David by Phillip Ratner
We say in the book “God as Love” that the entire Creation is an act of Divine Love, and that it is sustained constantly by Him. We also say that, being an emanation of Divine Love and sustained by Him, Creation consequently is an expression of Him. Therefore, we have to perceive and understand Creation, ourselves included, as a manifestation of Divine Love. This is what we are, and nothing less. We just have to assimilate that Truth in all levels of our consciousness. Love is who we are and Love is what we manifest when we are fully aware of that Truth.
This week’s portion, Nitzavim, starts with the verse “You are all standing this day before the Lord, your G-d (…)” and the massage is emphasized in all aspects of the Chosen People, “every man of Israel” (Deuteronomy 29:9). Our Sages teach that Israel has a multifaceted identity that virtually encompasses every potential quality, and they understand this diversity not as qualities that make us different from each other (rich, poor, artist, shepherd, wise, ignorant, foreigner, woodcutter, water drawer, etc., etc.) but as caretakers for each other: “All Israel are guarantors for each other” (Talmud, Shavuot 39a), just by the fact that we are children of the same Father who commands us to love each other. In this parshah, Redemption is the invitation to love each other, because when we care for each other we are indeed redeemed. Thus we understand that Creation is an utterance of Love, and such as we relate to the Creator, His Creation and to each other with Love. We do that in the Unity evoked when we all stand today before our Father to embrace His Covenant (Deuteronomy 29:11).
This Redemption is fully understood in relation to our exile in the darkness of ego’s illusions: “Because you know how we dwelled in the land of Egypt, and how we passed among the nations through which you passed.” (29:15), and we have to bear in mind that Love’s ways and attributes do not dwell with materialistic fantasies and illusions. Again, we are reminded that we live by the choices we make (29:18-19) and their consequences: “Because they went and served other deities, prostrating themselves to them, deities which they had not known, and which He had not apportioned to them.” (29:25). We can learn from this verse that what we truly know is our Father’s Love for us that created us and sustains us, because that is our Truth. What we don’t really know is the darkness of ego’s illusions, the “deities” that Love does not offer us because they are not part of His Truth. What we don’t know is G-d’s business: “The hidden things belong to the Lord, our G-d, but the revealed things apply to us and to our children forever: that we must fulfill all the words of this Torah.” (29:28).
In our darkest hour we know that we can return to our Creator, to our Essence, because He is always here and now for us as the very air we breathe: “and you will return to the Lord, your G-d, with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will listen to His voice (…), then the Lord, your G-d, will bring back your exiles, and He will have compassion upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations.” (30:2). Love is our Redemption because He is our Creator and our true identity, and we need His Truth to disperse all darkness, the foreskin that does not allow us to see the Truth: “the Lord, your G-d, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you may love the Lord your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul, for the sake of your life.” (30:6). Yes, it is for the sake of our life, because Divine Love creates life and sustains life, with all His blessings (30:9). In the darkness of materialistic illusions we perish, but in the blessings of Divine Love we live: “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. You shall choose life, so that you and your offspring will live; to love the Lord your G-d, to listen to His voice, and to cleave to Him. Because that is your life and the length of your days (…)” (30:19-20). Our Creator is our life.
The haftara for this portion ends with the verse: “In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His compassion He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.” (Isaiah 63:9). These words can come only from the greatest Love of all, G-d’s Love, the One that can redeem us from the darkness that we have created for ourselves in the world. And He is still waiting for us to return to Him.
