Moses's Pep Talk for the Ages!
Some of the most reassuring verses in all of Torah are found in this Shabbat's Torah portion, Parashat Nitzavim, and they help to set us up beautifully to welcome the New Year of 5786 next week.
I want to focus us on Deuteronomy 30:11-14, which reads:
כִּ֚י הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לֹא־נִפְלֵ֥את הִוא֙ מִמְּךָ֔ וְלֹ֥א רְחֹקָ֖ה הִֽוא׃ לֹ֥א בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲלֶה־לָּ֤נוּ הַשָּׁמַ֙יְמָה֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃ וְלֹא־מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיָּ֖ם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲבָר־לָ֜נוּ אֶל־עֵ֤בֶר הַיָּם֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃ כִּֽי־קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃
Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.
As these words are spoken, the Israelites stand together on the far side of the Jordan River, ready to cross it and move into the promised land where they are to build a society. Without a doubt, they must feel daunted and overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead of them: the crossing over into something new, the uncertainty, the knowledge that they must proceed without their leader Moses (who will die on that side of the Jordan), the complex system of rules he has bestowed upon them (here, collectively labeled "ha-mitzvah ha-zot" -- "this command" or "this instruction"). In the midst of this swirl, what they need most is reassurance that what will come next is not beyond their abilities. And sure enough, Moses delivers, with this pep talk for the ages.
The need for such a pep talk apparently wasn't a one-time issue, because his message resonates throughout the generations. Many centuries after Moses led the Israelites, the ancient rabbis of our tradition played with these verses, hanging on them a midrash that only seeks to deepen Moses's lesson. Devarim Rabbah (a homiletic commentary on the book of Deuteronomy, typically dated to somewhere around the 5th-8th centuries) 8:3 brings a verse "from afar" to bear on our text: Proverbs 24:7 -- "Wisdom is lofty to a fool; at the gate, he will not open his mouth." The midrash itself wends between that Proverbs verse and Moses's original pep-talk as follows:
"This fool enters the synagogue and sees them engaged in Torah study, and he says to them: ‘How does a person study Torah from the outset?’ They say to him: ‘One reads a scroll; then [one reads] in the Torah scroll, then in the Prophets, and then in the Writings. When one completes the Bible, one studies the Talmud, then halakhot, and then aggadot.’ When he hears this, he says in his heart: When can I possibly learn all this? He returns from the gate; that is, “at the gate, he will not open his mouth.” Rabbi Yannai said: To what is the matter comparable? It is to a loaf that was suspended in the air. The fool said: ‘Who will be able to retrieve it?’ The clever one says: ‘Did someone not suspend it?’ He brings a ladder or a rod and takes it down. Likewise, everyone who is a fool, says: ‘When will I read the entire Torah?’ But one who is clever, what does he do? He studies one chapter each and every day until he completes the entire Torah. The Holy One blessed be He said: “It is not hidden,” and if it is hidden, it is from you, because you did not engage in it. That is, “for this mitzvah.”
In case the midrash feels a little hard to follow, I'll recap it here. It imagines two scenarios, and in both, it contrasts the behavior of a "fool" with that of a "clever person." In the primary one, a fool hears just how much Torah there is to learn -- that there are a whole library's worth of volumes -- and is so overwhelmed by the impossibility of knowing where to begin that he stands silently "at the gate" and fails to learn anything at all. In contrast, the clever person jumps in somewhere (without worrying whether it's the perfect starting point) and studies a small amount of Torah every day; in time, this individual comes to amass a great deal of learning! Embedded inside this metaphor, we see a second image, in which a loaf of bread is somehow magically suspended in the air. The fool is the one who marvels at the spectacle of it but fails to take any action, whereas the clever person "solves" the situation with a ladder or a rod, retrieves the loaf, and is rewarded with nourishment!
The midrash builds upon Moses's "you've got this!" message with a strong practical recommendation for how to tackle a daunting task. It cautions us about just how easy it is to feel paralyzed when we are in a state of overwhelm. Empowerment comes in breaking down a large task into bite-sized chunks, or in taking the first step towards a potentially helpful tool.
All of this feels like concretely helpful Torah as we move into this final Shabbat of 5785. On a collective level, this past year has been a particularly challenging one for us -- as Americans, as Jews, and as caring human beings in this world. We've watched society backslide in so many ways, and as we stand here at the threshold of a New Year, it feels that we have more work cut out for us than ever! How can we possibly do the teshuva we need to do -- the reflecting, the atoning, the praying -- this year? How can we possibly change ourselves, when we are set in our ways? How can we possibly move our society forward, when our values are under assault and there are just so many obstacles to overcome?! Simply entering into this New Year may feel overwhelming.
Moses's words from Nitzavim offer the encouragement we need to hear right now: that this task is not beyond our abilities, nor is our vision of where we're trying to go -- as individuals and communally -- hidden in the heavens nor beyond the sea. Rather, "the thing is very close to us, in our mouths and in our hearts." As the midrash of Devarim Rabbah helpfully adds, the way to go about stepping across this threshold is just to do it: one prayer at a time, one apology at a time, one connection at a time, one insight at a time, one good deed at a time.
I hope that this message feels reassuring to you as we move towards these Days of Awe together: that the spiritual work that we do on these High Holidays will be enough, and that we are enough. May we all experience Torah as "very close to us, in our mouths and in our hearts" in this season. And may our small and concrete actions and prayers add up, together, to enough to make a difference in our world!
Wishing you and your loved ones a Shabbat Shalom on this final Shabbat of 5785, and a Shana Tova u'Metuka -- a good and sweet New Year as we cross over together into 5786,
Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum
