Parashat Nitzavim

“The hidden things are for Hashem, our G-d, but the revealed things are for us and for our children forever, to carry out all the words of this Torah.” (Deuteronomy 29:28)

Rashi comments: “The hidden things are for Hashem, our G-d: And if you will say, “What are we able to do? You punish the many for the [sinful thoughts] of the individual… is it not true that a person does not know the hidden thoughts of his fellow man? The answer is, I do not punish you for ‘the hidden things’, because they are ‘for Hashem, our G-d’, and He will take what is due from that individual. But the ‘revealed things are for us and for our children’ to destroy the evil from our midst. And if we do not carry out judgment against him He will punish the many…”

The Torah obligates each Jew for the sins of his fellow. However, Rashi explains that we are not held responsible for the hidden sins and thoughts since it is impossible to discern them. The commentaries explain that this obligation derives from the concept of ‘kol Yisrael areivim zeh lazeh’ – this means that all Jews are guarantors for each other. This doesn’t simply tell us that each Jew has to care for his fellow; it goes far deeper.

The Midrash on this verse tells us that when one Jew sins, then the whole generation is damaged. Our Rabbis say further, that at Mount Gerizim every individual Jew accepted with forty-eight covenants the responsibility for the fulfillment of Mitzvot both with regards to himself and all of the Jewish people. As a result every single Jew is spiritually bound up with every other Jew, and every action we take, whether positive or negative, directly affects everyone else.

This idea can be understood as the following; imagine an individual who is hammering in a nail with his right hand and by mistake he knocks his finger on his left with the hammer. Would he pick up the hammer with his left hand and bang out his right hand? Of course not!

We have to start by understanding that we are all one body, one nation. The same way that it isn’t a possibility to hurt yourself, it shouldn’t be a possibility to hurt our fellow Jew. Rather we need to treat and care for one another the way we care for our own family and ourselves.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yaacov Laredo