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Torah Reading for Nitzavim
Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20
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Chapter 29
| 9. You are all standing this day before the Lord, your God the leaders of your tribes, your elders and your officers, every man of Israel, |
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ט. אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם רָאשֵׁיכֶם שִׁבְטֵיכֶם זִקְנֵיכֶם וְשֹׁטְרֵיכֶם כֹּל אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל: |
| You are all standing: [The verse says, “this day,” which] teaches us that on the day of his death, Moses assembled Israel in the presence of the Holy One, Blessed is He, to bring them into [His] covenant. |
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אתם נצבים: מלמד שכנסם משה לפני הקב"ה ביום מותו להכניסם בברית: |
| the leaders of your tribes: Heb. שִׁבְטֵיכֶם רָאשֵׁיכֶם, [lit., “your leaders, your tribes,” referring to two separate entities, which does not make sense here because “your tribes” includes the leaders. Rather, this means here:] “The leaders of your tribes.” |
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ראשיכם שבטיכם: ראשיכם לשבטיכם: |
| your elders and your officers: [We learn from the order in this verse that] the more distinguished ones were mentioned first, and after this: “every man of Israel.” |
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זקניכם ושטריכם: החשוב חשוב קודם ואחר כך כל איש ישראל: |
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| 10. your young children, your women, and your convert who is within your camp both your woodcutters and your water drawers, |
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י. טַפְּכֶם נְשֵׁיכֶם וְגֵרְךָ אֲשֶׁר בְּקֶרֶב מַחֲנֶיךָ מֵחֹטֵב עֵצֶיךָ עַד שֹׁאֵב מֵימֶיךָ: |
| both your woodcutters [and your water drawers]: [The mention of these people separate to the main community of Israel] teaches us that in the days of Moses, Canaanites came to convert [to Judaism], just as the Gibeonites came [to convert] in the days of Joshua. This is the meaning of the verse regarding the Gibeonites,“And they also acted cunningly…” (Josh. 9:4), [i. e., pretending that they had come from a far away country. When they were discovered, Joshua made them woodcutters and water drawers for Israel (see Josh. 9:3-27). Likewise here, the Canaanites attempted to deceive Moses,. but they did not succeed, and Moses did not accept them to be Jews. Rather,] Moses made them woodcutters and water drawers [i.e., slaves for Israel]. — [Tanchuma 2; Yev. 79a; see Rashi Gittin 23b] |
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מחטב עציך: מלמד שבאו כנענים להתגייר בימי משה, כדרך שבאו גבעונים בימי יהושע. וזהו האמור בגבעונים (יהושע ט, ד) ויעשו גם המה בערמה, ונתנם משה חוטבי עצים ושואבי מים: |
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| 11. that you may enter the covenant of the Lord, your God, and His oath, which the Lord, your God, is making with you this day, |
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יא. לְעָבְרְךָ בִּבְרִית יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וּבְאָלָתוֹ אֲשֶׁר יְ־הֹוָ־ה אֱלֹהֶיךָ כֹּרֵת עִמְּךָ הַיּוֹם: |
| that you may enter: Heb. לְעָבְרְ [Meaning,] “That you may pass through [i.e., enter] the covenant.” One should not understand this verb [to be in the causative conjugation,] to mean“to cause you to pass through,” [but rather, the verb is in the simple conjugation, and means that you yourselves will pass through]. This is similar to the expression, לַעִשׂתְכֶם, “that you [yourselves] should do them” (Deut. 4:14). |
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לעברך: להיותך עובר בברית. ולא יתכן לפרשו כמו להעבירך, אלא כמו (לעיל ד, יד) לעשותכם אותם: |
| that you may enter into the covenant: [lit.] “that you may pass through the covenant.” This was the method of those who made covenants: They would set up a demarcation on one side and a demarcation on the other, and [the respective parties of the covenant] “passed through” between [these partitions], as the verse says,“[when] they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts” (Jer. 34:18). |
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לעברך בברית: דרך העברה, כך היו כורתים ברית, עושין מחיצה מכאן ומחיצה מכאן ועוברים בינתים, כמו שנאמר (ירמיה לד, יח) העגל אשר כרתו לשנים ויעברו בין בתריו: |
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