Nitzavim-Vayalech: Bless our Crossing with Strength and Courage

Generational transition that is trusting and confident is less common than that which is anxious, pessimistic, and vitriolic. Examples from our current political landscape abound. In recent years of Democratic electoral politics, cynicism for generational transition has been the heart of party dynamics. As younger, farther-left politicians have gained star-status and electoral success, the conservative Democratic establishment has belittled candidates and withheld endorsements. In Jewish institutional life, pulpit rabbis and federation presidents have villanized, persecuted, and expelled from their ranks younger anti-Zionist Jews who advocate for justice and criticize Israeli violence. 

The parashah for this week, Nitzavim-Vayelech, is a moment of generational transition. On the precipice of entering the promised land, “God said to Moses: The time is drawing near for you to die” (Devarim 31:14). In this new place, the Israelites will be without the guiding hand which for the past 40 years has told right from wrong, connected them with Divine sustenance, and brought them out of bondange. As the elder prepares for death, Mosheh addresses the next generation of leadership in two very different ways.

Mosheh publicly endorses Joshua to take on the role of leader and guide, saying “to him in the sight of all Israel: “Be strong and resolute, for it is you who shall go with this people into the land” (Devarim 31:7). This moment of generational transition displays confidence and trust. As his days draw towards death, Mosheh not only transfers his platform to a younger leader with full faith and support, but makes clear that the people should treat Joshua with the same respect that they rendered to Mosheh. 

Mosheh’s final address to the Levite priests, however, is harsh and cynical. Rather than an endorsement with confidence, Mosheh leaves the priests with rebuke and pessimism, saying “well I know how defiant and stiffnecked you are: even now, while I am still alive in your midst, you have been defiant toward GOD; how much more, then, when I am dead! (Devarim 31:27).”

What meaning can we make of these differences?

When confident endorsement of new thought and action will not come, those committed to creating a better way of life must inhabit and create roles of leadership without the support of previous generations. Sometimes the lack of elder-support for paradigm shifting action is a tragic loss, when loved ones or respected mentors reveal themselves as fixed to antiquated or bigoted ideas. We wish we could have brought them with us into the visioning of a more whole world, but they are unable to grow or shed their conditioning and habits. Other times, the ire of those in power is a badge of honor, and complete disavowal by establishment leaders is a measurement of the efficacy and justness of our politics and actions.

In our days, our rulers have chosen greed and violence. Rather than lead us through the wilderness to a better place, for far longer than 40 years, our politicians and economic elite have decimated our world for profit and power, and used our tradition as an excuse for their genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people. When will God say to the architects of brokenness and the systems they have built, “the time is drawing near for you to die?” We do not need and we will not have their endorsement to move towards a more whole world, the promised land. Indeed the chastisement and opposition politicians and power brokers will levy against resistance movements will be far harsher and more violent than Mosheh’s address to the Levite priests. 

Yet as this parsha demonstrates, moving forward without the support of ancestors and elders is not the only way. May we hope for less hostility in our transition from olam hazeh, this world of brokenness, to olam haba, the mended world which we are building. We come from lineages of leftist, queer, anti-Zionist old folks who have been fighting for a more whole world their whole lives. And may respected elders and loved ones who have been fixed in narrow places—our Holocaust survivor grandparents who believed in Zionism their whole lives but now see its genocidal intent, our childhood Rabbis who instilled within us life-affirming values but also sponsored birthright trips, our teachers, our friends, our community members—be able to cross over with us and build a world free from Zionism. And if like Mosheh they are unable to make that final crossing, may they bless our work of fighting against the brokenness in our world with chazak and ematz, strength and courage.