It Takes All Sorts of People

The Torah portion read annually before Rosh Hashana is parshat Nitzavim. In it, Moses assembles the Jewish people to receive his final charge and to hear his last words to them as their leader. The parsha begins with a description of the way the entire Jewish people appear standing before God, “Atem nitzavim hayom kulchem lifnay Hashem Elokaychem.” The pasuk delineates who is included in Kahal Am Yisrael: “Rosheichem shifteichem, zikneichem, v'shotreichem — kol ish Yisrael.” - “The heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers — all the men of Israel.” The Torah tells us that the Jewish people are headed by their leaders and the prominent members of the nation. But that is not all, that does not complete the demographic makeup of the Jewish people. The pasuk continues and says “Tapchem, nesheichem, v'gercha asher bekerev machanecha, mechotev eitzecha ad shoev meimecha.”- “Your children, your women, and the convert in the midst of your camp, from the wood chopper to the water carrier.”

There is a klal, a general rule, that what we are told in the Torah is everlasting, and is as pertinent today as it was when it was said or written. This is the foundation of our faith as Jews. Torah is immutable and unchanging, and the passage of time does not dull the message nor modify it in the least.

Therefore Moses it not merely describing how the Jewish people appeared to his eyes on that day in the distant past some three thousand odd years ago. He is prescribing for all time and for all generations of Jews the requirements for standing before their Maker, “Li'avrecha b'brit Hashem Elokecha,” (to pass into the covenant of Hashem your God).

And how must the entire Jewish people appear? As one entity, one continuous unit, which encompasses all the segments of the Jewish population from the elite strata of the leaders to the lowest of the water carriers. If any of the Jewish people are missing or excluded, all of us are lacking and none of us are complete. It is utterly unacceptable to separate oneself from any of his fellow Jews even if they are not on the same level of society or religious observance. A group composed solely of the “Rosheichem,” of the leaders and heads of Jewry is not only incomplete in its composition, it is a group that is unfit to stand before God.

The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh takes it a step further. He explains that not only was Moses bringing the entire nation together before God, but he was enjoining them with a sacred pact. This was a covenant of “Areivut,” of literally making each and every Jew a “guarantor” for his fellow Jew. Every Jew was required to strive to help his fellow Jew in his observance “L'bal yaavor pi Hashem,” (in order that none should transgress the word of God). Each and every Jew is inextricably intertwined with all of his Jewish brethren in one overarching living entity of the “Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation.”

One of the Hasidic masters expounded and elaborated on this principle. We know that prayer before God should be done with a “Tzibbur,” a quorum of Jews, and this is the optimum manner for our prayers and supplications to be accepted before the heavenly throne. The word “Tzibbur” is made up of the Hebrew letters “tzadi,” “bet,” and “reish.” These letters, said the Hasidic Rebbe, are an acronym representing the three major classes of Jews: “Tzaddikim,” the righteous ones; “Beinonim,” those who are in the middle of the scale and are neither perfectly pious or grave sinners; and “Reshaim,” the wicked sinners amongst us. To truly be a “Tzibbur,” to truly represent the Jewish people and present our prayers before the Almighty, one must be part of a group consisting of all of these classes. It is not possible for one group of Jews to exclude or denigrate another section of the Jewish people and still be a viable conduit to request celestial blessings. Rather it is only an all inclusive body with representation from each of the segments that make up the Jewish Nation that is able to stand before our creator on the Judgement Day and ask for his forgiveness and blessing.

May it be the will of the Almighty that all of his people be inscribed in the Book of Life and that no Jew should be excluded from the Achdut of the Jewish people. Gmar Chatima Tova! L'shana Tova u’Metukah!