In this parashah we read about the special event that Am Yisrael was instructed to hold upon entering the Land – “And you should give the brachah on Har Grizim and the curse on Har Eival.” (Devarim 11:29)
At this event, everyone in the nation who entered the Land gathered to forge a covenant to fulfill the mitzvos of the Torah. The Levi’im stood in the valley between Har Grizim and Har Eival, and announced the brachos that would be bestowed upon those who fulfill the mitzvos of the Torah, and the curses that would be cast upon those who, chalilah, transgress the mitzvos.
Twelve brachos corresponding to twelve curses were said at the event, and those were joined by one call that resounded no less than twenty-four times from the mouths of the nation that participated: “V’amar kol ha’am amen.” By answering amen, the shevatim announced their faith in Hashem and His Torah, and by doing so, they took upon themselves to fulfill the Torah as stipulated.
If until now, we knew about the intense holiness and lofty level of answering amen, if until now we heard about the segulah and the many secrets it contains, in this parashah we discover that specifically by answering amen, they took upon themselves to remain faithful to Hashem and the Torah. Only after they took upon themselves the yoke of mitzvos by answering amen were the gates of Eretz Yisrael opened to them and they were zocheh to all the good it contains.
The mitzvah of “v’amar kol ha’am amen” in this parashah was a mitzvah for that time, and it obligated them to answer amen only after the brachos and curses said at that time. But hundreds of years later, Dovid Hamelech repeated the directive (Tehillim 106:48) and this time it was an instruction to anyone who hears a brachah: “Baruch Hashem Elokei Yisrael min ha’olam v’ad ha’olam – v’amar kol ha’am amen.”
I think that the words of the passuk “v’amar kol ha’am amen” teaches us about the special emphasis of this mitzvah: The whole nation, from old to young, were commanded to answer amen, without exception. The fact that amen belongs to the whole nation is really one of its prominent characteristics. From the time we became a nation, to this day, the cry of emunah and acceptance of the yoke of Malchus Shamayim has been fluent on everyone’s lips – men, women and children, talmidei chachamim and simpler people, those who observe mitzvos and those who unfortunately do not yet merit to do so.
Let us all strengthen ourselves, from old to young, in answering amen after each and every brachah, and surely the zchus will advocate for us that we should have a good and sweet year.
Good Shabbos
Yaakov Dov Marmurstein
