Chapter 1
In Parshas Nitzavim, Moshe Rabeinu tells the Jewish People that the fulfillment of the Torah and Mitzos is very accessible and doable. First, the Alter Rebbe will explain these verses on a mystical level. Then, he will apply the verses to our service of Hashem on Rosh Hashanah, which is always in the week following Parshas Nitzavim:
“For this mitzvah that I (Hashem) command you today, it is not ‘נִּפְלֵאת-removed’ or ‘רְ חֹּקָה-far’ from you, rather it is very accessible to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” (Devarim 30:11-14)
To understand this verse, we first need to understand the double expression, “It is not ‘נִפְלֵאת-removed’ or ‘רְ חֹקָּה-far’ from you.”
The Meaning of 'נִפְלֵאת'
However, the idea is as follows: The word ‘נִפְלֵאת-removed’ comes from the word ‘פֶלֶא-separation,’ as in the verse, “לְפַלֵא-to separate oneself from something permissible נֶדֶר-with a vow,” as both the Targum Unkelos and Rashi translate it there.
This idea will be understood from the following quote of the Holy Zohar (III, 73a): “There are three ‘levels’ that are bound up with each other: Hashem, the Torah, and the Jewish People. Each of these three levels has a ‘סָּתִים-hidden,’ inner aspect, and a ‘גַלְיָא-revealed, outer aspect.”
Meaning that each one of these three ‘levels’ has a ‘Soveiv-encompassing’ aspect, and a ‘Memalei-permeating’ aspect.
‘Memalei’ is the aspect that can be limited to a format that can be understood and grasped, and is therefore called ‘the גַלְיָא-revealed, outer aspect.’ The level of ‘Soiveiv’ is above our ability to know and understand, and is therefore ‘סָתִים-hidden’ from us.
In the Torah as well, there are these two levels of ‘גַלְיָא-revealed’ and ‘סָּתִים-hidden;’ and in the Jewish people also there are these two levels of ‘גַלְיָא-revealed’ and ‘סָּתִים-hidden.’
We quoted from the Zohar that “The Jewish People are connected to the Torah.” This means that the knowledge of the Torah is already invested in every single Jew, as it says, (Rus 4:7) “And ‘זֹאת-this’ was ‘לְפָנִים-before’ in the Jewish People.” The word ‘זֹאת-this’ is a reference to the Torah, and the word ‘לְפָנִים-before’ can also mean ‘to their innermost being.’ Thus, the phrase can be interpreted, “And this Torah is already invested within the soul of every Jew.”
The quote from the Zohar continues: “And the Torah is connected to Hashem,” since “the Torah is completely unified with Hashem.”
Meaning that the Torah is the intermediary that connects and binds Hashem’s Divinity with the Jewish People, and this is true regarding the levels of both ‘Memalei’ and ‘Soveiv.’
The Torah connects the ‘גַלְיָא-revealed’ aspect of Jewish souls to the ‘גַלְיָא-revealed’ aspect of Hashem, which is how He is ‘Memalei-permeates all worlds,’ and it [the Torah] connects the inner, ‘סָּתִים-hidden’ aspect of Jewish souls to the inner, ‘סָּתִים-hidden’ aspect of Hashem, which is how He is “Soveiv-encompassing all worlds.”
The Torah is able to do this because it also has these two levels of ‘סָּתִים-hidden’ and ‘גַלְיָא-revealed.’
The Accessibility of Torah and Mitzvos
This is the meaning of the verse, “For this Mitzvah that Hashem commands you, ‘לֹא נִפְלֵאת-it is not removed’ from you.” The verse means to say that it is not separate from you at all, since it is a reference to the level of ‘Memalei’ of the Torah, which is already invested in the essence of the soul of each Jew.
And when the verse says, “It is not ‘רְחוֹקָה-far,’” this is a reference to the level of ‘Soveiv’ of the Torah, which is not directly invested in us, but is not far away either, since it shines into us in an encompassing manner.
The meaning of the words in the verse, “That I, (Hashem), command you today,” is that every day, the Torah and Mitzvos should be in our eyes like something new, since the Torah is eternal and unchanging, and every day we say that it is “today” that we are receiving the Torah and Mitzvos.
Similarly, regarding the verse, (Devarim 6:6) “[Hashem says:] And these words of Torah of Mine that I command you today, should be on your heart.” Our Sages commented, “This means that every day the words of Torah should be like something new in your eyes.” (Midrash Tanchuma on Shemos 13:10)
As it says, “Today is for doing the Mitzvos, and tomorrow is for receiving their reward.” We see that the entire time of This World (when we do Mitzvos), up until “tomorrow” – meaning the World to Come, which is the time of the reward – is called “today.”
Now, on Rosh Hashana we say, “This day is the beginning of Your (Hashem’s) works,” meaning that on every Rosh Hashana there is a new “today,” which brings a new ability to fulfill Mitzvos (ie. a new “today to do the Mitzvos”), and this new strength and capability to fulfill Mitzvos is then drawn down into the rest of the year.
However, we need to understand what our Sages said, (Rosh Hashana 16a) “A person is judged every day,” not only on Rosh Hashana.
Renewal on Rosh Hashana, Rosh Chodesh, Shabbos, and Every Day
Also, Rosh Chodesh is called “the heads of the months,” and Shabbos is the head of the week, so every month Hashem gives a new power for the entire month, and on Shabbos for the entire week, like it says, “And it will be that every month on Rosh Chodesh, and every week on Shabbos, all flesh will come before Me (to be judged), says Hashem.” (Yeshaya 66:23)
We see that not only on Rosh Hashana are we “judged” to receive new strength to fulfill Mitzvos, but also every Rosh Chodesh, every Shabbos, and even every day! If so, what is the unique significance of Rosh Hashanah, that we say, “This day is the beginning of Your works?”
Hashem’s Transcendence of Time
The idea is that Hashem is beyond the limitations of time. Therefore, all of the time of the “Six Days of Creation,” a reference to the six thousand years of creation, were created in one ‘thought’ of Hashem, as we say in the Rosh Hashana prayers, “Who gazes and peers until the end of all generations,” in one look and glimpse.
It says in Tehillim (chapter 90), “A thousand days in Your eyes are like a day that has passed,” thus comparing one of Hashem’s “days” to one thousand of our years. Thus, the reference here to the time of the “Six Days of Creation” is actually a reference to the time of the six thousand years of creation, when things function in the natural order. In the seventh millennium and onwards, the world will function in a supernatural manner, as explained elsewhere.
As it says, (Zecharya 9:14) “His ‘arrow’ goes forth like a flash of lightning,” referring to the flash of His one ‘thought’ that can see and perceive all of the “Seven Days of Creation” the seven thousand years of creation at one time. This includes also the Days of Moshiach and the era of the Resurrection of the Dead.
Previously, the Alter Rebbe mentioned that Hashem’s one ‘thought’ encompasses the first six thousand years of creation. In these six thousand years, the world operates according to the natural order. Here, the Alter Rebbe adds the “Seven Days of Creation,” referring to the seven thousand years of creation, including the seventh millennium, when the world will operate supernaturally. This time period includes the time of Moshiach (the end of the sixth millennia) and of the Resurrection of the Dead (in the beginning of the seventh millennia).
So too, there are “50,000 Yovel (Jubilee) cycles,” i.e. 2.5 million levels of awareness of Hashem, which are levels of Divine Revelation and spiritual ascent, elevation after elevation, all of these millions of levels were created in one ‘thought’ of Hashem, which is the general Life-Force of all the worlds and levels, and all of time.
As it is written, (Tehillim 145:16) “You (Hashem) open your hand, and satisfy ‘לְכָּל חַי-to every living thing’ with its ‘רָצוֹן-desire.’” Meaning that there are many levels and types of living beings, each one receiving unique life from Hashem, as it is written, (Yeshaya 38:19) “Each and every living being will thank you.”
This is why the verse says, “You satisfy the desire of every living being,” since every world receives its own specific Life-Force from Hashem. However, all of the specific types of Life-Force derive from one singular, simple ‘רָצוֹן-Desire of Hashem to create the world,’ and when this desire comes down through a series of levels, until it reaches the level of the “Speech of Hashem Above,” then it divides into “Ten Statements” of Creation that are recorded in the beginning of Parshas Bereishis, and into the specific life-force of each created being.
The Alter Rebbe is thus explaining the verse from Tehillim, “You open Your hand, and you satisfy everything with a specific life-force, tailored to its own characteristics, all of these types of Life come from the one and the same general ‘Desire’ of Hashem to create and give life to the worlds and to their inhabitants. However, from the one general ‘Desire’ of Hashem to give life, all the specific variations of life among the creations are derived.
By way of analogy, it says, (Iyov 19:26) “From my flesh I can ‘see’ an analogy for Hashem.” Meaning that just like in a person’s speech, the information becomes divided up into many specific details, but when it is still in his thought, all the information included in many words of speech is included in one thought.
How much more so Above, regarding Hashem’s ‘Speech’ and ‘Thought,’ that all of the specific types of life that is invested in each creature through Hashem’s ‘Speech,’ are all included as one general Life-Force in Hashem’s ‘Thought.”
Now, all of the Life of the year is drawn down on Rosh Hashana. Because Adam was created on Rosh Hashana, and the world was created in Elul, and on the sixth day Adam was created “in Our image, after Our likeness” (Bereishis 1:26), which includes all creations, as it says (Bereishis 2:7) ...
