Thoughts on Parashat Nitzavim-Vayelech 5784
Menachem Mirski
The Torah is actually not metaphysical. Yes, She mentions God very often but does not elaborate much about the Divine nature (except a few passages here and there). Metaphysics is not something the Torah is focused on. Her main focus is practical – to give us a moral and ritual code that will guide us on the path of righteousness and holiness. All of what I just said has a clear expression in our Torah portion for this week:
The secret things belong to the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this Tora. (Deuteronomy 29:28)
God has never revealed the deep secrets of the universe as the Eternal never reveals thoughts and secrets of one person to another. And while the question why the Creator has not revealed the secrets of the Universe to us is theologically and philosophically very interesting, I won’t focus on it because it’s too extensive and too speculative. Let me then focus on the latter.
The fact that our secrets are known only to us (and God) can be seen as the essence of being human and no further philosophical inquiry may be needed in this case. It’s more interesting what practical consequences it has and they are quite significant. What are they? Before I share it with you let me put this verse in its context: Moses speaks about the concealed things right after retelling the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, so this verse can be rightly seen as some kind of conclusion of the story. What were the concealed acts in Sodom and Gomorrah and to whom they were concealed? Let me suggest an interpretation: these were the sins, transgressions and wrongdoings of the people living there, and they were concealed primarily for them (it’s possible that the world around them was absolutely aware of their pathological transgressions). What does it mean “concealed for them”? The inhabitants of these ancient cities lived in denial. They had no will to face their own iniquities. In their arrogance, they probably believed they were all righteous. And for that reason they never examined their conscience, they never repented and never atoned. What happens in such a situation is an accumulation of wickedness and injustice. It all crosses limit after limit, until it finally explodes (or implodes). That was the final fate of Sodom and Gomorrah – their ultimate destruction. It happened because they lived in a complete denial, making themselves completely unaware of their own iniquities. Every society that is embarking on this path and stays on it ultimately shares the same fate.
From this perspective the fact that our secret transgressions and our sins – unless they are done openly, in public – are known only to us may be seen as an act of Divine loving kindness and mercy. God, by not revealing them to others, gives us a chance to repent and to atone, every single day! But it seems that this Divine mercy has its limits. If we don’t reflect upon bad things we have done secretly but double down on them hoping that we will get away with them again and again, it means that we have deluded ourselves. We will be caught at some point and it may have terrible consequences for us.
Let us then use this “Divine break” wisely. Not to double down on something but to repent and atone. And if we ever doubt our own self-awareness of our own transgressions, the answer is simple – the remedy for it is to study more Torah. It is the Torah that increases our ethical self-awareness, sensitivity and this is one of the reasons She was given to us.
Shabbat shalom
Shanah tovah!
Rabbi Mirski
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