Nitzavim Vayeilech Year I Deuteronomy 29:9-30:14 (Plaut p. 1374; Hertz p. 878)

Haftarah Isaiah 61:10 – 63:9 (Plaut p. 1382; Hertz p. 883)

The Days of Awe approach rapidly, as does the conclusion of the annual cycle of Torah readings. The intense moment of Nitzavim is coupled this year with Veyeilech to become the penultimate reading in the cycle. In the weeks ahead we read Ha‘azinu, then move to the out-of-annual cycle readings for Yom Kippur and Chol ha-Mo‘eid Sukkoth before concluding with the last chapter of Deuteronomy, V‘zot ha‘Brachah on Atzeret-Simchat Torah on 20th October.

At the opening of Nitzavim, Moses addresses all of the Jewish community, with final words of warning about the solemn nature of our covenant with God. Verse 13 stands out, in its call for the permanence of that Covenant: ―not with you alone do I make this covenant, rather with those who are here with us this day before the Eternal our God and those who are not here with us this day.

The portion opens by stating that all are present, leaving open the identity of those who were not present on that day. Commentators across the generations have agreed that this is a reference to all Israel yet to be born. While Torah makes no specific reference to spiritual life, or life after death, this assumption that all Jews for all time will remain bound by the Covenant of Torah and the experiences of Exodus and the wilderness, are fundamental values for the continuation of Jewish life from then until now, and even into the future.

Centuries ago, the idea gained currency that the Covenant of Israel was annulled through the destruction of the Second Temple and the origins of Christianity. This Christian ―supercessionist theology‖ was only discredited in the 1960s through the work of Vatican II and the Papal Circular known as Nostra Aetate—Our Time—which began an on-going and still incomplete process of rapprochement between Christians and Jews.

The final verses of this reading remind us that knowledge of Torah and the reality of Jewish experience are not esoteric, but real. We live in the here and now; as the Days of Awe approach, our reconciliation with others set the stage for our reconciliation with God. We stand, even in our times, before God and the Day of Judgement.

—Rabbi Robert Jacobs