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This week's Torah portion, Nitzavim ("You are standing…") carries a hint to other places in the Torah where the same word, Nitzavim, is used. If the Torah only meant, "standing," it would have used the more common word, which is omdim. Since it uses nitzavim, it is reasonable to assume that the Torah alludes to something beyond simply standing. And indeed, the word nitzavim implies standing at attention, standing firmly and permanently, whereas omdim is more straightforward, indicating only that one is in the standing position at any particular moment, without implying that he will remain there intentionally for long.

Our sixteenth century sage, R' Nosson Nata Shapira (author of Megaleh Amukot on the Torah) suggests that nitzavim is a hint about "all those who were not" with us through to the end of generations. For example, all the Jews "stood at attention," (hityatzvu from the same root as nitzavim) at the foot of Mt. Sinai and received the Torah, including the oral Torah. And, all that they heard at Mt Sinai was also present as the Jews stood ready to enter the land of Israel forty years later, even though most of the Jews who had been present at Mt. Sinai were no longer alive. That is, because "every novella and new understanding that is produced by a clever Torah scholar was already included in the oral Torah that was received by Moshe and given to the Jews," so those words of Torah are "standing permanently," throughout the generations. They are handed down from one generation to the next from matan Torah. Moreover, even earlier, at the splitting of the Reed Sea, God said to Moshe, "stand at attention and see" (hityatzvu u'reu, again from the same root, nitzavim). Wrapping up his idea, then, R' Shapira suggests that the ruach hakodesh, or "holy spirit" of the Torah stands forever from the time of matan Torah until the end of generations, much as the ten utterances of Genesis "stand in the heavens," eternally ("Forever Hashem, your words are established (nitzavim) in the heavens" – Psalms 119).

Later in his work, R' Shapira returns to the concept of nitzavim, or "standing permanently." He again mentions the verse from Psalms 119 regarding the ten creative utterances of Genesis, which are forever "standing" in the heavens in order to constantly re-create the universe. This time, though that Hashem Himself is also "standing" forever. in Jacob's dream of the ladder in which the angels were ascending and descending, the Torah uses the word nitzav to tell us that God Himself was standing above the ladder. In the dream, it was God Himself Who was nitzav alav – "standing over the ladder." And if the Jews are now nitzavim, or standing at attention before God, and undergoing judgment before Rosh Hashana (parshat Nitzavim is always read before Rosh Hashana), so the ten creative utterances also undergo judgment. Like the Jews themselves, the utterances are "judged" on Rosh Hashana. And they only remain in position if the judgment is favorable. "Like a face in water (man below)," so is the heart of man in relation to the image of man Above, over the ladder. And as it says in Pirkei Avot ("Ethics of the Fathers"), "Know that which is above you" – we are capable of knowing what is above us, because our judgment takes place based upon our behavior here below in this world. If we remain "standing" after Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, that is a sign that we have received a favorable judgment above regarding our behavior below.

Finally, R' Shapira compares the first command of the Torah – "be fruitful and multiply" – with the final command – that every Jew should write a Torah scroll. We fulfill the mitzvah of writing a Torah scroll by simply filling in a letter in a scroll written by a proper scribe. With this one letter, it is considered as if we wrote an entire Torah scroll. R' Shapira compares the two mitzvoth with each other, and concludes that both of them refer to learning Torah. According to Rava in the Talmud (Shabbat 31), one of the questions that is asked Above when a person passes away is, "did you do business faithfully, and did you take part in the commandment to be fruitful and multiply?" R' Shapira suggests that both questions apply to the Torah, and in fact he quotes from Tosafot (Shabbat 99) that the beginning of man's judgment Above is always regarding the Torah that he learned or failed to learn. R' Shapira says that just as there are physical offspring, there are also spiritual offspring. Our spiritual offspring are the Torah novella, or chidushim that we bring to the world when learning Torah, and that is the connection between the first and last commandments of the Torah. Just as we are commanded to bring physical children into the world, so we are commanded to bring spiritual "children" – through learning Torah.

As we approach Rosh Hashana, then, and we wonder how we can begin to improve ourselves and our souls, the place to begin is the Torah itself – have we learned enough Torah, and have we learned it well? If not, it is time to get to work!