Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Nitzavim/0/en

Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Nitzavim

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What Brings Forgiveness?

Do confession and repentance necessarily bring atonement in their wake? In the curses of Devarim 31, the Torah describes how, after an initial punishment, the people will confess their sins. Surprisingly, however, the text tells us that this leads not to forgiveness, but redoubled punishment! How is it that Hashem rejects the nation's repentance?

• While Ramban suggests that the people's repentance was not sincere, R. Avraham Saba asserts that the text does not really mean that Hashem continued to punish them. Do these reinterpretations conform to the simple meaning of the verses? What support can you bring for either position? What marks repentance as sincere or insincere?
• Ralbag prefers to maintain the literal reading of the text, and claim that the assumption that repentance must avert punishment is simply wrong. Do you find this claim theologically troubling? Why or why not? For elaboration, see Repentance Rejected.