Every year we read Parshas Nitzavim on the Shabbos before Rosh Hashanah. Implied is that Parshas Nitzavim addresses the themes of Rosh Hashanah, and reading it enables us to experience the holiday properly.
In the first verses we read that the entire Jewish nation assembled to enter a covenant with G-d. The Torah mentions specifically that from the leaders to the water-drawers, all of Israel stood united as one—“all of you.”
What is the purpose of a covenant? If two friends are concerned that their relationship might sour at some point, they may enter into a covenant—a pact to remain loyal to each other forever, even if future events or discoveries about one another cause them to lose favor in each other’s eyes.
This, essentially, is the theme of Rosh Hashanah: a renewal of the covenant between G-d and the Jewish people. On Rosh Hashanah, when our love for G-d is strong (after our heartfelt teshuvah during the month of Elul), we commit ourselves to G-d unconditionally. We pray that G-d will enter this covenant with us, committing Himself to us unconditionally, even if later in the year our love may not be as obvious.
The covenant of Rosh Hashanah requires, however, that all members of the Jewish nation unite as one, just as the Jewish people did—men, women and children, from the elders to the converts—in Parshas Nitzavim. For in order to evoke G-d’s unconditional commitment to us, we too must behave in a manner that transcends any reason or conditions. We do this by showing our sincere love and respect for all our fellow Jews, despite our understandable differences.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 2, pp. 399–400
