Nitzavim: A Safe Place to Remember

Memory is a funny thing. Earlier this month, I was in Israel with a group of congregants from Ohev Shalom. All at once, my memories of

that experience feel as if they are already distant, ancient recollections of another universe, and yet they also seem as if they happened yesterday. Today, as I write this, we are commemorating 9/11, which somehow, inexplicably took place FOURTEEN years ago. I recall that day, living in New York City, as something that also happened 100 years ago, but is also strangely fresh in my mind. This week's Torah portion, Nitzavim, as well as the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashanah each have interesting perspectives on human and Divine experiences of memory.

Our parashah begins by stating that "you stand this day, all of you, before Adonai, your God" (Deut. 29:9). And in just the first seven verses, the Torah uses the term "Ha-yom," meaning "today" or "this

day" five times. But this isn't a diary entry, is it? We aren't given a date or time, so we don't know exactly when "this day" took place. The Torah, in fact, doesn't seem to care about a particular moment in time, despite all it's references to "Ha-yom," because it goes on to say that "I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, but both with those who are standing here with us this day before the Lord our God and with those who are not with us here this day" (29:13-14). So it applies to EVERYONE, whether you lived 4,000 years ago, today, or 4,000 years into the future. Time is fluid, just as memory, for us, often seems fluid and malleable as well.

One of the main sections of the Rosh Hashanah liturgy is the repetition of the Musaf Amidah, towards the end of the lengthy morning service. And right in the middle of this repetition are three special parts called the Malchuyot, Shofarot, and Zichronot. The last one, Zichronot, means "remembrances," and talks about the importance of personal and communal memory. 

But it acknowledges also that humans aren't very good at this whole memory-thing. God is described as "Zocheir Ha-Brit," "the One Who remembers the covenant" (i.e. unlike us mere mortals, who get a little forgetful from time to time...). And our prayers also state that God "Zocheir Kol Ha-Nishkachot," "remembers all that which has been forgotten." Again, we're good at the forgetting part; God does the remembering. We can view this in a negative way - our memory is, and our memories are, flawed. But a dean of mine from rabbinical school, Rabbi Mychal Springer, wrote a commentary this week that read it a different way: "We are safe in God's memory." We do our best. We try to recall - we share stories, listen to others, and write history books - but acknowledge that memory often plays tricks on us. But we are also safe, knowing that God DOES remember, and none of us are forgotten or left out of the Divine covenant. 

I find this comforting. As my recollections of 9/11 do indeed begin to fade away, I feel good knowing it IS still recorded somewhere. And perhaps our individual memories are sometimes stronger or weaker, more vivid or foggy, but collectively we have incredible powers of 

remembrance. Part of why we come together for the High Holidays, and why our prayers at that time include Zichronot, Yizkor, and Eileh Ezkerah (all prayers related to memory and memorials), is to strengthen those communal ties THROUGH memory. "Remember what happened last Yom Kippur?" "Remember how grandma used to pray with such fervor on the holidays?" "Remember dad's old special Rosh Hashanah recipe?" Memory is activated around the festivals. We'll never quite be able to achieve God's level of recollection, but we don't have to. Let God worry about all the things we have forgotten; we are safe in God's memory. But now that the holidays are upon us, let us be strengthened in our communal bonds and shared family experiences through the incredible power of memory. This can be a very meaningful and spiritual time to really feel how you fit into the chain of Jewish history, going back thousands of years and (please God) continuing for many millenia yet to come. Each of us is so essential and unique in that chain. Never forget that!

Photos in this blog post:
1. CC image courtesy of Ekabhishek on Wikimedia Commons
2. CC image courtesy of USMC Archives on Wikimedia Commons
3. CC image courtesy of BeefJeaunt on Wikimedia Commons
4. CC image courtesy of CSIRO on Wikimedia Commons