Nitzavim
Parashat Nitzavim describes a ceremony through which the people of Israel will “enter into the covenant of Adonai [their] God.” It is a powerful ritual, with its recited litany of curses for when the Israelites abandon God and blessings for when they return faithfully, but it is strangely redundant. The people of Israel already affirmed their commitment to God’s covenant before the revelation at Mount Sinai. Why is Moses orchestrating a second entry into a covenantal relationship that already exists?
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