This week’s Parasha commences with the words “ראה אנכי נותן לפניכם היום ברכה וקללה”, “See, (singular) I am giving you (plural), today a blessing and a curse”.
So, who is Hashem speaking to? Is He speaking to me, to each single, individual Jewish person or is He speaking to the whole nation?
Actually, the answer is both. And we have the very same phenomenon at the beginning of next week’s Parasha of Shoftim: “שופטים ושוטרים תתן לך בכל שעריך”, “Judges and bailiffs, you shall place for you, (singular), in all of your (plural) gates...”.
Actually, what we find here is a theme that runs right through the Book of Devarim. We all live with dual responsibility – I live by myself for myself and at the same time, I am an important cog within the wheel of Am Yisrael. When Hashem delivers His commandments, they are addressed to me personally, for my life, for the enhancement of my existence, and at the same time, what I do has a direct impact on the fate of the nation as a whole.
And we find this in Sefer Devarim, so beautifully put, through the two paragraphs of the Shema. They contain a lot of the same material. The Mitzvot, ‘To Love Hashem’, ‘To Study the Torah’, ‘Tefillin’ and ‘Mezuzah’, however there is a major difference: The first paragraph of the Shema is in the singular, addressed to the individual Jew, while the second paragraph of the Shema is in the plural, addressed to us all.
So, therefore I have that dual responsibility. For example, when it comes to Talmud Torah, I must learn and I must teach, but I also have a communal responsibility – I must guarantee that there are schools in my area, I must support all teaching initiatives for the sake of the nation.
And so too, when it comes to ‘Tefillin’ and to ‘Mezuzah’. I’ve come across some wonderful Gemachs, to provide Mezuzot for people’s homes. Mezuzot cost a lot of money – they’re not cheap. And so, there are some wonderfully generous people who contribute towards Mezuzot for everybody’s homes, recognizing that we have a responsibility for ourselves but also for all of the homes in our area.
And this very message is presented to us so beautifully by the Prophet Hoshea, who declared: “והיה מספר בני ישראל כחול הים”, “And the number of the Children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea”. Of course, Hoshea was speaking about the remarkable fact that over the years, through the generations, against the odds, we will have great numbers. But why didn’t he just talk about ‘חול’, ‘sand’ – why ‘כחול הים’, ‘the sand of the sea’?
And the reason I believe is, because ‘the sand of the sea’ is tightly packed together when it’s wet, but at the same time, it’s made up of single grains of sand. And so too, we, each one of us, is responsible to ourselves, and at the same time, we must never forget our connection to our people and the responsibility that we have towards our society. So join me and let’s pray with all our hearts, for our soldiers and healthcare professionals, and Chevra Kadisha members worldwide, and for those who need healing, shidduchim, children and parnassah and may we be blessed to have the most awesome, gorgeous, beautiful, peaceful, healthy, amazing, relaxed, spiritual, loving and sweet Shabbat.
NUMBER OF MITZVOT: 55
MITZVOT ASEH: 17
MITZVOT LO TAASEH: 38
NUMBER OF PESUKIM: 126
NUMBER OF WORDS: 1932
NUMBER OF LETTERS: 7442
HAFTORA:
Yeshayahu 54:11- 55:5 (עניה סוערה). (this is the third of seven Haftorot, [the Seven Haftorot of Consolation] that precede Rosh Hashanah). Some including Chabad, have the custom to add the first and last Pesukim of the Haftora “Machar Chodesh”.
Shabbat Mevarchim Chodesh Elul
Rosh Chodesh - Thursday & Friday - August 17 & 18.
This week we study Chapter 6 of Pirkei Avot
