Thrown Far, but Held With A Long Rope The pasuk says (Devarim 29:27), “Hashem will remove them from their land with great anger.” Then the pasuk says, “VaYashlicheim El Eretz Acheres;Hashem will throw them (exile them) to a different land.” The letter “Lamed” in the word “VaYashlicheim” has an unusually long neck. Why? The MiShulchan Gavo’a brings an answer in the name of the Ridvaz. The Tur(CM 261) paskens that if someone throws his wallet into Reshus HaRabim, the public domain, it becomes Hefker and anyone can claim it since the orginalowner forfeited ownership. However, if there is a string attached to the object, then no matter how far it is thrown, it is still in the possession of the owner. When the pasuk says that Hashem will throw us to another land, it seems that we become Hefker for the other nations to do with us whatever they want, since Hashem forfeited ownership of us. However, that is not the case as the pasuk (Ha’azinu 32:9) says, “Yaakov Chevel Nachalaso.” Chevel literally means rope, meaning that we are always attached to Hashem with a rope, even if we are cast away in His anger. “This,” says the Ridvaz, “is the symbolism of the long Lamed. Although Hashem will throw us into public domain, he is still retaining possession of us by holding onto our rope. This rope is the long neck of the Lamed.”
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Alone On Our Own At The End Of The Galus “Yeisei V’Lo Achminei,” meaning, let Moshiach come but do not let me be alive to see him (Sanhedrin 98b). Rebbi Yochanan said that he’d give it the privilege of greeting Moshiach in order to avoid living through the terrible days of the Ikvisa D’Mishicha. With the Geula so close at hand why will they be worse than the rest of the Galus? Rav Yehonoson Eibshitz says that since the Shechina is with us in the Galus we are protected. However, at the end of the Galus, when it is time for us to return to Eretz Yisrael, the Shechina will need to leave the galus and come to Eretz Yisrael to prepare and facilitate our return. During those waning day of the Galus, we will be left on our own without protection and endless tragedies will befall us. Then will we realize how fortunate we were to have the Shechina with us. How does Rav Yehonoson Eibshitz know that the Shechina will return to Eretz Yisrael before us? The pasuk (Nitzavim 30:3) says, וְשָׁב וְקִבֶּצְךָ מִכָׁל הָׁעַמִים . Chazal tell us that the word וְשָׁב , which means, He will return, proves that Hashem is with us in the Galus, or else it should say, “V’Heishiv,” He will return us. Rav Yehonoson Eibshitz says that we see from here that first
וְשָׁב , Hashem will return to Eretz Yisrael. Only after the groundwork is laid, וְקִבֶּצְךָ מִכָׁל הָׁעַמִים , will He bring us back from among the nations.
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The People Are The Future “Atem Nitzavim Hayom Kulchem; You are all standing today.” Rav Shamshon Refael Hirsh says that Nitzavim is from the word, Matzeiva, a monument, a pillar. In his last speech to Bnei Yisrael, Moshe tells them, “You are the foundation, the force, the future, and the eternal carriers of the flame of Torah and the banner of Hashem. I am merely a leader that will pass on and move into the annals of history. All the leaders that follow me will meet the same end. The rise and fall of the Jews rests on your shoulders and the shoulders of your children. For Klal Yisrael to exist and to thrive, you, the ordinary people, must carry on as loyal flag bearers, since in you lies the strength of Am Yisrael.”
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No More Passing The Buck! “Ki Es Asher Yeshno Po… V’Eis Asher Einenu Po” (Nitzavim 29:14). Hashem enters a covenant with all those that are presently here and even those who are not. Rashi says this means future generations. The Maharal Tzintz says that this is a Remez to the gemara in Sanhedrin (91a). After a person dies, Hashem calls his body to din for all its aveiros. The body says, “what do you want from me, from the moment the neshama left me I’ve been lying here powerless. Obviously the aveiros were the neshama’s fault.” The neshama is them called and it says, “it must be the body’s fault because ever since the neshama was released it has been flying around harmlessly like a bird.” So then Hashem takes the neshama puts it back into the body and makes them stand trial together. Now there is no excuses. The Torah tells us that Hashem has not only entered a covenant with the body who is standing here today, but also with the neshama which you cannot see standing here today. They will both be thrown together and there won’t be any excuses.

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