Nitzavim includes some of the most fundamental values of the Jewish faith. In Deuteronomy 29:9-12 we read: “You stand this day, all of you, before the Eternal One your God: your tribal heads, your elders, your officials.

And every Israelite man; your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp; From woodchopper to water-drawer - to enter into the covenant of your God Adonai, which your God Adonai is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions; in order to establish you this day as God’s people and in order to be your God, as promised you and as sworn to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Thus Moses tells the assembled people that God’s covenant speaks to them and to all of the generations who will follow. God warns the Israelites that they will be punished if they act idolatrously, the way the inhabitants of the other nations do. Moses reassures the people that God will not forsake them and that they can attain blessings by following God’s commandments