nitzavim
parashot nitzavim-—Deuteronomy chapters 29—30
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and thoughts…
nitzavim
standing
Only a river stands between us and the goal we’ve been advancing towards since the day our parents left Egypt—and slavery—behind. We, who have never seen Egypt, never been enslaved, didn’t experience the horrors and the wonders that our forebears have told us about. We are the nomad generation, born and raised in the wilderness, and we know no other life.
And now we are standing before God. All of us. The rich. The poor. The senator. The CEO. The genius, the mystic, and the simpleton. The woman who mops the bathrooms. The very old who have lost their ability to reason. The very young who have not yet reached the age of reason. Even those of us who are not yet born. We are equals, all of us, before God.
This Torah we were given in the wilderness, this Torah that we’ve (more or less) lived by for forty years—are we going to take it with us as we cross the Jordan to enter The Land, or will we leave it behind? Leave it where we found it.
This is a defining moment in, not only the history of the Israelites, but also in the future history of humanity.
Once again, we’re being told to choose. This choosing is second in importance only to that other defining moment in humanity, the one in which we chose the hard road, when we chose independence, free thought, and free will in exchange for Paradise.
It’s fairly straight forward. Do this and it will go well for you. Do that and your life will be misery.
This is not reward and punishment.
It’s action—positive and negative—and the natural consequences of those actions.
It should be a no-brainer.
And yet, it’s not. Turns out, it’s complicated.
Moshe can hear their thoughts—living a Torah-centric life, committing to all of the mitzvot, is going to be too difficult for them.
Let the scholars, the intellectuals, the philosophers, those of us with the loftiest minds go to the heavens, bring it back, and just give us the Cliff Notes!
Let the visionaries, the prophets, those mystics capable of probing the deepest secrets of black fire on white fire cross the deep unfathomable ocean, bring it back, and teach us to how chant a few brachas!
Moshe heads them off at the pass. He says,
“For this commandment about which I am commanding you today, is not remote from you; it is not far away.
It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to “heaven” for us and fetch it for us, to expound it to us so that we can fulfill it?’
It is not beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us and fetch it for us, to expound it to us so that we can fulfill it?’
Rather, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, so you can fulfill it.” And he says this to all of them—the great-grandfather being spoon-fed in the nursing home, the toddler sticking beans in his nose—everyone. Because our pure, perfect souls come already equipped with Torah. There’s a midrash—it says that an angel comes to every baby while it’s in the womb and teaches it the entire Torah. Then, just when the baby is born, another angel kisses the child just above the lip—now you know the reason for the indentation between the nose and the upper lip—and takes away the memory of it. But it leaves its imprint on the soul. It’s in there.
Surely, God would not demand the impossible of us. So, every single one of us must be capable of fulfilling our side of the covenant. Even you and me.
So what shall we eat?
First, we’ll go to the heavens, just to be sure…with a comforting bowl of this Stelline Soup, also known as Italian Penicillin. We’ll use a basic chicken (Jewish penicillin) or vegetable broth and add in these tiny pasta stars. If you’re going vegetarian and using vegetable stock, consider adding a generous topping of grated parmesan cheese.
And now, let’s journey across the sea…This lamb roast with a classic Indian spice blend is easy to do. The original recipe calls for yogurt, but you can keep it kosher and get the same effect with non-dairy yogurt. Simply stir the seasoning blend together the day before, rub it into the meat, and let the roast rest in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it. Serve it with this lovely basmati rice steamed with cumin seed, cardamom, saffron, and pistachios. Creamed spinach is a steakhouse natural for richly flavored meats, and it works wonderfully here with the lamb. The Hindi word for spinach, which you may know if you frequent Indian restaurants, is palak. We’re going to take it a step further and go with saag, which simply means greens, and can include spinach but usually contains several leafy greens cooked together. There are many ways to make saag. Some keep the leaves intact, some chop them, and some purée them. The puréed version is my favorite, so that’s what I’m doing here. If you want to skip the lamb and keep it vegetarian, you can add paneer to create the restaurant favorite, Saag Paneer.
We’ve been to the heavens and we’ve traveled across the sea. At last we come to dessert. “In your heart” says Persian Love Cake to me. As soon as this gorgeous, delicious cake comes to the table, I assure you that it will be “in their mouths.”