Parashat Nitzavim/Vayelech

Welcome to Parshis Hashem We'el with Rabbi Garari this week's Parshis and it's Sovim V'eyelach. It's the last Shabbos of the year, the last Shabbos before Rosh Hashanah and of course it's all connected. Now before we start with the actual Parshis let's just talk about the last Shabbos of the year. We know that there's a custom every Shabbos before Rosh Chodesh to have Shabbos Mavarki where we actually in shul publicly bless the new month. We announce when Rosh Chodesh is going to be and then we bless the new month. But the exception of course is the last Shabbos of the year. This coming Shabbos we do not bless the new month. One of the reasons that is given in traditional sources is that we don't want to highlight when Rosh Chodesh is because we want to confuse the Satan, the accuser, the prosecutor and therefore we don't announce when Rosh Chodesh is going to be. Now of course that needs explanation. There are a few things that we do over the period of the month the Araveh has Satan to mix up the Satan to mix up the prosecutor. It's beyond the scope of this little sheer but nevertheless is the concept that when we don't do something we weaken him, we confuse him whatever the case is. Later on the Baal Shem to revealed another very deep reason why we don't bless this month. Now he says like this that the Shabbos of the year, the last Shabbos of the year, we don't bless the month of Tishrei because that's a month that Hashem himself blesses. He blesses that month and with that power that he blesses the month of Tishrei we are then able to bless all the remaining 11 months of the year. Now he went on to say what is the Brach that Hashem gives for the new month? The Brach is the beginning of this week's Prashah. Atem Nitzovim Hayyoyim Kulchim. Now we need to understand that on a literal level the Prashah is actually was not said around Rosh Hashanatim. The Prashah was said towards the end of Moesher Abayner's life where he gathered the Jewish people and he told them you are standing here today Atem Nitzovim Hayyoyim. You are standing here all together. All the different parts of the Jewish nation are standing here united ready to go into a new covenant with Hashem as you embark on a journey of entering the land of Ertzishro. That's a simple shot but we also have a tradition that in the Hall of Tanakh often when it says the word Hayyoyim today this comes from the book of Eov actually that we know this from but every time it says Hayyoyim it is actually a reference to Rosh Hashanat, the day of Rosh Hashanat. Why do we, because this is the day of judgment, the day of the beginning of the year. In fact this Prashah Atem Nitzovim Hayyoyim is always read the week before Rosh Hashanat. Sometimes it's a double partial like this year Nitzovim and Vayelich and sometimes it's not it's just Nitzovim but we always read Nitzovim and therefore we are taught that when we say Atem Nitzovim Hayyoyim kulchim you are standing here together. This is also a reference to Rosh Hashanat and said about Hashem that this is the broche that actually Hashem gives us. The word Nitzovim means to stand firm, to stand strong. So Hashem is telling us that as we go into Rosh Hashanat, yes it's a day of din, a day of judgment, but nevertheless Hashem is blessing us to stand firm and to stand strong and to stand with amunna and faith that Hashem will indeed bless us with a good year. This of course is connected to something that the famous Ture says. He mentions that on Rosh Erev Rosh Hashanat it says different to the way it would normally be when a people, someone from the nations of the world has to go into a very serious court case. He would not be preparing for the day as one prepares for a celebration. Not so with the Jewish people he says. The Jewish people in the era of Rosh Hashanat, they wash themselves, they bathe themselves, they put on clean and beautiful clothes, preparing for almost a yantif, which it is. Why? Because as we go into Rosh Hashanat of course we need to do chuvah, of course we have to say tihilim, of course we have to daven and we go through all of the things that Rosh Hashanat brings but one of the important things of going into Rosh Hashanat is the betokhan, the trust in Hashem, that Hashem to use his words will do a miracle for us and whether we absolutely deserve it or not he will actually anyway give us the ksivah vahasimah tawivah the good and the very very good and riding us and sealing us for an amazing year. So that's the that's the brochah that Hashem gives. Atim nitzamaim Hashem wants us to stand for him, wants us to be good and he wants only good for us and therefore he blesses this month with the brochah of Atim nitzamaim hayyim kulchem. But let's take the next word in the past, kulchem, you are standing here all together today as one. Rashi'chem, shivt'echem, your heads, your tribes, the woodchoppers, the water carriers, all like one. There's another very important thing that on Rosh Hashanah the concept of unity is so important, the concept of standing as one people together is so important. Why? Because there's a level of unity amongst Kaldisro where if we dig deep down we're not just united but we're actually one. Because we all possess the same depth of soul. The essence of our Nishama is really one. Now what's interesting is and I'm just going to sort of explain this briefly that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are two different parts of the same coin. They're both days of Chuvah because you know there's a famous concept about why Rosh Hashanah comes before Yom Kippur. Shouldn't we have Yom Kippur first, get the atonement and then start the year on a clean slate. But the answer to that is that Rosh Hashanah is part of the process of Chuvah. Now what's interesting is that we don't actually mention anything to do with sin on Rosh Hashanah. We don't mention, not like in Kippur where we talk about al-Khayt and we do confession on Rosh Hashanah, we don't do that. Even though it's a day of Chuvah because Chuvah actually comprises of two parts. The first part of Chuvah is to dig very deep down to our relationship with Hashem and reveal the part of our existence which is still pure. That's what the beginning of Chuvah is. The reason why we're able to do Chuvah and the reason why Chuvah is so powerful is because there's a part of Anishama which is above sin, above transgression. There's a part of Anishama that even when we damage or fail on the other layers of the soul, there's a part of us that is one with Hashem that Hashem loves us unconditionally like a parent loves a child. That is what we call the etsim, the essence of our soul. And the first part of Chuvah is to dig deep down. That's why we say in the 10 days of Chuvah, we say, Chuvah begins where we demonstrate that we dig deep down into our soul to the part where the relationship with Hashem was never broken. Once we do that, Hashem re-accepts us which is also the idea of blowing the shofer. It's like the call of the shofer, the call of we're home, we're come home, we're returning home, we're yearning to reconnect with Hashem from the depth of Anishama. Then we start to go into the details and we repair the relationship on all the other conscious levels of fixing up what we need to fix up. That is why I should show you the concept of oneness is so emphasized because we're all different and everyone's on a different journey. But when we all dig deep down into the essence of Anishama, the part of Anishama where the relationship was never broken, that is one part of connection with Hashem that we are all 100% equal with. And that's why we read before, you are standing all today as one. You are one people because you are connected at the very depth of the same soul, with the same purity of the Anishama. Which is why in Anishama we don't mention transgression because that's not what we focus on. It's the more the point of reconnection with Hashem at a very deep level where the relationship was never broken. Once that is established and Hashem accepts each and every one of us together as one back into the relationship because the relationship is always there at a deep level, then we start to rebuild each one of ourselves in a personal level. That's Yom Kippur and Yom Kippur is more detailed. Yom Kippur we have the specific plan. We talk about Al-Khayt. Each one focuses on the areas where they need to improve because each one has a specific journey all based on the same depth and foundational relationship that we have with Hashem. And that's why it's also interesting that we have these two parishes around this time of the year. Nitsovim and Vajailah. This year we're together. But Nitsovim and Vajailah actually represent the Rosh Hashanah and the Yom Kippur. Nitsovim, Kulchem standing strong all as one is Rosh Hashanah. We go back to the very foundation of our soul where we're all completely one. The next part of the parish is Vajailah. Vajailah means to walk, to grow. Everyone grows at a different level. Everyone grows in a very specific way and that's Yom Kippur. So this is why the Shabbos before Rosh Hashanah is always Nitsovim. It's the Shabbos that Hashem gives the blessing and Hashem gives the blessing of Atem Nitsovim and Yom Kulchem that we should stand firm and strong with absolute faith and belief that Hashem will bless us properly. And of course we stand Kulchem. We stand all as one connecting to the very deep essence of who we are. We are all completely one with Hashem. All children of Hashem and all have the same depth of relationship with Hashem. I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone of course Axil Vaximotogh. We'll still post next week in Rosh Hashanah. We'll do some ideas of Rosh Hashanah. But in the meantime, everyone should have a wonderful day and a wonderful Shabbos.