Nitzavim 30:12 · unit 2

Parashas Nitzavim · Passuk 30:12

The Complete Passuk

לֹ֥א בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲלֶה־לָּ֤נוּ הַשָּׁמַ֙יְמָה֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃

It is not in the heavens, that you should say: Who will go up for us to the heavens and take it for us and make us hear it, that we may do it?

Chabad.org — 30:12

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to Eruvin 55a.

Sefaria — Eruvin 55a

E-Daf image — Eruvin 55a

Core Text
רָבָא אָמַר: לֹא תִּמָּצֵא בְּמִי שֶׁמַּגְבִּיהַּ דַּעְתּוֹ עָלֶיהָ כַּשָּׁמַיִם. וְרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן אָמַר: לֹא תִּמָּצֵא בְּגַסֵּי הָרוּחַ.

English: Rava said: It will not be found in one who elevates his mind over it like the heavens. Rabbi Yochanan said: It will not be found among the arrogant (gasei haruach).

On the daf: Although the Torah is near, it remains closed to the person who approaches it with arrogance — whether the arrogance of intellectual elevation above tradition or ordinary haughtiness that refuses to learn from others. Humility is the prerequisite for finding what is already near.

Type of Learning

Custom (character requirement derived from “not in the heavens”: inaccessible to haughtiness).

What Is Learned

The Torah is not found with the arrogant; humility is required to receive what is already near.