Deuteronomy Cycle Three Netzavim/Vayelech 21:9 to 31:30

Netzavim

This week we are in Netzavim and today is the day of the death of Moses (Rashi). His final words therefore are his last attempt to make himself understood in human form. They reflect his yearning, his need to gift the pinnacle of his wisdom... of his 120 years as a vessel of God’s light. Today, Moses reaches to transmit the point which (he has seen) is the closest the people can get to God. He is not focused on his life, his revelations nor his personal intimacy. Instead he takes on the responsibility to form the point of his (concealed) experiences into an understandable and accessible point of being for the people. These points are often referred to in the Zohar (Bereshit 1:46b).

This action on the part of Moses is huge. After all, he has to give up a lot. He not only gives up entry through the 50th gate of God but to the Promised Land. His very condition as a human being dictates his need to remove himself from the point of being in order to signal it, show the way… and thereby enter into (or pass through) a covenant with the Israelites that focuses on human responsibility (Or HaChaim).

What interests me is the transmission process. How does that concealed point, whatever the divine latitude and longitude, get reflected and communicated?

First, Moses makes sure that he is reaching to the soul of the people. To do this he establishes that the Israelites are the standing-ones before God. They are not defined as sitting, collecting, meeting, hearing, or seeing. They are not (yet) standing like the Hebrew word amad. They are being set, like pillars, columns and if you may, columns of light. Daniel Matt says (in his commentaries on the Zohar) that (the sefirot) Yesod and Tiferet…constitute the central pillar of the seferotic structure and convey the blessings of emanation. Therefore, it can be inferred that here, Moses is establishing a conversation with a people close enough to God so that each individual is in touch with the action of his or her central pillar. They are close-in to the God-heart, to their own action of sparks-rising.

Then, he defines the Israelites to them. They are all there (Moses says). There are your chiefs, your elders, your law enforcers, every Israelite man , your children, your women and the proselytes in your camp…even your wood cutters and water drawers. But wait. In Talmud (Yevamot 79a) we learn that neither the Israelites of that generation nor the converts were wood cutters or water drawers. What’s even more interesting is that invisible beings are in this b’rit as well. It’s not with you alone I am cutting this covenant (we read). Everyone standing here is included…and even those who are not. Talmud refers to angel advocates. I like this and want to take it further. My opinion is that the wood cutters, the water drawers and all of the angel advocates are a piece and part of the Israelites as we/they evolve towards God. To get closer, in other words, to move towards that which is concealed, we (as a group) must transform individually into something we aren’t yet. And here, Moses is saying we will transform, that this will happen, and therefore it is happening now. By replacing the word netzavim with amad (29:14) we see the inevitable process of community enlightenment. Moses is telling us not only who we are but where we are going.

This leads us to a very real claim by Moses. Anyone can do this. It’s not for rocket scientists. Anyone can study Torah. And anyone can apply Torah to this world. As it says in the Zohar there is a point above…unrevealed, unknown, concealed, profound. And there is a point below, revealed…the site of all equinoxes and solstices…numerologies…festivals, holidays and Sabbaths (Bereshith 1:46b). The very reason for our holidays…clearly…is to enable us to access the point below. It’s all a gift, all there for us. It’s the how-to piece of his transmission.

There’s a lot more that Moses does to transmit. I believe he creates funnels (paths) to approach the concealed point through curses (the boundaries) and blessings (the way of light). And he makes a necessary strong distinction between that which is concealed and revealed so we can know our points as we travel. From Rosh Hashona to Yom Kippur, we certainly want to keep in mind the path from the revealed to the concealed.

In the end, may we all see who and where we are to determine the direction we want to walk. May we hold this direction close to our hearts to know the path to take, one of compassion, kindness, a clinging to God, a love for each other May we be brave and walk…and show others how to walk… so we can finally be the beings who can have the force to bring the Shechinah up from the revealed to merge with the concealed and radiant God-head. May we open our hearts to the unknown and the known, to our radiant evolution, and to the beauty of each person in the present.