Parshiyyot Nitzavim-Vayelch 5786 – 09/05/2026
Beginning with Bereishit 5781 (17 October 2020) we embarked on a new format. We will be considering Rambam’s (Maimonides’) great philosophical work Moreh Nevukim (Guide for the Perplexed) in the light of the knowledge of Vedic Science as expounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The individual essays will therefore not necessarily have anything to do with the weekly Torah portion, although certainly there will be plenty of references to the Torah, the rest of the Bible, and to the Rabbinic literature. For Bereishit we described the project. The next four parshiyyot, Noach through Chayei Sarah, laid out a foundational understanding of Vedic Science, to the degree I am capable of doing so. Beginning with Toledot we started examining Moreh Nevukim. The text we are working from is the two-volume translation by Prof. Shlomo Pines, University of Chicago Press, 1963.
Nitzavim: Devarim 29:9-30:20
Vayelech: Devarim 31:1 – 31:30
As we approach the New Year I wish for all of you your best year ever, and for the Jewish people the opportunity to live in peace with our neighbors, so we can all concentrate our energies on progress and life.
I want to take a brief break from Rambam and report on a discussion we had over lunch on last Shabbat (Ki Tavo). The verses in question are Devarim 25:17-18 (which are at the end of parashat Ki Tetze):
Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey out of Egypt, how he attacked you on the way, and struck down all who lagged behind you, when you were faint and weary, and did not fear Gd. And it will be when HaShem your Gd gives you rest from all your enemies around you in the Land that HaShem your Gd gives you as an inheritance; erase the memory of Amalek from under the heavens – do not forget!
The first question we asked was: Who did not fear Gd? The verse is usually translated as “He did not fear Gd.” The “He” refers to Amalek, and Rashi comments simply “and did not fear Gd” – “Amalek.” But is that necessarily the case? First, the “he” is not in the Hebrew. In fact, it would seem from the flow of the verse that “did not fear Gd” is an adjectival phrase, that follows easily after “tired” and “exhausted.” In other words, it appears that there are three descriptors that refer back to “you,” that is, Israel. Now we can see that being “tired” and “exhausted” can correlate with not fearing Gd. If one is disconnected from Gd, one’s actions are not in accord with Gd’s Will, which means those actions cause strain, and the result is we get “tired” and “exhausted.” In the other direction, the more “tired” and “exhausted” we get, the harder it is to maintain any connection with Gd. So having the three of them together makes good sense, apparently.
The next day I had a study session with my Israeli friends Gid’on Cohen and Shai Perelson, and we revisited this whole issue. While the argument appears sound, the fact that Rashi disagrees has to be dealt with. We decided to check the trop, the cantillation marks that tell us how to chant the Torah in public. In particular, we looked for the etnachta, which is like a semicolon, separating the verse into two parts. (The root of the word etnachta is N-CH, which means to rest.) When we looked, we found the etnachta is on the word “weary.” This effectively slices off the phrase “and did not fear Gd” from “and you were faint and weary.” Presumably it is that separation that led the commentators to assign the “did not fear Gd” to Amalek, besides the fact that Amalek is the bad guy.
Now we still have one question to answer. The trop and the commentators agree. Are these two independent sources or not? Remember that a Torah scroll just has the consonants. There are no vowels (which are indicated by dots and dashes placed in various places around the letters), and there are no cantillation marks (which are also dots and dashes and squiggles also placed around the letters). When you read the Torah in the synagogue, you just have to know what the vowels and trop are. It takes considerable practice.
So if the trop are not in the Sefer Torah, when did they first appear? Traditionally, the way the words are pronounced and the way the verses are chanted, came along with the words at Mt. Sinai. In the written record, the trop do not appear until the late Gaonic period about 900 CE, about 100 years before Rashi. In other words, if the trop also come from the same period as the commentaries, then in fact the two lines of evidence are one, and we basically are back to one opinion that we must respect of course, but where the alternative is a possibility, in my opinion. Of course, in reading Torah, we are used to having multiple levels of meaning, so we can of course interpret the verse both ways.
There are a couple of other points. Gid’on points out that the first word, Zachor, is not a commandment – that would be Z’chor. Instead, it is more like a state of being – as if Torah is stating that “you will remember.” This is an interesting reflection on the end of the passage, where it says to wipe out the memory of Amalek from beneath the heavens, but also, “don’t forget!” So are we supposed to remember or forget, or remember to forget? I think this is like trying to empty the mind of thoughts – the very effort fills the mind with thoughts. Rather, perhaps we can understand it in terms of PTSD. We all probably have had some experience that we relive, over and over again. We remember it as much as we’d like to forget it. Of course with severe PTSD these memories can be debilitating, but even in less severe cases, it’s annoying.
I think Amalek’s attack is like this – Gd is telling us, “you’re going to remember this, but don’t let it faze you.” But on the other hand, we do want to get rid of this annoying memory. So we have to get rid of the impression that the trauma has left in our nervous system. In other terms, the impressions on our souls have to be purged – physically by dipping in the waters of the mikveh , and metaphysically by dipping the mind in the Ocean of Consciousness.
“Turn it over and turn it over again, for everything is in it.” Torah is the knowledge of life!
L’shanah tovah um’tukah!
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parshiyyot Nitzavim – Vayelech
In Parashat Nitzavim, “standing,” Moses tells us that we stand before Gd as a nation, not a mere collection of people. It is love of Gd and love of one’s neighbor that binds us together and it is this same love that binds together the different aspects of our personality: our thoughts, our feelings, our body, our routines, our career, family, friends….
So love and Love, Universal Love, are vital for us to live our life in unity, wholeness, not as a mere collection of fragments.
Moses tells our ancestors (and us) that Torah is not far from us, it is near, in our hearts to do. It is the Universal Love that allows us to live in Wholeness.
Moses also warns our ancestors (and us) of the desolation that we will incur if we turn from Torah, but comforts us that we will turn back and Gd will gather us together into the Promised Land.
This means that though we may sometimes close our heart and turn away from Torah, yet at any time, we can open our heart and Torah will be seen there as It Always Is (Torah is the Word of Gd, the Liveliness of Gd, never separate, always there).
When we open our heart, we are new people, descendants of the old people that we no longer are, new people, people in whom Torah and Gd are alive in our hearts, our words, our actions and in the response of Gd to us.
Moses tells us we are free to choose: the blessing of Torah, or the desolation of turning from it and he says “You shall choose life”. I am confident that our congregation is honoring Gd’s words spoken through Moses, and is choosing life.
Today and every day is an opportunity for the celebration of Newness—and Rosh HaShanah is especially so —New Year, New Us, New World.
A great time!
Parashat Vayelech. (“And he went”)
Although Vayalech means “and he went,” Moses says to the people “I am 120 years old today and I can no longer go out or in.” The symbolism of 120 as 3 x 40 is strongly suggestive: 40 days of the flood, 40 days twice to receive Torah, 40 the age at which Isaac and Esau married… “Forty” seems to be symbolic of Fulfillment. Three times forty seems to be symbolic of three levels of Fulfillment, the surface, the depth and the Wholeness.
To not be able to go in and out is symbolic of being established in Wholeness, in God, so that every motion is within and there is never any going out or coming back.
Very inspiring to have a leader who is so established, very promising to us that we can also achieve this state.
In Parashat Vayelech, Moses told our ancestors (and us) to have courage as they pass over the Jordan into the Promised Land: Gd is with you, and will destroy your enemies. But Moses also said that that our ancestors will turn from Torah, and Gd will hide His Face from us, but that Torah shall not be forgotten from the mouths of their descendants.
This means that though we close our heart and turn away from Torah, yet at any time, we can open our heart and Torah will be seen there as It Always Is (Torah is the Word of Gd, the Liveliness of Gd, never separate, always there).
When we open our heart, we are new people, descendants of the old people that we no longer are but our descendants, new people, people in whom Torah and Gd are alive in our hearts, our words, our actions and in the response of Gd to us.
As Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur near, this is a reminder that the New Year is not only a New Year in calendar time but an opportunity for a new year in our hearts, souls, thoughts, speech, action and in the response Gd gives us—a time when we open to Gd and Gd opens to us so no part of Gd’s Face is hidden and we remember and live the Oneness which we always are (though we may have hidden from it), and not only remember and live but enjoy everywhere, all around us, Gd/Torah singing to us, dancing to us, in the sky, earth, pebbles, streams and leaves – everywhere.
It is a reminder that the Day of Atonement really is the Day of At-Onement, a day in which all our vows to Gd are annulled because the separation between Gd and us is annulled.
This is a preview of the opportunity for the celebration of Purity, A Clean Slate. Fulfilled Year, Fulfilled Us, Fulfilled World
A great time!
Recitation of Vayelech:
Given the reality of Torah as the Vibration of G-d, the sound is closer to the reality than the meaning, although the meaning is very useful to us to remind us of the importance of worshipping The One, not getting lost in details of the material world to the extent that we think the material world is the only reality.
The following link gives a recitation in Hebrew of a few verses of Parashat Vayalech and a few tips for study of parshah recitation of Torah with tropes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAGWSO_ytAg
Listening has deep value: so does acting in accord with the Harmony of Torah
In this parshah, Moses tells the people and Joshua, the new leader, to be of courage for the Lord is with them.
.What can we make of this today?
One thing is to read Torah, listen to Torah, so we are attuned to it: it is in our heart to spontaneously be in harmony with it.
We can also study Torah to discover its plain meanings, its hidden meanings, and especially its application to the details of our life. As an example, we can prioritize Wholeness and whatever activities we do that connect us to it: in this way, we grow in our ability to Love God with all our heart and soul.
We love our self/Self and we grow in the ability to experience that the world outside us is the same One that is within us. We gain Teshuvah and we live our life in Love and Joy. All our failings, limits, and past wrong behaviors are melted in Oneness.
So let us listen to Gd speaking through Moses: Be of good courage for G-d is with us.
Baruch HaShem