Netvort Parshas Nitzavim-Vayeilech 5770:           Tell It Like It Is
By Rabbi Joshua (introspectively known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

In Parshas Nitzavim, the Torah describes the process of teshuva, or repentance, that the Jewish people will undergo in the future.  After their repentance, the Torah tell us, God will provide them with many blessings, and will rejoice over them for good, as he rejoiced over their forefathers, "when you listen to the voice of the Lord, your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes, that are written in this Torah, when you will return to the Lord your God, with all your heart and all your soul" (Devarim, 30:10).  Why, asks Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk in his Meshech Chochmah, is there a need to mention that God's commandments and statutes are written in the Torah?  Isn't that self-understood?  Moreover, we may ask, how does this verse relate to the following verses, which tells us that this mitzvah, meaning either all of the mitzvos, as the Ramban first suggests, or the mitzvah of repentance, which the Ramban offers as his second, preferred explanation, "is not hidden from you and is not distant…the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart to perform it"?  The Torah seems to be saying that this closeness of the matter to our hearts is reason for what our return to God as described in the preceding verse.  How is this so?

Rav Meir Simcha explains that the Torah is telling us that once we repent, we will be able to approach the Torah in an objective way and see the truth in what it tells us, and in all of its commandments and statutes.  While a person is burdened by sins he has committed, he often justifies what he has done by resorting to the Torah itself for self justification.  As Rabbi Yehudah Copperman, in his notes to the Meshech Chochmah, points out, there is a popular observation that the devil himself quotes Scripture to justify his activities.  Once a person has repented, however, he will no longer engage in such falsifications of the Torah, understand if for what it actually says, and observe all its laws in a correct manner.

Based on Rav Meir Simcha's explanation of our initial verse, we can better understand those that follow, as well.  Rav Kook, in his Oros HaTeshuvah, writes that the process of teshuvah involves man returning to God by returning to his true inner self.  When a person reconnects to his inner being, he realizes that the Torah, given to us by God, is the true guide to actualizing his inner essence.  This is understandable since God created us and knows our inner nature better than anyone.  When a person understands this, he will naturally want to observe all of the mitzvos in the Torah.  The Torah is thus telling us that when we repent and return to our true inner nature, we will observe all of God's laws, as recorded in the Torah, because the Torah, and repentance, are close to us, in our hearts and souls, as implanted in us by God who created us.

Best wishes for a Kesivah Vechasimah Tovah - a wonderful new year - from all of us here at Netvort International. 

Archives are available at  http://www.yucs.org/heights/torah/bysubject/

In addition, archives from 5764-5768 are now available at yeshivasbrisk.freeservers.com/netvort.html