Rabbi Breit's Blog

Moses has assembled the people to enter the covenant with God before crossing into the land of Israel. They are told of the danger of forsaking God and the blessing of loving God. Our parsha begins, “You stand this day, all of you, before the LORD your God”. It’s not just men, not just adults, not just the rich, not just citizens. It’s everybody. And they are a diverse group, from prince to woodchopper. The one descriptor that unites them all together is that they are all standing — nitzavim.

As a Northerner, I missed quite a few lessons on gentility. I have been slowly adjusting to folks holding doors open, greeting strangers warmly, and the occasional “ma’am”. But one thing even I remember my father repeating was that whenever you are greeting someone, you had to stand up to to shake their hand. We rise when a bride enters the chapel. We rise to greet an important dignitary. We stand up to welcome someone into our house. And here, in the South, whenever I greet someone who is sitting, if I don’t immediately sit down myself, they’ll rise to greet me.

Maybe this is what unites the Israelites in Nitzavim. They are a ragtag, often whiny, bunch. But they are a people who knows how to welcome a visitor. The word “nitzavim” occurs throughout the Torah in situations of greetings and hospitality. When the angels come to visit Abraham, they are “nitzavim”, and he throws himself at their feet to greet them warmly and give them food. In Exodus, Moses and Aaron are standing to greet the Israelites. And here they are standing, all of them. They are standing because they have risen to welcome God. They are standing because they are a people who exude hospitality. They are standing because until now they have been guests in someone else’s home, but soon they will be home. They will be the host. And they will be expected to stand, as they do now, to welcome, to feed, and to greet the strangers that will come.

Shabbat shalom.