Rabbotai, if this is the case, we can understand something wonderful about our Avodah on Rosh Hashanah. Rashi says the opening dialogue of our Parsha – אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם – took place on the day of Moshe Rabbeinu’s death, and he was making a final covenant, or last will and testament, with Bnei Yisrael just prior to dying. The Ramban says it took place not on the final day of Moshe Rabbeinu’s life, but rather on the first day he began speaking to Bnei Yisrael – the first of Shevat, as conveyed at the start of Parshat Devarim, and he then spoke for thirty-seven straight days. While proofs are brought from the Gemara and Midrash that point to both suggested dates, the main point for us to extract can be found in sefer B’Yam Derech who quotes the Birkat Shmuel as saying the day on which אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם was said is the day of Rosh Hashanah. He sources this in the Megaleh Amukot, saying Moshe Rabbeinu’s speech took place on the Rosh Hashanah preceding his death.
You stand this day all of you before Hashem your G-d; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Yisrael, your little ones, your wives, and the stranger that is in your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water.
Who stands in judgement? All of us! B’Yam Derech explains, רָאשֵׁיכֶם שִׁבְטֵיכֶם זִקְנֵיכֶם וְשֹׁטְרֵיכֶם refers to the tzaddikim of the generation, כֹּל אִישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵל are the beinonim who are mediocre and in between good and evil, and מֵחֹטֵב עֵצֶיךָ עַד שֹׁאֵב מֵימֶיךָ are the wicked ones.
The Ba’al HaTurim says the opening words of our Parsha are in reference to Har Sinai, where the same verb for standing is employed: וַיִּתְיַצְבוּ בְּתַחְתִּית הָהָר. This is also expressed by the Be'er Moshe of Ozharov, who says the language signifies Moshe Rabbeinu showing Bnei Yisrael just how many times Hakadosh Baruch Hu stood them up in the world, and this instance connects back to them standing at Har Sinai for Matan Torah.
The Avodah of Rosh Hashanah
We’ll now shift to the Avodah of Rosh Hashanah, and to help get us to our destination, we’ll open with the well-known Mishna (Rosh Hashanah 1:2):
בְּאַרְבָּעָה פְרָקִים הָעוֹלָם נִדּוֹן, בְּפֶסַח עַל הַתְּבוּאָה, בַּעֲצֶרֶת עַל פֵּרוֹת הָאִילָן, בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה כָּל בָּאֵי הָעוֹלָם עוֹבְרִין לְפָנָיו כִּבְנֵי מָרוֹן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר הַיּוֹצֵר יַחַד לִבָּם, הַמֵּבִין אֶל כָּל מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם. וּבֶחָג נִדּוֹנִין עַל הַמָּיִם:
At four times the world is judged: On Pesach concerning grain; on Shavuot concerning fruits that grow on a tree; on Rosh Hashanah, all creatures pass before Him like sheep [benei maron], as it is stated: “He Who fashions their hearts alike, Who considers all their deeds”; and on Sukkot they are judged concerning water.
The Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 16a) expands on this Mishna, adding more context to our Avodah of Rosh Hashanah:
וְאִמְרוּ לְפָנַי בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה מַלְכִיּוֹת זִכְרוֹנוֹת וְשׁוֹפָרוֹת. מַלְכִיּוֹת — כְּדֵי שֶׁתַּמְלִיכוּנִי עֲלֵיכֶם, זִכְרוֹנוֹת — כְּדֵי שֶׁיַּעֲלֶה זִכְרוֹנְכֶם לְפָנַי לְטוֹבָה, וּבַמֶּה — בְּשׁוֹפָר.
And recite before Me on Rosh Hashanah verses that mention Kingships, Remembrances, and Shofarot: Kingships so that you will crown Me as King over you; Remembrances so that your remembrance will rise before Me for good; and with what will the remembrance rise? It will rise with the shofar.
B’ezrat Hashem, just after hearing the shofar, we’ll recite the Pasuk: אַשְׁרֵי הָעָם יוֹדְעֵי תְרוּעָה – Happy is the people that know the joyful note. The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 29:4) asks, are there no nations of the world who know how to sound such a blast? How many horns do they have? How many trumpets do they have? How many bugles do they have? Watch any philharmonic orchestra around the world and you’ll see plenty of people who know how to blow into an instrument better than any of us! Perhaps they’d need a sheet of music to describe the Shefarim and Teruah, or they’d need to be told to shake the instrument violently as they blow a Teruah according to Yemenite tradition, but certainly they have the required skillset! Yet we say the nation as in only one who knows it. Why is that? The Midrash’s answer is awesome and powerful.
אָשֶׁהֵן מַכִּירִין לְפַתּוֹת אֶת בּוֹרְאָן בִּתְרוּעָה, וְהוּא עוֹמֵד מִכִּסֵּא הַדִּין אֶל כִּסֵּא רַחֲמִים וּמִתְמַלֵא עֲלֵיהֶם רַחֲמִים וְהוֹפֵךְ לָהֶם מִדַּת הַדִּין לְמִדַּת רַחֲמִים, אֵימָתַי בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי.
We are the only people that know how to appease Hakadosh Baruch Hu with the sound of the shofar. Upon hearing it, He rises from His throne of Din – justice, and becomes filled with Rachamim – mercy towards us, transforming the attribute of justice to the attribute of mercy.
Rabbotai, how can we say praiseworthy is the one who knows לְפַתּוֹת אֶת בּוֹרְאָן – is לְפַתּוֹת not a term which implies deception? How is lying or masking considered a good thing? Furthermore, how is it conceivable that a human being can deceive Hakadosh Baruch Hu? This wording of the Pasuk requires deeper explanation, and to achieve it we’ll look for other instances of this word.
We find the word in David HaMelech’s rebuke of Bnei Yisrael. Bnei Yisrael stood at Har Sinai and said Na’aseh v’Nishma, at which point Hakadosh Baruch Hu asked who revealed this...
