Parsha Nitzavim begins; “Atem Nitzavim HaYom…Today you are standing before Hashem, your Lord… You are thus being brought into the covenant of Hashem, your Lord, and [accepting] the dread oath that He is making with you today. He has established you as his nation, so that He will be a G’d to you…” (Devarim, Perek 29, posukim 9-12)
L’l Mode U’Lamed comments on these first few p’sukim of Nitzavim noting; “that all members of Klal Yisrael, from the greatest of leaders to the simplest woodcutter, stood together as equals before Hashem…. Thus the poor woodcutter who is devout in his ways and who raises his children as true Jews is elevated to the same level as the wealthy supporter of Jewish causes. No man should consider himself too insignificant to be a partner in the covenant between the Jews and Hashem (L’l Mode U’Lamed on the Weekly Parsha, Parsha Nitzavim, page 183)
In the renewal of Hashem’s covenant with B’nai Yisrael, this equality reflects itself through the introduction of the concept of responsibility for one another where every Jew is obligated to help others to cleave to Hashem, to observe the Torah and to restrain them from violating Halacha. Rabbi Artscroll refers to the Or HaChaim who noted “…that Hashem would not hold them responsible for the sins that had been done secretly, but that they would be liable for transgressions committed openly.” Artscroll then states that “This is essential to the world view of the Jew, for it explains why one may not be apathetic to the shortcomings of others and why public desecrations of the Torah are the concern of every Jew of good conscience.” (Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash, Parsha Nitzavim, page 1086)
And in Torah Gems, a Maharal is brought on “Atem Nitzavim HaYom Kulchem l’fnai Hashem …” which teaches that “Moshe assembled them before G’d on the day of his death, to enter them into the covenant (Rashi). Only … on the threshold of Eretz Yisrael were they able to enter into the covenant, because it is Eretz Yisrael which unites the Jewish people.” (Torah Gems, Aharon Yaakov Greenberg, Parsha Nitzavim, page 297)
It would seem that this concept of collective responsibility for each other is not restricted to the Asseret HaDiv’rot, refraining from loshen hora or pointing out to our fellow Yid the position of his Tefillin Shel Rosh when need be. It would seem that this concept of collective responsibility extends to such Halachot as Pidyan Sh’vu’im — redeeming our Jewish brethren held captive; be it by their home nation, by a foreign nation or by an enemy nation.
And collective responsibility extends to asserting our inalienable, divinely-given legacy — our right and inheritance, Eretz Yisrael.
But Jewish non-action, political cheshbonot and equivocation have resulted in Jonathan Pollard’s continued incarceration in prison in the US for the “crime” of having a Yiddishe Neshama and for having acted to save 10s of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands or millions of Jewish Lives.
And the model of abandonment of Pollard (for lack of an act of contrition by the government of Israel, the admission that Pollard was acting as an agent for them, albeit an agency of Ahavat Yisrael), serves as a model for the less than forthright efforts of the Olmert regime to secure the release of the 3 captured soldiers of the current conflict in Gaza and in the North as well as Ron Arad and the others of years ago. By forthright efforts, this author speaks of withholding ceasefires, continuing blockades, continued encarceration of the Hamas cabinet minister, etc. until the freedom of the kidnapped is secured. But the regime seeks, the quick and easy fix, releasing hundreds or thousand of terrorists with blood on their hands in order to secure the release, or perhaps the dead bodies of Shalit, Goldwasser and Regev. And so, they have forfeited whatever assets they previously held; the trops in south Lebanon, the air and sea blockade and now the release of the Hamas ministers “on bail.”
The collective non-action, equivocation and abrogation of responsibility regarding Pidyan Sh’vu’im by the government of Israel and by American Jews constitutes a transgression committed so openly, so flagrantly as to be an obvious Chillul Hashem in the eyes of the gentile nations. It is at least the equal of Jewish collective self-doubt about their divine inheritance of The Land of Israel and the resultant gezeirah rah in which thousands of Jews were expelled from their homes, communities and Shuls in Gush Katif and the Shomron and made penniless and destitute by a hard-hearted government of Israel.
In fact these two open and obvious transgressions; expulsion of Jews from their homes and roots on Jewish land and failure to perform the mitzvah of Pidyan Sh’vu’im seem intertwined, each Chillul Hashem seems to feed on and reinforce the other in a strange, myopic, perhaps supernatural way. A vulnerable, already brain-washed segment of Israel’s population, as well as American Jews, have been long victimized by both the anti-Torah big-lie of Israel’s hard-hearted political leadership as well as by those false American demons; “non-interference in Israel’s internal affairs” and what “the Council of Presidents” calls “dual loyalties.”
Pollard’s continued incarceration, now at nearly 22 years, is due to the same perenial myopic, “whatever gets you through the night…” mindset of many who similarly viewed or perceived “separation” from Gush Katif as part of the “only” solution to a so-called “demographics problem” as well as an offering to Avodah Zora Washington in order to maintain the expensive Israeli addiction to American Foreign Aid. Somehow, from generation to generation, the demographics bomb never seems to materialize and has subsequently been shown authoritatively to be a demographics dud, overstated by at least one third.
However, there continue to be substantially increasing numbers of our Jewish brethren cleaving to Torah, to the ways of Hashem, doing Chassadim for those of our brethren in need and who have Jonathan Pollard, and now the 3 kidnapped soldiers from the current conflict constantly in their prayers and thoughts. Perhaps for that reason, the “Old General”, despite his expulsion “victory”, remains in a life/death comatose limbo. And the others in his gang are suffering various fates connected with their abomination. As the Sharon/Olmert house of cards and various lies, corruptions and graft come increasingly to the fore, and as the various rationales for the expulsion collapse one-by-one in a heap, so too will the dominos of lies and tall, dark, evil political intrigues and coverups keeping Jonathan Pollard behind bars be revealed.
As the Yom HaDin approaches, our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif as well as our dear brother, Jonathan Pollard and the lives of the 3 captive Chayalim are central in our thoughts, prayers, chassadim and actions. May this abominable period of history called hitnatkut be as a bad dream.
May we be zocha in this coming year to take giant steps toward fulfilling Hashem’s blueprint of B’nai Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, “Yom Hashem V’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bim hay v’yameinu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Shabbos!
Moshe Burt is an Oleh, writer and commentator on news and events in Eretz Yisrael. He is the founder and director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network and lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.