R' Moshe Shilat - Shabbat Bi-shabato
The Baal Shem Tov taught:
"'You are standing today' [Devarim 29:9] – 'Today' means Rosh Hashanah, which is Judgement Day, and you are standing. You stand strong, which means that you are exonerated in your judgement. This is the blessing of the Holy One, Blessed be He, on the Shabbat when you would normally recite the "Birchat Hachodesh" for the seventh month, which is a sworn source of abundance for all of Yisrael throughout the year for all of Yisrael."
In this week's portion, which is always read before Rosh Hashanah, the Torah continues to take note of the wondrous mutual responsibility that is typical of the nation of Yisrael, between all the souls and the various population types – from "your heads and your elders" and down to "those who draw your water." [29:10]. Everybody stands together. All of Yisrael are one perfect "stand," and everybody can be compared to a specific limb which is needed by all the others. The foot needs the head to guide it, but the head also needs the foot, which brings it from place to place. When a Jew mixes in together with all the other Jews, he receives a promise of a blessing for the coming year, since clearly the community of Yisrael as a whole is worthy of being written down and sealed for a good life. When a person goes out beyond his own personal limits and is included as part of Yisrael, he is certainly a tool for providing a blessing for the nation.
Entering for an Effort
On the day that he died, Moshe gathers the nation of Yisrael "to pass into the covenant... which your G-d is making with you today, in order to establish you today as a nation for Him, and He will be a G-d for you" [29:11-12].
This statement is quite remarkable. Yisrael became a nation at the time of the giving of the Torah, certainly not "today" – on the last day of Moshe's life! It is true that in the portion of Ki Tavo (and other places) where the phrase "today you became a nation" appears, Rashi explains that "every day you should approach the matter as if the covenant was made today." However, in this week's portion Rashi gives another explanation.
Commenting on the words "in order to establish you today," Rashi writes: "He entered so strongly, to make an effort to establish you before Him as a nation." What is it that specifically happened "today" and not at another time? The Rebbe of Lubavitch gives a wonderful explanation of this matter. The fact that we were chosen as the nation of G-d is indeed something that happened when we received the Torah, and a covenant about this was made at the time. We are the nation of G-d, and He will never replace us with any other nation. The innovation of this week's Torah portion is that the Holy One, Blessed be He, "came in" and made a special effort – to establish us as existing in front of him. Not only to "belong to Him" but to be "before Him." That is the in-depth meaning of the first two words in the portion – "You are standing... in front of your G-d."
A Huge Blessing
The Torah notes for us in this week's portion that G-d works hard. "He entered strongly to make an effort," so that we will stand before Him, choose the good, and serve Him. This not only means that no matter what happens we will "belong to him," since this is the covenant that was made in the past, at Mount Sinai! The innovation here is that we will continue to be "before G-d" all the time, that we will be a nation close to Him. G-d raises us up so that we will be successful in serving Him. We are His nation, and we have a close relationship with Him.
According to the Baal Shem Tov, the word "today" is Rosh Hashanah. At the beginning of every new year, the Holy One, Blessed be He, takes the trouble to labor on our behalf and to lift us up in front of him. Our task is to accept His yoke and to become His nation. In this way, we will receive the huge blessing of G-d, and we will be privileged to enjoy a good year filled with sweetness, including physical and spiritual abundance within the community of Yisrael. Amen!
