Parshat Nitzavim5 min read

Israel Vowed at Sinai and Received a Knowing Heart Only Years Later

God asked for a heart that would last. The people who had just vowed to do and hear kept still. On the plains Moses dated the delay.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Vow That Did Not Ask
  2. Until This Day
  3. Two Decrees and One Rope
  4. He Assembled Them Because They Did Not Pray
  5. A Priest in Rome Answers a Charge

They shouted it while the mountain still smoked. "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will perform and we will heed" (Exodus 24:7). Moses heard the roar. So did the One who had spoken from fire.

Israel Vowed at Sinai and Received a Knowing Heart Only Years Later Click for full size

God answered with a longing that was almost a plea. Would that this heart would stay. Would that they would fear Him and keep the commandments forever, so it would be good for them and for their children (Deuteronomy 5:26). The people had volume. They did not ask the Giver to make the heart last.

The Vow That Did Not Ask

Israel heard the longing and stayed quiet. Rabbi Yehuda ben Levi put a picture on the silence. A snake charmer meets a hard serpent. Someone asks if he can master it. He does not shrug. He owns his craft. Faced with God's wish for a lasting heart, they could have answered, "You make it so." They said nothing.

Silence became a missing petition. Thunder without a request. A vow without the follow-up prayer that would have made the vow hold.

Until This Day

Years later on the plains, Moses said the hard line out loud. The Lord had not given them a heart to know, eyes to see, ears to hear, until this day (Deuteronomy 29:3). Graves of rebels lay behind them. The land sat ahead. Their garments had not worn out. Their shoes had not worn out. The interior had.

Rabbi Meir turned the frame with a thief riddle. Who is greater, thief or robbed? The robbed, he said, because they know and may still choose silence. God knew Israel's mouth could run ahead of its heart. They beguiled Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue. Their heart was not steadfast, nor were they faithful to His covenant (Psalms 78:36-37). He still accepted the vow. He still said, would that this heart would stay.

Some heard Moses' line as rebuke. Some heard mercy with a calendar. Both hearings can live in one chest. "Until this day" is a door. Walking through it means admitting yesterday's numbness without drowning in it.

Two Decrees and One Rope

God had decreed two things. One on Israel, after the calf: let Me be, and I will destroy them (Deuteronomy 9:14). One on Moses, when he asked to see the good land: you will not cross this Jordan (Deuteronomy 3:27). Moses asked to void both. He got one.

"Please pardon the iniquity of this people" (Numbers 14:19). God pardoned according to his word (Numbers 14:20). When Moses came to enter, he began again. Please let me cross. God stopped him. You already voided Mine and I fulfilled yours. You wish to hold the rope by both ends. If you seek "please let me cross," void "please pardon." If you seek "please pardon," void "please let me cross."

Moses heard it and chose. "Master of the universe, let Moses and one hundred like him die, and let not the fingernail of one of them be damaged." He kept the pardon. He let the border stay shut.

He Assembled Them Because They Did Not Pray

When Moses was nearing death, they did not ask for mercy on his behalf so he could enter the land. He assembled them and began rebuking them. One redeemed six hundred thousand with the calf. Could six hundred thousand not have been able to redeem one person?

That, he said, is why the Lord had not given them a heart to know. Do you not remember everything I did when I led you in the wilderness? Forty years. Clothes that did not fail. A closed Jordan he would not be allowed to walk.

The people received a delayed heart. The leader received a closed border. The man who named their new knowing could not name a road for his own feet past the river.

A Priest in Rome Answers a Charge

Centuries later in Rome, a priest named Josephus sat with a charge in his hands. Apollonius Molo had called Moses an impostor and a deceiver. Lysimachus had said the laws taught wickedness and nothing virtuous. Josephus wrote back that the laws were arranged for piety, for communion with one another, for justice, for fortitude in labor, and for a contempt of death.

He ranked Moses older than the names those men admired. Lycurgus of Sparta. Solon of Athens. Zaleucus of Locri. Newborns, he said, beside the man who had already ordered a people's whole life. Homer never even used the word law. Moses had given a constitution and persuaded a nation to live it through fortune's swings.

The man they called a fraud had once stood on the plains and told Israel their knowing heart had arrived late. He had chosen their fingernail over his own crossing. He had died on the near side of the river. In Rome the defense of his laws went on without him. Moses did not cross. The heart arrived without him too.

SinaiMosesDeuteronomyHeartLawgiverJosephus
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From the tradition

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The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Devarim Rabbah 7:10Devarim Rabbah

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah, 2022 · CC-BY

The Torah touches on this very human struggle. In (Deuteronomy 29:3), Moses says to the Israelites, "But the Lord has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day.”

What does it really mean to have a "heart to know?"

Rabbi Yitzchak, in Devarim Rabbah, dives right into it. He points to the moment at Mount Sinai when the Israelites proclaimed, "Everything that the Lord has spoken we will perform and we will heed!" (Exodus 24:7). It was a powerful declaration, a commitment to follow God’s commandments. According to Rabbi Yitzchak, God responded, essentially saying, "If only they truly meant it, if only this feeling would last!" (Deuteronomy 5:26). They heard God, but they remained silent.

Rabbi Yehuda ben Levi offers a compelling analogy. When asked if he can charm it, the natural response would be, "Of course, I'm the snake charmer!" Similarly, when God expressed the wish that the Israelites truly internalize their commitment, they should have responded, "Master of the universe, You make it so! You give us the strength and the will." But they didn't. So, Moses tells them, "But the Lord has not given you a heart to know."

Rabbi Meir offers another layer to this idea. He asks a fascinating question: "Who is greater, the thief or the one who was robbed?" He argues that the robbed party is greater because they are aware of the theft and choose to remain silent. In this context, it suggests that God was aware of the Israelites' potential for wavering faith, yet still accepted their commitment. As it says in (Psalms 78:36-37), "But they beguiled Him with their mouth and lied to Him with their tongue. Their heart was not steadfast toward Him, nor were they faithful to His covenant.” God, in a sense, knew what was coming. "Would that this heart will be for them," God says, almost wistfully.

The text then shifts to a different perspective, focusing on Moses himself.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani suggests that Moses's words, "But the Lord has not given you a heart to know," were actually for his own sake. How so? Well, remember the sin of the Golden Calf? God decreed punishment for the Israelites. And remember Moses' plea to enter the Promised Land? God denied him.

The story goes that Moses sought to overturn both decrees. He successfully pleaded for the Israelites' forgiveness, as we see in (Numbers 14:20): "I have pardoned in accordance with your word." But when Moses later asked to enter the Land of Israel, God reminded him that he couldn't have it both ways. He chose to save the Israelites; now he must accept his own fate. It's a poignant moment, highlighting the weight of leadership and the sacrifices it demands.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi beautifully captures Moses's selflessness: "Master of the universe, let Moses and one hundred like him die, and let not the fingernail of one of them be damaged.”

Rabbi Shmuel bar Yitzḥak adds that as Moses approached death, he rebuked the Israelites for not pleading on his behalf. "One redeemed six hundred thousand with the calf; could six hundred thousand not have been able to redeem one person?" he lamented. Moses reminds them of his unwavering dedication, all the trials he endured leading them through the wilderness, as mentioned in (Deuteronomy 29:4): "I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your garments did not become worn out from upon you, and your shoe did not become worn out from upon your foot.”

True commitment requires a "heart to know," a deep, internal understanding and acceptance of our responsibilities. It's about aligning our actions with our words, and striving to truly embody the values we profess. And it's a reminder that even the greatest leaders make sacrifices, sometimes for the greater good, even when it means foregoing their own desires.

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Against Apion 15:1Against Apion

Retold in our words. Read the original at the link below.Against Apion, trans. William Whiston · Public Domain

It’s a question worth asking, because the answer might surprise you. those who create systems of order, who value living under laws, they're often seen as better, more virtuous people. Their goal? To make sure everyone believes these laws are ancient and timeless, not just some trendy new idea. They want to be seen as the originators, the ones who set the standard.

So, what makes a truly great lawgiver? Well, according to our source, it’s all about creating the best possible life for the people, convincing them to embrace those laws, and ensuring they stick to them, no matter what, through thick and thin.

The writer Flavius Josephus, in his work Against Apion, makes a pretty bold claim. He argues that our lawgiver, referring to Moses, of course, is the most ancient of them all. He says that figures like Lycurgus (Sparta), Solon (Athens), and Zaleucus (Locri), all these Greek legislators admired for their wisdom, are practically newborns compared to Moses. Josephus points out that even the concept of law was foreign to the ancient Greeks. He uses Homer as an example. The writer of the Iliad and the Odyssey never uses the word "law" in his epics. Back then, society was guided by wise sayings and the commands of the king, a system of unwritten customs that were constantly shifting and changing.

Moses? According to Josephus, he presented himself as the ultimate guide and counselor, shaping every aspect of their lives through his legislation. And, crucially, he convinced the people to accept it, to internalize it, to live it. Even those who criticize the Jewish people, Josephus notes, acknowledge the antiquity of Moses.

He didn't just give them rules; he gave them a way of life, a comprehensive system that aimed to create a just and righteous society. And what can we learn from them about creating a more just and equitable world today?

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