A Jew Is a Jew, No Matter How Far
D'var Torah By: Audrey R. Korotkin for ReformJudaism.org
In Parashat Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20), Moses is coming to the end of his oration, the end of his leadership, and the end of his life. His last sermon is brief, as he calls the people to attention; reminds them not to follow the idolatrous ways of the Canaanites among whom they will dwell; and promises them that, even if they should stray, God will take the penitent back in love:
"Then the Eternal your God will restore (v'shav) your fortunes and take you back in love. [God] will bring you together (v'shav) again from all the peoples where the Eternal your God has scattered you." (Deuteronomy 30:3)
The English translation found in The Torah a Modern Commentary, Revised Edition1 does not quite capture the repetition of the word for "restore" or "return." But looking at the Hebrew, the duplication is a puzzlement. The Meshekh Hokhmah, commentary of Rabbi Meir Simhah ha-Kohen of Dvinsk (late 19th century Russia), gives us this interpretation:
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