Parshas Netzavim
It’s All Worth It/Ohe Who Gives in, is Not Judged/Serving Hashem With Joy/ Mitzvah Gedolah Lihiyos B’Simcha/Even if a Person is Stained, The Bond Remains/ Uprooting Bad Thoughts/After Kibutz Galuyos, We Will do Teshuva/Hashem Does Teshuva With His Children/The Power of Teshuva/The Benefit of Thoughts of Teshuva/Menashe’s Teshuva/Achav’s Teshuva/Teshuva Through the Power of Shabbos/Enthusiastically Fulfilling His Will/Words Lead to Joy
אַ תֶּ ם נִ צָּ בִ ים הַ יּוֹם כֻּלְּ כֶם לִ פְ נֵי ה' אֱ לֹקֵ יכֶם רָ אשֵׁ יכֶם שִׁ בְ טֵ יכֶם וגו' כֹּ ל אִ ישׁ יִ שְׂ רָ אֵ ל (כט, ט)
You are all standing this day before Hashem, the leaders of your tribes, your elders... (29:9)
It Is All Worth It:
Rav Mordechai Chaim of Slonim zy”a (quoted in Sefer M’Zekeinim Esbonen) related that it once occurred that after the Yesod Veshoresh Ha’avodah of Slonim zy”a finished reading the tochacha in Parshas Ki Savo, he paced back and forth in his room and said, “It is all worth it. It is all worthwhile to be able to come to ‘you are all standing this day before Hashem’ – to be together with the Eibishter!”
One Who Gives In, Is Not Judged:
The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 26B) states: “On Rosh Hashanah, the more one lowers himself, the more it helps.” Sefer Imrei Pinchos quotes The Koritzer Rov zy”a as saying that the word “t’fei, more”, applies to both the words before it and the words after it – meaning that the pasuk is saying: “The more one lowers himself, the more it helps him.” The reason for this is because when one lowers himself and considers himself insignificant, he cannot be judged. If he thinks of himself as unimportant and views himself to be “nothing”, then there is nothing to judge.
The sefer brings another reason why the trait of lowering oneself is so powerful: The pasuk states (Devarim 7:7): “Not because you are more numerous than any nation did Hashem delight in you and choose you, for you are the least of all the nations.” The Gemara (Chullin 89A) explains: “Hashem said to Klal Yisroel: I desire you because even in times when I make you great, you lower yourself before Me. I gave greatness to Avrohom, and he said to me: I am dust and ash. I gave greatness to Moshe and Aharon, and they said: What are we? I gave greatness to Dovid, and he said: I am a worm and not a man. But the nations of the world are not like this. I gave greatness to Nimrod and he said: Let us go and build for ourselves a city. I gave greatness to Pharaoh, and he said: Who is Hashem? I gave greatness to Sancherev, and he said: Who are they among all the gods of the lands who saved their land from my hand, that Hashem should save Yerushalaim from my hand? I gave greatness to Nevuchadnetzar and he said: I will go up above the heights of the clouds. It was not enough for him and he wanted even more. I gave greatness to Chiram, king of Tzur, and he said: I have sat in a seat of G-d, in the heart of the seas.”
The Gemara can be understood as follows: A person is sometimes faced with times of pain and suffering. In these times, Hashem’s presence is hidden from him. At other times, a person is living the good life. He is blessed with much good and can see how Hashem is helping him openly. It is easy for him to see that Hashem is with him.
When a person is in a situation where he can openly feel that he is together with Hashem, it should bring him to recognize clearly how small and unimportant he is. He should feel the fear of Hashem and realize how lowly he is in comparison. This can be compared to a low-ranking minister who is invited to the king’s palace. Once he in the king’s presence, it should be clear to him that he is not really important at all when compared to the king.
On Rosh Hashanah, we all are meant to feel that we are close to Hashem. Therefore, the more we lower ourselves, the better. While we are in the presence of Hashem, we should realize how insignificant we are. This recognition will bring us even closer to Him.
It is added in the name of Rav Shmerel Varchivker zy”a (a student of the Baal Shem Tov) that during shalosh seudos it is decreed how a person’s entire week will go. For this reason, it is known as “the seudah of zayer anpin (the lower countenance)” – because one must lower himself at this time. Since he is now being judged for the entire week, it is in his interest to lower himself, as this is the way to avoid being judged and to merit a good verdict.
Rav Shmerel concludes: During shalosh seudos, one can pray to Hashem to be able to lower himself. Therefore, during the shalosh seudos before Rosh Hashanah one should ask Hashem to grant him the ability to lower himself on Rosh Hashanah in order to be able to feel insignificant and lowly in his own eyes, so that he should not be judged harshly.
Serving Hashem With Joy:
Sefer Divrei Shmuel explains that the word “Netzavim” means to stand with a straight posture, which he understands to mean that one should stand up straight, with strength and joy.
This teaches us that when a Jew strengthens himself, stands tall and is joyful no matter what circumstances he finds himself in, he is always “in front of Hashem.” A man like this is always standing close to Hashem. This is also seen from the pasuk in 1 Divrei Hayamim (16:27): “Strength and joy is in His place.” If someone has “strength and joy”, it is a sign that he is in “His place” – he is close to the place of Hashem. If one feels down and does not feel that he is succeeding in his learning and davening, he should still strengthen himself and try to be joyful. If he does so, he will be “before Hashem” as a result of his efforts.
One who is sad or depressed cannot reach this level. Unfortunately, some people think being depressed is part of serving Hashem. They choose to stew in sadness. About them, it is said (Bereishis 3:17): “With ‘sadness’ you shall eat all the days of your life.” Their depression will eat them up. They think their depression is a good thing and a means to serve Hashem, but nothing can grow from such behavior. Only “thorns and weeds will grow” from this (ibid:18).
Mitzvah Gedolah Lihiyos B’Simcha:
Rav Mordechai Chaim of Slonim zy”a asked: What is the proof that depression is an aveirah and joy is a mitzvah? Depression can grip a person for a full day straight and can last for years. Joy, however, can only be maintained if one works on himself. If one doesn’t put in the effort to be happy, his joy can disappear is seconds. The yeitzer hara does not allow a person to remain happy all the time, but he allows people to be sad all the time. From the fact that the yeitzer hara does not let people be happy, but does allow them to be sad, we can see that simcha is a mitzvah and sadness is an aveirah.
Even if a Person is Stained, The Bond Remains:
Sefer Kol Hakasuv L’Chaim (page 167) cites Rav Elchonon Halperin zt”l, Rov of Radmoshila, as relating that he heard from his grandfather, Rav Shmuel Engel zt”l, that he once was in Sanz for Shabbos Parshas Netzavim, on the day before the selichos of “Zechor Bris” of erev Rosh Hashanah.
The Sanzer Rov zy”a spoke during shalosh seudos for over two hours and said many incredible things that even the elder chasidim had never heard before and were unable to comprehend because his words were so deep. All they understood was that he was speaking on a higher plane.
He was able to understand that Rov quoted this pasuk and said that the last letters of “l’avrecha b’bris Hashem Elokecha” (to enter a covenant with Hashem) spell out the word “kesem”, stain. This indicates that even if a Jewish person is stained with sin, he is still bound with a covenant to Hashem.
Rav Engel added that the pasuk in Tehillim (7:9) states: “Judge me, Hashem, according to my righteousness and according to my innocence (kesami), which is upon me.” The word “kesami” can also be read to mean “a stain”, in which case the pasuk can be understood to be saying that whether one is righteous or stained, he can still ask Hashem to judge him for the good.
Uprooting Bad Thoughts:
The Bais Avrohom of Slonim zy”a (quoted in Sefer Sichos Kodesh) says a frightening explanation about how haughtiness can destroy a person.
He relates the follow story: There once lived a man who was very poor. In his old age, his wife bore him a son. A short while later, while the child was still a baby, his wife passed away. Several women offered to nurse the baby for free, and a rotation was set up in which a different woman nursed the baby each day of the week. Every day, the father would carry the baby to that day’s wetnurse.
As the child grew older, he began to learn Torah, and he ate his meals by different generous balhabatim every day. He continued to learn in cheder, and eventually blossomed into a successful young scholar. His father would still carry him every day to the place where he would eat his meal, and he would then carry him from there to his cheder to learn Torah.
As the years passed, the son grew into a great talmid chochom, while the father continued to travel from town to town, begging for his sustenance. The son soon married and was appointed to serve as Rov of a large city. When the father heard about his son’s new position, he went to visit him and see how he was faring. When he arrived in the city, he was concerned that his son would be embarrassed when people saw that his father is a beggar. Instead of going to see him right away, he waited until Friday night. He went to the shul and stood in the back, amongst the paupers. The gabbai offered to set him up with a place to eat the Shabbos seudah, but he refused. He remained standing there, waiting for his son to pass by.
When the Rov passed by this pauper, he recognized him as his father. However, he acted as if he didn’t know him and did not invite him to his home for the meal. The same thing happened on Shabbos morning. The father stood in a place where he knew the Rov would pass, but the son pretended that he did not know him.
After Minchah, when the Rov was headed home for shalosh seudos, he motioned to his father to follow him. His father walked behind him, but his son didn’t say a word to him. When they got to the Rov’s house, the poor man sat down by a corner of the table and ate the meal. After the seudah, when it got dark outside, the son motioned to the father to come with him. He walked with him to a place where no people were around on the outskirts of the city. Suddenly, he took hold of an ax and murdered him, r”l. He then went back to the city.
Soon thereafter, the son began to feel remorse. The Torah that was within him drew him to realize what a terrible thing he had done. He was overcome with grief for having killed his father who had devoted himself to him so much. He recognized that his own silly haughtiness had led him to be ashamed of his father, to the extent that he actually killed him.
He went to one of the Gedolei Hador and asked him how he could do teshuva for his terrible sin. The Gadol told him that his penance should be to go into the forest, find a small snake, place it into a container, and go into exile. He should never remain in the same place for more than one day and he should take part of everything he eats and give it to the snake. He should do this for seven years in a row. At the end of the seven years, he should open the container and let out the snake. The snake will then kill him.
The Gadol said that this would a fitting measure-for-measure punishment. His father had raised him and cared for him from his birth until he grew big, but he still had no mercy on him and murdered him in cold blood. So too, the snake would do the same to him. He would raise it and feed it from the time it was very small until it grew big, but it would still have no mercy on him and would kill him.
The Gadol added that in order to have a full atonement, in every place he went he should admit his sin in front of the entire community.
The Bais Avrohom would say: This entire awful sequence of events began because of the terrible middah of gaivah. The Rov thought it was unfitting for him to acknowledge that he had a father who was a shnorer. He should have immediately thrown this evil thought out of his head, but he allowed it to grow bigger and bigger until it overtook him and led him to do the despicable thing of murdering his own father.
The idea of how far gaivah can lead a person is found in this pasuk. It says that a person can “turn their heart”. They may have a foolish thought of haughtiness. Such thoughts must be uprooted from the source. If such ideas are not immediately uprooted, one can ultimately come to do the worst possible acts. As the pasuk says, they can even go to serve idols. Therefore, as soon as one has such thoughts, he must get rid of them completely.
After Kibutz Galuyos, We Will do Teshuva:
The Gemara in Megillah (29a) notes that the pasuk doesn’t say that Hashem will bring back your exiles; rather, it says that He will “return”. This teaches us that Hashem will return together with us from exile.
Sefer Divrei Dovid (Tchotkov, page 42) relates that Rav Shlomo Engel zt”l once traveled to spend a Shabbos in the summer with the Tchotkover Rebbe zy”a. After he returned to his hometown of Takei, he would often repeat what he witnessed during the Shabbos seudah.
The Rebbe was sitting at the table with a very intense expression on his face. His countenance was shining like a burning fire. Immediately after he washed his hands and ate a bit of challah, he turned to look at his shamash. He whispered into his ear to bring over a certain Yid.
The Shamash looked around. He scanned the entire crowd, but he did not see the man the Rebbe had asked for. He told the Rebbe that the man was not there.
The Rebbe told him to find out his whereabouts and bring the man over to him. The chasidim managed to locate the man, and he was brought to the Rebbe.
The man the Rebbe had asked for was extremely old. His face was wrinkled and swollen from old age. The Rebbe turned to him and asked, “Do you remember the Rov of Apta zy”a?”
The man answered that, indeed, he did remember the Apta Rov.
The Rebbe asked him, “Do you remember any divrei Torah that you heard him say?”
The man answered, “How could I remember anything like that? I was a just a little kid when I saw him!”
The Rebbe urged him to try to remember something. The man searched the recesses of his memory to try to think of something he had heard the Apta Rov say. Finally, he said that he recalled one thing he had heard the Apta Rov say at a tish.
This is what he said: The Gemara (ibid) says that the Shechinah will return from exile with Klal Yisroel. This is learned from the fact that the pasuk says the word “return”, rather than the word “bring back”. This teaches us that Yidden cannot return on their own. They cannot do teshuva without Hashem’s help. They need Hashem to return with them. We need Him to gather us together and redeem us. Only then will we be able to do teshuva.
Hashem Does Teshuva With His Children:
Sefer Zera Kodesh says on this pasuk: When a person does teshuva and regrets his aveiros, it creates a rectification in shomayim. We know that everything one does in this world has an effect Above. This is learned (Shlach, Shar Hagadol) from the pasuk (Tehillim 121:8): “Hashem is the shadow on my right hand.” When a person does an action, his shadow mimics him. So too, when a person does an action in this world, it is “mimicked” in the world above. The holy sefarim (Meor Einyaim Parshas Mattos, Kedushas Levi Parshas Metzorah) use this same concept to explain the Mishnah in Avos (2:1) that says: “Know what is above you.” They explain that “what is above” is “from you”. Everything depends on a person’s actions because whatever he does has an effect in shomayim.
Therefore, when a person does teshuva in this world, it causes a teshuva to take place Above. This is as is stated in the Gemara (Brachos 32A) that when Klal Yisroel do teshuva, Hashem regrets (so to speak) the fact that He created the yeitzer hara.
This can be understood with a mashal: A father gave his beloved son a sharp knife to play with. He was happy to see his son having fun and playing with the gift. Unfortunately, the child was not careful. He took the cover off of the knife and cut his arm with it, which caused him a lot of pain.
When the father saw that his son was in pain, he felt very bad. Not only was he upset that his son was hurt, he was even more saddened by the fact that he had caused his son’s suffering by giving him the knife. While his intentions were to do something nice for his son, he still felt bad that he had done something that caused his son to get hurt.
Hashem created the yeitzer hara for our benefit. However, a person has to be very careful when he deals with it. If he can keep it covered up and overcome it, it will be of great benefit to him. But if he lets it become uncovered, it can hurt him greatly.
When Hashem will see how much pain the yeitzer hara causes His children, He will regret creating it. He will say, so to speak: What have I done? I made something that is hurting My children!
When we do teshuva and show how pained we are by our aveiros, He will feel bad and “do teshuva” for making the yeitzer hara. This will weaken the power of the yeitzer hara and ultimately destroy it completely. When a person does teshuva, his sins are erased completely. So too, when Hashem “does teshuva” the yeitzer hara will be completely erased. This is what the Gemara means when it says that Hashem will return with us. When we do teshuva, He too will return with us and redeem us from the yeitzer hara and from any other power that causes us pain.
The Power of Teshuva:
Rabenu Efraim, one of the Rishonim, writes: “And you shall return until Hashem and listen to His voice because Hashem is a G-d of compassion. (Devarim 4:31)” Nothing can stand in the way of teshuva. It reaches Hashem’s throne of glory (Yoma 86A). The pasuk is saying that when one does teshuva, he can reach “until Hashem” – until His throne. This is how the Targum Yonason translates the pasuk: When you do teshuva, your teshuva will reach the throne of glory of Hashem.
The Rambam writes (Hilchos Teshuva 7:6): Teshuva is great because it brings a person close to the Shechinah, as is stated (Hoshea 14:2): “Return, Yisroel, until Hashem.” It also says (Yirmiyahu 4:1): “Hashem says: If Yisroel returns, they will return to Me” – meaning if they do teshuva, they will connect to Him.
The Benefit of Thoughts of Teshuva:
It is stated in Pesikta Rabasi (Perek 45): Rabenu Hakadosh said: The power of teshuva is great. When a person thinks in his heart that he wants to do teshuva, he immediately ascends. He does not go up only 10 miles or 20 or even 100. Rather, he goes up the distance it would take 500 years to walk (as is stated in Pesachim 94B). He does not reach only the first...
