps we can understand this better in light of Berachot 54 that "one must recite a benediction when he experiences something he perceives as a blessing as well as when he experiences something which appears to him as evil." The Talmud there on folio 60 goes so far as to say that even when we experience something which we perceive as evil we must accept it joyfully. ...

This is what the Torah has in mind when it introduces this verse with the word והיה which always has a joyful connotation. Moses could not have made this point if he had written only: "when the blessing or the curse come upon you." I would then have read the words "the blessing" as referring to the word והיה, which implies something joyful. The words: "or the curse," I would have understood as belonging to what follows, i.e. something that might lead to penitence but not something that the Israelite would acknowledge as being meant for his own good.

When having a second look at our verse I have realised how much G'd's fondness for the Jewish people is reflected here. When referring to the blessing the Torah writes: כי יבאו עליך, when the blessing will come upon you," whereas when writing about the curse the Torah writes: והקללה אשר נתתי לפניך, "the curse which I have presented before you." This is another reason why the introduction והיה כי יבאו עליך כל הדברים האלה is necessary. ...

Had Moses not used this formulation we would have interpreted the word לפניך as applying both to the blessing and to the curse in equal measure. Only the introductory words enable us to realise that the nature of the curse will be different from the blessing. Do not worry about the fact that the Torah writes הדברים "the things" in the plural, whereas the blessing is mentioned in the singular. There are many examples in the Torah of constructions such as this.

הברכה והקללה, "the blessing or the curse, etc." There is no need for the Torah to tell us that G'd will welcome Israelites with open arms if they sin and return in penitence before G'd has withdrawn the blessings they have become used to. The message of our verse is that even if the Israelites sinned so much that G'd has brought the curses upon them, He will still assist them in their penitence though it is due only to the afflictions the people have experienced.

We have to explain the need for the Torah to mention the blessing at this juncture altogether. It would have sufficed to write the word הקללה, "the curse," as this is the catalyst that sparks repentance. Perhaps the Torah describes some of the thought processes which preceded the penitence of the Israelites. As long as the Israelites had not sinned and had experienced blessings in abundance they had not attributed it to their lifestyle. They had taken such blessings for granted, considering them as their due. Only after being deprived of these blessings do the Israelites begin to perceive that the lifestyle they used to enjoy was due to G'd bestowing special blessings on them.

והשבת אל לבבך, "and you will take it to heart, etc." The Torah uses this expression because sinners are misled by their hearts.

The Torah refers to an additional error the exiled Jew makes before he becomes a penitent. Even when he considers for a moment that the troubles he finds himself in are due to his having disobeyed G'd, the evil urge will tell him that this is not so. He will try and convince the Jew that they are not the only people who have experienced exile from time to time. The Torah counters this argument by writing בכל הגוים, "amongst all the nations." When other nations are exiled they are exiled to one or two countries. No nation has ever been scattered to the four corners of the earth as have the Jews.

ושבת עד ה׳ אלוקיך, "And you will return unto the Lord your G'd." The expression ושבת is stronger than והשבת אל ללבך, as I explained. The former does not refer to repentance but to a reinforcing of the faulty life-outlook of the sinning Jew who finds himself in exile. The Torah makes this plain by adding the words עד השם.

ושב ה׳ אלוקיך את שבותך, "and the Lord your G'd will will bring back your captives, etc." This is a reference to some of the sanctity which the Israelites had lost to their captors, i.e. Satan, as a result of their sins. The word ושב refers to the bodily return of the Jews from exile, whereas the words ושב השם refer to the invisible part of the exile of the people, i.e. parts of their holy souls.

ומל ה׳ אלוקיך את לבבך, And the Lord your G'd will circumcise your heart, etc." In view of the Torah already having described the Israelites as having done תשובה why would G'd have to circumcise their hearts? Besides, what does the Torah mean in verse 8 ואתה תשוב ושמעת בקול השם, "and you will return and hearken to the voice of G'd?" This seems to contradict the statement in verse 2? Moreover, the words ואתה תשוב after G'd has circumcised our hearts make no sense at all. What can still be lacking in the process of penitence once G'd has circumcised our hearts?

I have already pointed out in my commentary on כי תבא that there are three categories of blessings and punishments concerning three different parts of Torah observance. There is a separate reward and punishment for 1) Torah study, 2) observance of the negative commandments, 3) performing the positive commandments.

In accordance with this, the process of repentance must also include all these three areas of Torah observance. The words ושבת עד ה׳ אלוקיך refer to the Jews beginning to study the Torah again. This is why the Torah continues with the words "and you listen to His voice." Seeing that the Torah does not mention anything else in that context it is clear that the subject of ושבת is your return to Torah study. The words ושב ה׳ את שבותך ושב וקבצך, are a promise that the people will be redeemed by the merit of Torah study (Zohar volume three page 72). We also have it on the authority of Jeremiah 9,12 that the disaster struck the Jewish people as a result of their abandoning Torah. This is why when they rectify this error and devote themselves once more to Torah study G'd will gather them in and bring them back to ארץ ישראל.

Concerning the failure to keep the negative commandments the Torah says: "and G'd will circumcise your hearts." We are familiar with the concept that the foreskin of the heart is a hyperbole for doing what is forbidden and a love for the forbidden. G'd now says לאהבה את ה׳ אלוקיך "in order to love the Lord your G'd." In response to the Israelites learning to love G'd, He in turn, will take care of all our troubles. He will deliver our enemies into our hands and He will afflict all our enemies with the curses mentioned previously.

Concerning the performance of the positive commandments as part of the Israelites' repentance the Torah writes: "you will return….and carry out all the positive commandments, etc." The additional reward accruing to the people as a result is described in verse 9 "G'd will make you abundantly successful in your various endeavours, etc."