A certain Jewish man who was a sinner came to the “Chozeh of Lublin” זיע”א and asked him for a way of repentance for his many sins. He was sure that the Chozeh would give him a hard and difficult path of repentance with fasts and afflictions, but to his surprise, the Chozeh required of him that he should accept upon himself never to let any falsehood come out of his mouth under any circumstances. The man was astonished and asked: Will all my sins be atoned for through this? The Chozeh answered him: As you said, so it is! And the man went out from there with great joy.
The next day he went out, as was his way, to the market in order to steal something, and behold someone stopped him and asked him where he was going. Of course, he could not tell the truth, that he was going to steal, so he answered that he was not going anywhere. But when he remembered his promise to the Rav, he had no choice, and he returned to his home so as not to lie. And so it was on the following day and the day after, until he had no alternative but to repent completely, and he came to the conclusion that the trait of truth which he had accepted upon himself was the best way to return in repentance. Thus he became a complete Baal Teshuvah.
אתם נצבים היום כולכם לפני ד‘ אלוקיכם‘, Our parashah opens with ‘You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem, your G-d.’ And it is written in the Zohar HaKadosh that wherever it is written in the Torah ‘today,’ it is a hint to Rosh Hashanah. And one can learn by way of allusion that the Torah is revealing to us how a Jew must stand before Hashem Yisbarach on Rosh Hashanah. How? By ‘Atem’ – the letters of ‘Emes’ (truth), by accepting upon himself to cleave to the trait of truth. As we saw, through truth one can arrive at complete repentance and with joy.
If we need to be careful not to lie, then certainly we must be careful not to lie before Heaven, and especially in holy days such as the days of Rosh Hashanah. Therefore, when we stand on Rosh Hashanah and proclaim aloud that Hashem is King, we must believe it and accept upon ourselves the yoke of His Kingship, Yisbarach. And the main point is, not to think all kinds of thoughts like: ‘Last year also I accepted upon myself, and what came of it?’ For all those thoughts come from the yetzer hara, and he is the greatest liar of all. We only need to truly intend what we say, and may it be His will that we be written and sealed for a good and sweet year in the book of the completely righteous.
