Nitzavim-Vayeilech: 5784 - "You stand today, all of you, before Hashem your G-d": Moshe Rabbeinu would always speak first to the heads of the tribes – so why here does he speak 'to every man of Israel'?…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please.

00:02 Speaker 2 “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your G-d.” The Zohar says: “You are standing today.” What does “today” mean? It refers to Rosh Hashanah, the day of great judgment. And “you are standing” means that you endure and emerge victorious in judgment. Why? Because when all of you are together in unity, then you stand firm and emerge victorious in judgment. There is a beautiful explanation from the holy Alshich. Usually, when Moshe Rabbeinu spoke to the Jewish people, he would first speak to the heads of the tribes. It says, “Moshe called the heads of the tribes,” and afterward he would speak to the Jewish people. Here it says, “Moshe called all of Israel.” Moshe Rabbeinu speaks to all the Jewish people. Why does he speak here to all of Israel, rather than to the heads of the tribes? The holy Alshich explains: because here, “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your G-d.” When the Jewish people stand before Hashem your G-d, there are no differences of rank. Your heads, your tribes, your elders, your water drawers, your woodcutters—they are all the same. In fact, someone called one of your heads or elders, someone regarded as the tzaddik of the generation, may be on a lower level as seen from Above. And the one who cuts your wood or draws your water may be more important as seen from Above. As the Gemara says about someone who came from the World of Truth, he said, “I saw those who were high below, and those who were low above.” From the perspective Above, things look different. So here Moshe Rabbeinu speaks to all of Israel: because you stand before Hashem your G-d, there is no special standing here for your heads or your tribes over your water drawers. Everyone is together. The Midrash says, and Rashi brings it, that when the Jewish people heard ninety-eight curses, their faces went pale, and they said, “Who can withstand these? How can we withstand

02:32 Speaker 2 such curses?” Moshe began to comfort them: “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your G-d.” Despite all these curses, you still stand before Hashem your G-d. He was, as it were, reassuring them: Don’t worry. But as we said, what was the purpose of all those rebukes and curses? To rouse the Jewish people to follow the path of Torah and mitzvos, to awaken in them fear of Heaven. So when their faces went pale and they were shaken by all the curses, Moshe Rabbeinu comforted them. What was he trying to do? Lessen the impact of the rebuke? That was its very purpose! Why did Moshe Rabbeinu comfort them? The explanation is this: ordinarily, when you want to admonish a simple person, how do you awaken fear of Heaven in him? You warn him about rebuke and punishments: “Be careful. If you don’t do this, you’ll receive this punishment and that punishment and another punishment.” But with a thoughtful person, a person who understands, you cannot threaten him with punishments, because that is not what moves him. You need to persuade him and explain to him how good Hashem is—to bring him not to fear of punishment, but to a higher level, fear born of shame. The Jewish people said: If Moshe Rabbeinu is rebuking us with such curses, that must mean we are on a very low level, and he thinks rebuke and curses are what will move us. Yet they were a generation of understanding! And Moshe Rabbeinu threatens them with such punishments. Justice. Sin. Curses. That made their faces go pale. Moshe Rabbeinu told them: No. “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your G-d.” This generation truly is a generation of understanding, and you stand before Hashem your G-d on a high level. But “it is not with you alone”—not just with you—“that I am making this covenant,” but also with those who are here and those

04:46 Speaker 2 who are not here—for future generations as well. In future generations, there may be generations whom the only way to persuade and motivate to follow the path of Torah will be through warnings of punishment. That is how Moshe comforted them. He did not want to lessen the fear of Heaven he had awakened in them; he was telling them that these words were also for future generations. And we’ll conclude with Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, who was among the greatest advocates for the Jewish people. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev made this claim before Hakadosh Boruch Hu: You wrote in the Torah, “Sound the shofar at the new moon,” and “It shall be a day of sounding the shofar for you.” For thousands of years, the Jewish people have sounded the shofar every year. And how many blasts do they sound? One hundred. We ask You for one blast. We ask: “Sound the great shofar for our freedom.” For how many years, for how many thousands of years, have we been asking You: Sound the great shofar! Surely, surely You should fulfill this. May it be Hashem’s will that He hear the blasts of our shofar. Amen.