Nitzavim 30:3–4 · unit 2

Parashas Nitzavim · Passukim 30:3–4

The Complete Passuk

וְשָׁ֨ב יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ אֶת־שְׁבוּתְךָ֖ וְרִחֲמֶ֑ךָ וְשָׁ֗ב וְקִבֶּצְךָ֙ מִכׇּל־הָ֣עַמִּ֔ים… אִם־יִהְיֶ֥ה נִֽדַּחֲךָ֖ בִּקְצֵ֣ה הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם מִשָּׁ֗ם יְקַבֶּצְךָ֙ יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ וּמִשָּׁ֖ם יִקָּחֶֽךָ׃

Then Hashem your God will return your captivity and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples… If your outcasts are at the ends of the heavens, from there Hashem your God will gather you, and from there He will take you.

Chabad.org — 30:3–4

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to the absolute reach of the gathering: even from the ends of the heavens.

Core Text
אִם יִהְיֶה נִדַּחֲךָ בִּקְצֵה הַשָּׁמַיִם מִשָּׁם יְקַבֶּצְךָ יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ — אֵין מֶרְחָק, לֹא גַּשְׁמִי וְלֹא רוּחָנִי, שֶׁמּוֹצִיא אָדָם מִתַּחַת יַד הַקִּבּוּץ.

English: “If your outcasts are at the ends of the heavens, from there Hashem your God will gather you” — no distance, physical or spiritual, places a person beyond the reach of the ingathering.

In context: The promise of kibbutz galuyos is total. Even the farthest extremity cannot prevent return.

Type of Learning

Custom (emphatic expansion: no extremity places one beyond the gathering).

What Is Learned

The verse removes every claim that distance or extremity can prevent return.