Rabbi Shalom Noach Berezovsky
“You are all standing today before the L-rd your G-d, your leaders, your tribes… every man of Israel” (Devarim, 29:9).
We should reflect on the word “standing” in this verse, which conveys firmness and authority. It resembles what is said in the Book of Ruth (2): “And Boaz said to his young man who stood over the reapers.” Furthermore, the word “today” seems superfluous, as does the word “all,” since the verse later says: “Every man of Israel.”
The words here should be understood in light of what is said in the sacred books: the word “today” alludes to the Day of Judgment (Rosh Hashanah). And the words “you are all standing today” contain advice for a Jew before the Day of Judgment.
As Rosh Hashanah approaches, if someone does not know how to approach the Holy Day, the advice is: “all of you”...
Once, on the eve of Yom Kippur, before the Kol Nidrei prayer, a Jew felt such heaviness of heart that he could find no peace until he decided to go to his Rebbe. “How will I face the holy day?!” he sobbed. The Rebbe answered him: “I myself do not know how to face the holy day… But together with the Jewish people, together with the Jewish people…” As he said this, he placed his hand on the man's shoulder and entered the synagogue with him for Kol Nidrei.
The strength to face the Days of Awe comes from facing them together.
Many books also speak of the strength of the community. The spiritual level described in “You are sons of the L-rd your G-d” is attainable only by the community. An individual on his own, however, is not called “a son of the L-rd.” That is why one can approach the Day of Judgment only through the strength of the community. A Jew should unite with the community, loving every neighbor.
Then, because together we are called sons, “as a father has compassion on his sons,” the Almighty will show us compassion. This is the meaning of “You are standing today, all of you”: today—on the Day of Judgment; all—all together.
The strict judgment of the Heavenly Court can be softened and compassion (a father's compassion for his sons) awakened only through unity.
There is another advantage to a community standing before the Almighty on the Day of Judgment. Our teacher, the tzaddik of Kobrin, said that a Jew's service on Rosh Hashanah consists of crowning the Almighty as King over every organ of the body. The entire purpose of serving the Almighty is to achieve oneness with Him; therefore, on Rosh Hashanah, a Jew should crown Him as King over his entire body. When a Jew is one with the Almighty, the severity of judgment softens of its own accord. There are parts of the body over which it is easy to establish the Creator's kingship: doing so does not run counter to nature or the evil inclination. But there are other parts of the body that harbor desires, over which it is very difficult to establish the Almighty's kingship. What, then, should a Jew do? This is possible only through unity with the community.
Mesillat Yesharim teaches that every Jew can attain the level of purity on his own. But a flesh-and-blood human being cannot attain the level of holiness on his own, in which all his deeds are dedicated to G-d like an offering. He must simply make the effort, but ultimately this is a gift from the Creator.
The Almighty gives holiness as a gift to one who strives to attain it. Yet this gift can be attained only through unity with the community. For a father gives gifts only to his sons. All Jews together are like sons. And if a Jew unites with his neighbors, this helps him attain holiness—establishing the Almighty's kingship over every part of the body.
Through the strength of the people as a community, called sons, one can merit the gift of holiness.
Regarding the words “you are standing today,” Beit Avraham explains that the word אתם (you) is an acronym for אל תשליכני מלפניך (do not cast me away from Your presence). For as a Jew faces the Day of Judgment, his greatest concern is how he will appear before the King. Everyone knows his own faults. Worse still, the Jew then feels as though he has been cast away from G-d's presence. That is why it says: “You are all standing today”—through the strength of unity, a Jew is never abandoned or distanced from the Creator; we all stand before the L-rd G-d.
The holy Rebbe of Korbin used to say that if a Jew has committed even the gravest sin, but afterward cannot stand in prayer before the Almighty to pour out his heart, then he has never crossed a Hasid's threshold. And then he would add: “A Jew's threshold.”
For the foundation of Hasidism is the awareness that a Jew is never abandoned by the Creator.
Nor is there a single word about this in any of the admonitions in the Torah; on the contrary, “no one is cast away by Him.” That is why the Almighty has endowed the community with strength, especially in prayer. When a Jew prays, even if he himself deserves to be abandoned by the Creator, he is never abandoned.
Rabbi Akiva also spoke of this: the great principle of the Torah is “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Why is this, in particular, a great principle of the Torah? It is the foundation of the entire Torah; it is a Jew's source of strength at all times, both in times filled with holiness and at the lowest of times. If a Jew is united with all of Israel, together with everyone else he is one of the sons. And the Almighty has compassion on them all, as a father has compassion on his sons. That is why it says: “You are standing today, all of you”—when you are all together, you are “standing,” full of strength and firmness, before the L-rd your G-d on the Day of Judgment.
And it is known from the holy Arizal that before every prayer one should accept upon oneself the commandment “And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
All the more so before the prayers of Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment, when the strength of unity is needed.
Translated by Rabbi M. Gaft