This week we read the double portion of Netzavim and Vayelech – both of which contain very timely messages for the month of Elul.
As we have seen over the past weeks, Sefer Devarim can be read as one extended speech that Moshe delivers before the Jewish people enter the land of Israel. In Parshat Netzavim, Moshe reminds the Jewish people that they must heed to the words of the Torah in order that they live a long life:
Behold, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil (Devarim 30:15)
Rashi explains this enigmatic verse by telling us that if one does good, then he will be granted life; but if one chooses to do evil, he will receive death.
Several verses later, we find a similar statement with slight, but notable differences:
I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. You shall choose life, so that you and your offspring will live (30:19)
The words of this command are striking. Firstly, why does Moshe repeat the message that he delivered only a few verses earlier? There must be a new lesson to be learned from these words! Moreover, according to Rashi’s interpretation of the first verse, it should read choose good and Hashem will give you long life. As we read these dramatic words, we must wonder - if it is God that determines who lives, what does the Torah mean when it tells man to not simply to choose good, but to choose life? Is it God or is it man that chooses life?
Interestingly, a similar question arises when reading the Rosh Hashanah liturgy. In one of the most poignant prayers of the Rosh Hashanah service, U’netaneh Tokef, we recite the following words:
It is true that You alone are the One Who judges, proves, knows, and bears witness…You will open the Book of Chronicles - it will read itself, and everyone's signature is in it…On Rosh Hashanah will be inscribed and on Yom Kippur will be sealed how many will pass from the earth…who will live and who will die
With these words we are reminded that God it is God who opens the Book of Life on Rosh Hashanah and judges who will live and who will die. And yet, at the very same time, we say that the book will read itself, that man signs his own name into the book that Hashem opens for us on this day. Again, we might ask: Is it God or is it man that ultimately decides whose names are written into the book of life?
In answering this question, we can gain a better understanding of our goals and our mindset on Rosh Hashanah and the days leading up to the new year. As Rav Kirzner once noted, man often makes the mistake of thinking that the pen of judgment rests in God’s hand alone on Rosh Hashanah, rather than realizing that Hashem opens the book and puts the pen in our hand. On Rosh Hashanah, we become responsible for writing ourselves in the book of life; we become partners with Hashem in determining what lies in our future. We know that we do not actually sign our names into the book of life - so what can we do to ensure that our names are signed in the right book?
The Arizal explains that on Rosh Hashanah - the commemoration of the final step of creation – Hashem decides whether the world should be created anew each year. The decision is made by Hashem’s determination that man has the ability to accomplish the goals for which the world was first created. On this day, Hashem judges us not for actions that have taken place already in the past, but for what could be in the future. Hashem judges us not for actions that have taken place in the physical realm we live in, but for something that lies beneath the surface - our desire to dedicate our future to becoming a partner in fulfilling God’s mission in this world. As the well-known verse in this week’s Torah portion tell us:
The hidden things belong to the Lord, our God, but the revealed things apply to us (Devarim 19:28)
On the day that we are judged for what is hidden, internal and known only to God, it is up to each of us to truly feel that we are ready and able to dedicate ourselves to working towards achieving the greater task and purpose for which Hashem placed us in His world. If we are ready and willing to be God's partner, so to speak, then certainly He will grant us life and opportunity to fulfill these goals. If we are able to reach a point on Rosh Hashanah that we are in touch with our internal drive to fulfill our potential and our purpose in this world, then we have essentially written ourselves in the book of life.
Indeed in Parshat Vayelech, we see that when one chooses to be partners with God, he is granted a long and complete life. In this parsha we learn that Moshe dies after 120 years. The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 11a) tells us that Moshe died on the same day he was born as a sign of his righteousness. Moshe was a model of someone who lived a complete life of not one day less than 120 years - because Moshe dedicated each moment of his life to the service of God and the fulfillment of the role Hashem determined for him in this world.
It is not expected that we might be on the level of Moshe Rabbeinu to be able to dedicate every moment of our life with the proper mindset of fulfilling our given task. In the opening lines of Parshat Netzavim we learn that no matter how distanced we may have become from fulfilling our role as a partner with Hashem, we are always given the opportunity to reconnect and reunite with Hashem:
You are all standing this day before the Lord, your God the leaders of your tribes, your elders and your officers, every man of Israel (Devarim 29:9)
Rashi, among others, explains that the word hayom – this day – is included in order to show the Jewish people that although they have caused Hashem to be angry time and again throughout their travels and travails in the desert, Hashem still gives us the opportunity to stand before Him. The Zohar explains that the word today refers to Rosh Hashanah – a day on which we stand before Hashem in prayer and supplication. It is not a day of fear, regret, and distance - but a day of closeness and unification with Hashem. If Rosh Hashanah was a time in which Hashem judged us solely on our past and the impact we have made on the world over the years, it is true that many of us would find our sins outweigh our good deeds, and our future would look quite ominous. However, on Rosh Hashanah Hashem does not simply judge us for who we were, but instead He asks of us on this day who we want to be.
Our avodah over the next days leading up to Rosh Hashanah is to ask ourselves how much we are willing to dedicate ourselves to our higher and greater purpose in God's world - to fulfill God's commands, to develop ourselves, and to do all that we can to better the world around us. As the opening lines of the parshiot go - we must first stand in the present moment before God (Netzavim hayom lifnei Hashem), in order to walk forward and onward towards fulfilling a meaningful and complete life as Moshe Rabbeinu did (Vayelech Moshe...ben meah ve'esrim shanah).
On the day of Rosh Hashanah, we must not dwell in the past. Instead, may we feel and express our choice in the present moment to live complete and meaningful lives. Once we have determined that we are ready for such dedication, then we are ready to focus the next 10 days in the right mindset and with the right intentions for the future. It is then that we will be able to do teshuva not simply to rid ourselves of our past mistakes, but to use our past as a springboard for growth in the future that we have chosen for ourselves. May we all sign ourselves in the book of life and may God ultimately seal our names each year in the book of life each year ad meah ve'esrim (until 120)!
SHABBAT SHALOM, Taly
