PARSHAT NITZAVIM 5785
You are all standing today before Hashem, your G-d: your leaders, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel.
The Zohar HaKadosh writes, wherever we find the word הַיּוֹם, it is in reference to the day of Rosh Hashanah, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu stands to judge the world. Before we delve into the topic of Rosh Hashanah, let's first touch on a small point in the Parsha.
Why is Parshat Nitzavim juxtaposed with the curses of last week’s Parsha? This question is asked by Rashi and others. He answers, it is because when Bnei Yisrael heard the “one-hundred curses minus two” (98), besides the forty-nine found in Parshat Bechukotai, their faces turned pale, and they said, "Who can possibly withstand these?!" Moshe Rabbeinu comforted them, "You are all standing here today! Despite having angered Hakadosh Baruch Hu many times, He has not destroyed you! You are still standing before Him."
The question arises, it seems Moshe did something contradictory here. He frightened Am Yisrael with ninety-eight curses, and an additional forty-nine in Bechukotai – a total of 147 curses, and after they were terrified, he told them: "You have angered Hakadosh Baruch Hu many times, and He has not destroyed you, so be calm." Seemingly, this is incomprehensible; if you want to instill fear in them, why then reassure them?!
The Maggid Mi’Dubno provides a wonderful parable for this situation, that of a king whose son became very ill; the child lay in bed with a high fever and refused to eat anything. All the doctors tried to understand the illness, but to no avail – none of the experts could find a cure for his illness! "Listen," the experts told the king, "there is one great expert in the city of Vilna, perhaps you should summon him, and he will find a cure for your son's illness!" The king sent messengers to that expert: "I will pay you generously – just heal my son!" The expert arrived, examined the child, and told the king: "Your Majesty, I found the problem! Your child has a stomach inflammation, and in order for him to recover, he needs to expel the inflammation; if he doesn’t expel it, there will be no choice but to perform surgery on him." The king asked: "And how do you cause him to expel the inflammation?" The expert responded: "If he vomits several times, it will cause the inflammation to come out." The king then asked: "And how do you make him vomit?!" The expert had a plan: “I will prescribe pills for him to swallow, and within a few hours, when blood comes out in his vomiting, we’ll know he’s healing!"
The king then informed the expert: "Listen, besides falafel balls, my son refuses to swallow any pills!" "There is no other option – only pills!" "Alright..." The doctor takes out his prescription pad and starts writing – "30 pills of this type... 40 pills of that type... 50 pills of another type..." The king sees him writing this all out and asks: "Tell me, who are all these pills for?!" "For whom?! For your son!" "Maybe you didn’t hear me clearly – my son refuses to put anything in his mouth except falafel balls!" "I heard – but if you want him to recover, he has no choice but to take the pills!"
The doctor finishes writing all the prescriptions and the king immediately sends one of his servants to the pharmacy to pick up the medications; after a few hours, the servant returns to the king with two baskets full! Shocked by the sight of all these pills, the king exclaimed: "How will he swallow all this?!" "I've heard you already – let me work!" said the doctor; the doctor then takes a mortar and starts crushing all the pills. After finishing crushing all the pills, he starts spreading all the powder around the patient's head; while tilted to the side, the patient starts inhaling the powder – and after five minutes, the first vomiting! "Great, it's starting to work!" And so, another round, and then another, and another... until all what needed to come out came out! The doctor then explained to the king: "After you told me he wouldn't be willing to swallow pills, I understood there was no choice but to crush all the medication for him!"
The Maggid Mi’Dubno says, if Bnei Yisrael had fear, there’d be no need for curses. They were told: וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל מָה ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ שֹׁאֵל מֵעִמָּךָ כִּי אִם לְיִרְאָה אֶת ה' אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ. And now, Yisrael, what is Hashem, your G-d, asking of you, other than to fear Hashem, your G-d. However, since Hakadosh Baruch Hu saw they were not afraid, all these curses were necessary. But does Bnei Yisrael fear this? Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: "That is what I want – because if they had fear, there’d be no need for all the curses!"
Chazal say, אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם – one of the ways to merit in judgment is through fear of judgment, whereas the opposite can be dangerous: בִּלְבָבוֹ לֵאמֹר שָׁלוֹם יִהְיֶה לִּי כִּי בִּשְׁרִרוּת לִבִּי אֵלֵךְ וְהִתְבָּרֵךְ... לֹא יֹאבֶה ה' סְלֹחַ לוֹ. He will bless himself in his heart, saying, 'I will have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart... Hashem will not be willing to forgive him!
If a person enters Yom HaDin – the Day of Judgment, calm and peaceful, the Torah says this is the worst thing that could be. One must not enter Yom HaDin complacently, saying: "What could be bad for me? I haven't changed in sixty years, so why should it get any worse now?!" Therefore, one of the ways to merit in judgment is when a person fears Yom HaDin. The very fear of this day shows recognition of the King of the Universe, who sits in judgment and judges every creature.
I would now like to delve into the Avodah of the shofar, and into the depth of the Rosh Hashanah Avodah.
The Power and Meaning of the Shofar
Chazal say, the acronym from שֹׁרֶשׁ פֹּרֶה רֹאשׁ וְלַעֲנָה – a root producing gall and bitter fruit, spell shofar. We must know that the reason we blow the shofar is simply because Hakadosh Baruch Hu commanded it – as the Gemara says (Rosh Hashanah 16a). Another thing we must know is that as long as we have not yet blown the shofar, Hakadosh Baruch Hu manages the world with Din – judgment and not with Rachamim – mercy, as the Midrash teaches (Vayikra Rabbah 29:3):
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Naḥman began: G-d ascends with a blast, the Lord with the sound of a shofar.” When Hakadosh Baruch Hu sits and ascends on the throne of justice, He ascends in justice. What is the source? “G-d [Elokim] ascends with a blast.” When Israel take their shofars and sound them before Hakadosh Baruch Hu, He rises from the throne of justice and sits on the throne of mercy, as it is written: “The Lord with the sound of a shofar.” When? In the seventh month.
Rabbi Yoshiya said: It is written: “Happy are the people who know the blast.” Are there no nations of the world who know how to sound a blast? How many horns do they have? How many trumpets do they have? How many bugles do they have? Yet you say: “Happy are the people who know the blast”? It is, rather, that they know how to appease their Creator with the blast. He rises from His throne of justice and becomes filled with mercy toward them and transforms the attribute of justice to the attribute of mercy. When? In the seventh month.
Rabbotai, what is the ‘enticement’ in the blowing of the shofar, and why, if a non-Jew takes a shofar and blows it, does it not 'entice' Hakadosh Baruch Hu?
Another question: The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 16a) asks why we blow with a ram's horn, and answers that Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: תִּקְעוּ לְפָנַי בְּשׁוֹפָר שֶׁל אַיִל, כְּדֵי שֶׁאֶזְכּוֹר לָכֶם עֲקֵידַת יִצְחָק בֶּן אַבְרָהָם, וּמַעֲלֶה אֲנִי עֲלֵיכֶם כְּאִילּוּ עֲקַדְתֶּם עַצְמְכֶם לְפָנַי. Blow before Me with a ram's horn so that I will remember for you Akeidat Yitzchak, the son of Avraham, and I will consider it as if you bound yourselves before Me.
Rabbotai, what is inherent in the blowing of the shofar, for we are not performing any action other than hearing its sound?
The Midrash (Tanchuma Vayeira, 23) says, Avraham said to Hakadosh Baruch Hu: “Ribbono Shel Olam, just as I had in my heart what to answer You and say to You, yesterday You said to me that ‘through Yitzchak your seed will be called,’ and now You say to me to offer him there as a Korban, and I suppressed my inclination and did not answer You (in objection). So too, when the children of Yitzchak sin and fall into trouble, remember for them Akeidat Yitzchak and consider it before You as if his ashes are heaped upon the altar, and forgive them and redeem them from their troubles.”
The Midrash continues – Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Avraham: “You have said your piece, and I will say Mine. In the future, the children of Yitzchak will sin before Me, and I will judge them on Rosh Hashanah. However, if they seek for Me to search for merit for them and to remember for them Akeidat Yitzchak, they should blow before Me with the horn of this ram.” Avraham asked what the shofar is, and Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him: “Turn around.” Immediately, Avraham lifted his eyes and saw a ram caught in the thicket by its horns – one of the ten things created at twilight during Creation. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “They shall blow before Me with the horn of a ram, and I will save them and redeem them from their sins.”
וַיִּשָּׂא אַבְרָהָם אֶת עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה אַיִל אַחַר נֶאֱחָז בַּסְּבַךְ בְּקַרְנָיו – What is the meaning of אַחַר – after? The Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah, 56:9) says: After all, Yisrael are caught in sins and entangled in troubles, and in the end they will be redeemed with the horn of a ram: וַה' אֱ-לֹהִים בַּשּׁוֹפָר יִתְקָע – And Hashem Elokim will blow the shofar. All year long, Yisrael are caught in sins and entangled in troubles, and on Rosh Hashanah they take a shofar and blow it, and they are remembered before Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and He forgives them, and in the end, they will be redeemed with the horn of a ram.
If so, we would like to understand what is special about the shofar that all these salvations are said about it and linked to it. Another idea is brought in the words of the Mishna, as they appear in the Gemara:
In four periods the world is judged: on Pesach for the grain, on Shavuot for the fruits of the tree, on Sukkot for the water, and a person is judged on Rosh Hashanah and his decree is sealed on Yom Kippur. The Gemara then discusses these times. Why did the Torah say to bring the Omer on Pesach? Because Pesach is the time of grain. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “Bring before Me the Omer on Pesach so that the grain in the fields will be blessed for you.” And why did the Torah say to bring the two loaves on Shavuot? Because Shavuot is the time of the fruits of the tree. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “Bring before Me the two loaves on Shavuot so that the fruits of the tree will be blessed for you.” And why did the Torah say to pour water on Sukkot? Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: “Pour water before Me on Sukkot so that the rains of the year will be blessed for you.” Finally, with regards to our focus, Hakadosh Baruch Hu said:
וְאִמְרוּ לְפָנַי בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה מַלְכִיּוֹת זִכְרוֹנוֹת וְשׁוֹפָרוֹת. מַלְכִיּוֹת – כְּדֵי שֶׁתַּמְלִיכוּנִי עֲלֵיכֶם, זִכְרוֹנוֹת – כְּדֵי שֶׁיַּעֲלֶה זִכְרוֹנְכֶם לְפָנַי לְטוֹבָה, וּבַמֶּה – בְּשׁוֹפָר.
Say before Me on Rosh Hashanah Malchuyot, Zichronot, and Shofarot; Malchuyot so that you will make Me king over you, Zichronot so that your remembrance will come before Me for good, and with what? With the shofar.
Seemingly, the Gemara contradicts itself. At first, the Gemara states "אִמְרוּ לְפָנַי – Say before Me,” but then concludes "And with what? With the shofar." If it is with the shofar, then it is not a matter of “Say before Me" – it should instead say “Blow before Me” or “Sound before me”. The conclusion of "And say before Me" should be the phrase "And with what? With the mouth"! Why does the Gemara insert the shofar in place of the mouth and speech?
From here, I would like to delve deeper. There is a section in the Sifrei which speaks about the concluding Pasuk in the Seder Shofarot:
וּבְיוֹם שִׂמְחַתְכֶם וּבְמוֹעֲדֵיכֶם וּבְרָאשֵׁי חָדְשֵׁיכֶם וּתְקַעְתֶּם בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת עַל עֹלֹתֵיכֶם וְעַל זִבְחֵי שַׁלְמֵיכֶם וְהָיוּ לָכֶם לְזִכָּרוֹן לִפְנֵי אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶם אֲנִי ה' אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶם:
On the day of your gladness and on your festivals and on your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, and they shall be a remembrance for you before your G-d; I am Hashem your G-d.
The Sifrei writes: בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת is Shofarot, לְזִכָּרוֹן is Zichronot, and אֲנִי ה' אֱ-לֹהֵיכֶם is Malchuyot. Therefore, in the Torah, Shofarot is written first, then Zichronot, and finally Malchuyot. Yet, we do not recite them in this order (in Musaf on Rosh Hashanah), but rather in the order of Malchuyot, Zichronot, and Shofarot. Why is our practice contrary to what is found in the Torah?
The Sifrei continues and explains the order put forth by Chazal: First, make Hakadosh Baruch Hu king over you and then ask for mercy from Him so that He will remember you, and do so with the shofar, for the shofar is only of freedom, as it is said: וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִתָּקַע בְּשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל – And it shall be on that day a great shofar will be blown. The Sifrei then adds:
But I do not know who blows it. The Pasuk says “And Hashem Elokim will blow the shofar,” and still, we do not know from where the blowing comes – as it is said "A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from the Temple, the voice of Hashem rendering recompense to His enemies."
The words of the Sifrei are puzzling. It teaches that we reverse the Torah’s order: first we proclaim Hakadosh Baruch Hu as King over us, and only afterward may we present our requests. And how do we crown Him as King? Through the shofar. Yet who sounds the shofar? Hakadosh Baruch Hu Himself. And from where do these sounds emerge? From the Beit Hamikdash.
In every shul, they know who the Baal Tokea is. If you ask: "Who blows the shofar?" – they will all very confidently answer that it’s David or Moshe or Yechezkel. But the Sifrei tells you – you are mistaken! It is not David, nor Moshe, nor Yechezkel – it is Hakadosh Baruch Hu who blows!
Rabbotai, what does the Sifrei mean by these words?
The Three Principles of Faith and the Shofar
From here, I would like to move on to a wonderful idea, written by the Maharsha in Massechet Rosh Hashanah. The source of this idea is much older, however, brought in the writings of Rav Yosef Albo in Sefer HaIkkarim. The foundation of Torah rests on three core principles: the existence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, divine providence with reward and punishment, and Torah from Heaven. Proof these principles are the root and foundation of faith, through which a person reaches true success, is that the three central Brachot of Musaf on Rosh Hashanah are based upon them:
First, the Bracha of Malchuyot corresponds to the principle of the existence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, as indicated by:
Therefore we hope to You, Hashem our G-d, to soon see the glory of Your strength, to remove idols from the earth and the false gods will be utterly cut off, to perfect the world under the sovereignty of Sha-ddai, etc., and all inhabitants of the world will recognize and know that to You every knee will bow, every tongue will swear... and they will all accept the yoke of Your kingdom.
Second, the Bracha of Zichronot indicates providence, and reward and punishment, as indicated by:
You remember the deeds of the world and oversee all creatures from ancient times, before You all hidden things are revealed, and the multitude of secrets from the beginning of Creation.
Finally, the Bracha of Shofarot hints at the third principle, which is Torah from the heavens, and therefore it begins:
You appeared in the cloud of Your glory to Your holy people to speak with them from the heavens You made them hear Your voice and revealed Yourself to them in pure clouds.
Since the giving of the Torah was accompanied by a very strong shofar sound, the likes of which the world had never experienced, it is called Shofarot. The sounds and lightning that were there had been in the world before, but the sound of the shofar without an actual shofar had never been, and will not be until the time of redemption when the truth will be revealed to the whole world.
Each Bracha’s wording highlights its corresponding principle, and all three together awaken a person to merit in judgment. Yeshayahu HaNavi encapsulated these principles in one Pasuk: כִּי ה' שֹׁפְטֵנוּ ה' מְחֹקְקֵנוּ ה' מַלְכֵּנוּ הוּא יוֹשִׁיעֵנוּ – For Hashem is our Judge, Hashem is our Lawgiver, Hashem is our King; He will save us; teaching that true success depends on affirming these foundations, through which Hakadosh Baruch Hu ultimately brings salvation. The Navi states, "He will save us," meaning that since these three principles, upon which human success depends, give us an advantage over the entire world, it is fitting that He save us especially over all.
Rabbi Yosef Albo tells us – every Jew needs salvation on Rosh Hashanah, and the salvation is hidden in the three things that the Navi tells us: If you believe Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the judge, and if you believe in Torah from the heavens, and if you believe in the existence of Hakadosh Baruch Hu – then you will merit salvation. The Anshei Knesset HaGedola, who knew what happens in the heavens on Yom HaDin, told us: Do you want salvation on Rosh Hashanah?! This is the order – Malchuyot, Zichronot, and Shofarot!
Rosh Hashanah and the Creation of Man
After this introduction, I would like to revisit some principles we’ve discussed before. Rav, who wrote the Rosh Hashanah Tefillah, wrote for us to know – the Day of Judgment, which is Rosh Hashanah, was established 5777 [now 5786] years ago; it is written in the Rosh Hashanah Tefillah:
From the beginning, such You have made known, and from ancient times You have revealed it, this day is the beginning of Your works, a remembrance of the first day.
Everything we do on Rosh Hashanah is essentially returning to the starting point of the sixth day of Creation. The Ran in Massechet Rosh Hashanah (7a) describes the order of the first day – i.e., the first of Tishrei – which corresponds to the sixth day of Creation:
On Rosh Hashanah, Adam HaRishon was created. In the first hour, it arose in thought; in the second, He consulted with the ministering angels; in the third, He gathered his dust; in the fourth, He kneaded him; in the fifth, He formed him; in the sixth, He made him a golem; in the seventh, He breathed into him a soul; in the eighth, He placed him in Gan Eden; in the ninth, He commanded him; in the tenth, he sinned; in the eleventh, he was judged; in the twelfth, he was pardoned. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him, this is a sign for your children, just as you stood before Me in judgment on this day and were pardoned, so too your children will stand before Me in judgment on this day and be pardoned.
