(updated and revised from Nitzavim-Vayeilech 5764-2004)

Parashiot Nitzavim and Vayeilech are always read together before Rosh Hashanah, unless there is a Shabbat in between Yom Kippur and Sukkot. In these parashiot, Moses gathers the People of Israel together on the last day of his life, and, for a second time, initiates them into the Covenant of G-d.

Nitzavim is a parasha of heartfelt poetry and soaring prophecy. But even more significantly, this parasha, according to the great sages R’ Saadiah Gaon and the Rambam is the parasha that predicts and fundamentally describes the Messianic era.

In Deuteronomy 30:1, Moses tells the people that when all his prophecies of blessings and curses come upon them, then all the Jews who are in exile among the nations will take the lessons of the Torah to heart. At that time, says the Torah in Deuteronomy 30:2: וְשַׁבְתָּ עַד השׁם אֱ־לֹקֶיךָ, וְשָׁמַעְתָּ בְקֹלוֹ, כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם, אַתָּה וּבָנֶיךָ, בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ וּבְכָל נַפְשֶׁךָ, Moses predicts that the children of Israel will return to the Lord, their G-d, will listen to G-d’s voice, and will heed everything that he (Moses) commands the people today. You, the people, and your children will return to G-d with all your heart and with all your soul.

Moses then predicts (Deuteronomy 30:3-6), that G-d will have mercy upon His people Israel, gathering them together from all the nations among which they have been scattered. Even if the dispersed of Israel will be at the far ends of heaven, from there, G-d will gather you in and from there He will take you. And He will bring you to the land that your forefathers possessed, and you shall possess it. G-d will do good to you and make you more numerous than your forefathers. The Lord, your G-d, will circumcise your hearts, and the hearts of your offspring, to love the Lord, your G-d, with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.

Clearly these inspiring verses, resound with overtones that could only be Messianic. It is therefore quite evident why, according to many commentators, these verses serve as the Torah’s source for the Messianic era.

The idea of the Messiah in Jewish tradition is an ancient concept. The Messiah (which literally means anointed), is the king who, at the climax of human history, will rule and redeem Israel. He is expected to attain for Israel the bounteous blessings promised by the prophets. The Messiah will defeat the enemies of Israel, and restore the people to their land. Even more importantly, he will reconcile the people with G-d and introduce a period of spiritual and physical bliss. The Messiah is to be a prophet, a warrior, a judge, a king, and a teacher of Torah.

In the Laws of Kings, (11:1), Maimonides declares that Messiah the king will return the monarchy to the house of David, a prophecy that was similarly predicted in the famous words of the prophet Amos 9:10: “On that day I will raise up the Tabernacle (Sukkah) of David that is fallen.”

According to Maimonides, the king from the house of David who restores the monarchy, will rebuild the Temple and gather in the exiles. The order of redemption, however, is a subject of debate. Some commentators maintain that the Temple will be rebuilt first, and only then will the Messiah come. Others posit that the ingathering of exiles must come first, so that the majority of the people reside on the land, allowing the Temple to be rebuilt.

The Netziv sees in these scriptures a roadmap for the Messianic era. First there will be an awakening to return to the land of Israel, followed by an ingathering of the exiles. Although it is a slow process, the people will come to the land of Israel and G-d will punish His people’s persecutors, which will mark the arrival of the Messiah.

Although the belief in the coming of Messiah is one of the fundamental Jewish beliefs, and is included in Maimonides’ famed 13 Principles of Faith, many of the details of the Messianic era are shrouded in ambiguity. What is absolutely certain, however, is that the Messianic era must be preceded by the return of the Jewish people to G-d. It is this same concept of תְּשׁוּבָה–Teshuvah–return, that is emphasized during the month of Elul and during the High Holy Day festivals that follow.

Whoever the Messiah will be, whatever the Messiah will look like, however the Messiah will arrive, one thing we know for certain, is that we, the people of Israel, can hasten Messiah’s arrival by doing what is right and just in the eyes of G-d.

May you be blessed.

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