Feature Tidbit
for Parshat Nitzavim

It's a Mitzva... and a Helper

In case you were wondering... LO ADU ROSH - Rosh HaShana cannot begin on a Sunday, Wednesday, or Friday. If it falls on Shabbat, then Yom kippur will be a Monday and Sukkot will begin the following Shabbat. No Shabbat between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. Similarly, if Rosh HaShana is Thursday, Yom Kippur will be Shabbat and Sukkot will begin the following Thursday. Again, no Shabbat between YK and Sukkot.

If, however, Rosh HaShana is Monday or Tuesday, then YK will be Wednesday or Thursday and Sukkot will be the following Monday or Tuesday, and there WILL be a Shabbat between YK and Sukkot. If there is no Shabbat between YK and Sukkot, then we will read Ha'azinu for Shabbat Shuva and we will double up Nitzavim and Vayeilech for the last Shabbat of the year. If there is a Shabbat between YK and Sukkot, that will get Ha'azinu and Shuva will be Vayeilech on its own. Nitzavim still immediately preceeds Rosh HaShana, but alone (as it does this year). N-V are combined a bit more than 60% of the time and separated a bit less than 40%.

All of the above, to point out that Nitzavim is always the sedra that sets our mood for Rosh HaShana. And it is singularly equipped to do the job well.

We are all in this together. G-d reconfirms His covenant with us. He has chosen us as His nation and has obligated us to live our lives by Torah and mitvot. And it is not just we who are around today, but all Jews throughout our history. Don't worry; not everything is understandable in this life. Many things are revealed to us, but there are many mysteries that are understood only by G-d. This too is comforting.

And then the mitzva of T'shuva is presented. What an opportunity. What a challenge. To difficult? No, the Torah tells us that it is very much within our reach to repent, in word, in thought, and in deed.

At the end of the sedra comes a very important concept - Free Will. This idea is essential if we are to be held accountable for our deeds. Torah and mitzvot make sense only if there is Free Will. This is why the angels were not able to receive the Torah. Torah is only for humans.

If we look at Free Will through the eyes of Rabbeinu Yona and Sefer Chareidim, we see something very special. Free Will is a mitzva! Ram bam and Chinuch don't count it as such, but others do.

Putting aside the arguments as to whether it should be counted among the 613 mitzvot or not, let's see what considering it a mitzva can do.

This is how the Sefer Chareidim puts it: Every time throughout a person's life when he is confronted with a choice of two courses of conduct, where one possibility involves a prohibition or even a possible prohibition, it is a positive mitzva from the Torah to choose the proper path.

You have an opportunity to tell a joke at someone's expense, but you realize that you could be hurting his feelings. You don't tell the joke. Not only did you avoid the prohibitions involved, but you fulfilled the mitzva by choosing LIFE! Think about it.

There's a gum that, well, maybe, has a kashrut question about it. But everybody chews it. Tempted to talk during davening to the person next to you. Tempted to copy a pirate computer program to avoid the cost of buying a legal copy. A right choice in any of these situations is within the domain of U'VACHARTA BACHAYIM.

Not only are we dealing with a mitzva, but with a great incentive to do other mitzvot, an incentive not to do the wrong things, and an incentive to embark on the path of T'shuva.

Without much of a stretch, this idea can include several other mitzvot that can further inspire us to greater mitzva observance. E.g. Ahavat HaShem. That is a mitzva that we fulfill every time we choose to do the right thing because of our love for G-d. So avoiding Lashon HaRa is no longer a one mitzva issue.

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