One of the key ideas in Parshat Nitzavim is the idea of chaim, life. Scientists and philosophers can all tell you the difference between one who is alive and one who is dead but they have yet to define life. The difficulty in a clear definition is that the only way to truly define something is to be outside of it and view the entire scope - the problems here is that those who are outside life do not come back to tell us their definition of life. They remain there until the time of techiyat hameitim.

We, however, have our Torah - our eitz chaim hee lamachazikim ba. On some level we have the opportunity to step outside life and get a glimpse of what life is all about - everyone in accordance with his own level. On Rosh Hashana this idea of stepping outside life and assessing where we are going is carried out through the central mitzvah of the day - the sounding of the shofar. I will tell you that every year as I experience Rosh Hashana, I always say to myself - thank G-d it is two days, I need that extra time to reflect on the many aspects of the day. On the one hand there are the malchuyot, zichronot, and shofarot. On the other hand it is the first day of Asseret yemei teshuva, it is the yom hadin and much more.

The idea of the shofar goes back to Har Sinai, it has been said that the gimmatria of Sinai is sulam. There are many ways to understand this connection, on one level we can explain that a mitzvah can be viewed on many levels, as a sulam which is planted in the ground but its head reaches the heavens. Every mitzvah can be viewed on various levels, there is the level that we just say it is a gezeirat hakatuv which is beyond our understanding, then there is the level of how it effects me - how can I relate to it, what positive influence does it have on me.

How can I relate to tekiat shofar, what place does it have in me and in the world around me? HaRav Saadia Gaon lists ten different reasons for the shofar. Someone once asked Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l how it is possible to keep in mind all ten of these reasons while the shofar is sounded. Rav Shlomo Zalman answered that those ten reasons are meant to help prepare you for the mitzvah, when the shofar is blown have only one thing in mind - to fulfill the Torah's command of sounding the shofar on Rosh Hashana. Perhaps we can understand Rav Shlomo Zalman as saying I need to clear my mind of all thoughts and definitions and just let the mitzvah affect me in some way that is above me and beyond my understanding. Any definition I try to give may limit the effect the shofar will have on me.

The baalei mussar, and several machzorim as well, quote the words of the Rambam in hilchot teshuva where he discusses the shofar. It is interesting to note that smack in the middle of hilchot teshuva, not hilchot Rosh Hashana, he goes into great detail about the shofar - it does not seem to belong there. The Rambam writes that the shofar is something the Torah commands us which are not expected to understand but perhaps we can find some sort of allusion - we must awaken from our slumber and seek the truth which is normally forgotten through the vanities of time. A simple reflection once in a while on the meaning life which is lost through our day to day existence can open up many avenues of thought. I would say that the idea here is not to read this in books but to let our minds think freely, otherwise it is not your ideas but those of the book.  

The Rambam does not say that the shofar is a chok like Parah Adumah, but on the other hand it is not categorized as a logical mitzvah. I would say that the shofar may be understood on two different levels. I can understand it on the level of a decree from Hashem which is above my understanding yet effects me in some manner, or in a manner which I understand, as my alarm clock to wake up and leave the vanities of time. Perhaps these two levels work in parallel and the mitzvah encompasses all levels. It is an awakening that works deep within me and affects the entire ladder of mitzvah on all levels.

While this is a once a year mitzvah, we mention the idea of a shofar three times a day - teka beshofar gadol lecherutenu. I would say that it is that bracha of shmone esrei which marks the transition from personal requests to the more general requests for the good of klal Yisrael. We begin with worrying about ourselves but move to being part of the klal. I would say that the shofar produces some sort of freedom - cherut - teka beshofar gadol lecherutenu. This may be speaking about redemption now or in the future.

The shofar is also called Yovel, as we find in Matan Torah in Parshat Yitro - bimshoch hayovel heima yaalu bahar. So the idea of the shofar takes us back to Matan Torah, the yovel produces cherut - ein ben chorine la me sheosek baTorah. We blow the shofar on the Yom Kippur of Yovel to announce freedom both for slaves and for the return of ancestral lands to their original owners.  

I would like to elaborate on the concept of cherut. We arrive every year on Rosh Hashana after having read almost all of Sefer Devarim, with Parshat Nitzavim always immediately preceding Rosh Hashana.   It is interesting that many of what I would term - the bottom line of life as a Jew appears for the first time in Sefer Devarim. Concepts in avodat Hashem that appear so basic do not appear in the previous books of the Torah. Ahavat Hashem appears for the first time in the pasuk we all know from the beginning of Kriat Shma - ve-ahavta eit Hashem Elokecha, a mitzvah which the Rambam lists as one of the first mitzvoth. Remember the Rambam did not follow the order of the Torah like the Sefer HaChinuch does, but rather in a more conceptual manner. In Sefer Devarim many of these ideas appear over and over again. The idea of Yirat Shamayim, devekut baHashem, all appear in Sefer Devarim. What about vehalachta bidrachav - the middot we must have, the totality of observing mitzvoth in order to emulate Hashem.  

Parshat Ki Tavo concluded with Moshe Rabenu telling the people that they all saw the great miracles at Sinai but did not have the heart to know, the eyes to see, and ears to hear. I would recommend delving on the beautiful Rashis there. The Gemara in Avoda Zara derives from here that one does not understand what he was taught until forty years have passed. The many downfalls of Klal Yisrael came from their not having internalized the message and purpose of Yetziat Mitzrayim. Moshe Rabenu quotes Bnei Yisrael at the beginning of Parshat Devarim as sitting in their tents saying Hashem hates them. How can they begin to say that after all He had done for them?   Would we be any different? It is only after forty years that a person has the maturity to understand. Those born later in the desert had a clear mind that allows them to enter Eretz Yisrael with a different mindset - Hashem does not hate us. Olam chesed yibane, the world is built on chesed.

We also have in Sefer Devarim - and now Israel what does Hashem ask of you - what are these mitzvoth leading up to. If you think this world is just a supermarket where you grab mitzvoth off the shelves and after 120 years bring back as much as you can, I would say that you are mistaken and have missed the point. Of course we must bag as many mitzvoth as possible, but the mitzvoth are meant to raise our level of ahavat and yirat Hashem, of raising our tzelem Elokim. If you do not realize that then you are missing the entire point of the Torah in general and Sefer Devarim specifically. You may have understood Bereishit Shmot Vayikra and Bamidbar but you have missed Sefer Devarim, you have missed psukim such as ve-asita hayashar vehatov be-einei Hashem Elokecha.  

The question you must ask yourself is - am I a mitzvah machine or a human being, the implications are so different. There are so many beautiful stories about gedolei Yisrael who have had this clarity and knew how to resolve conflicts between being a mentsch and being a mitzvah machine. Sefer Devarim enourages us to develop these concepts. One idea that is surprisingly not spelled out in the Torah even in Sefer Devarim is the idea of the Beit HaMikdash, that there will be a place in Eretz Yisrael for serving Hashem outside of the mishkan.   The first place we see is in Parshat Re-eh - bamakom asher yivchar Hashem, the place that Hashem will choose. The choose is in the future, this is the first reference we have to such an idea. I would suggest that the place referred to is not purely physical because from that point on in Parshat Re-eh, Shoftim, and Ki Tavo the idea repeats itself, it is hard to believe that the idea of simply a physical place would repeat itself over and over.

In fact the Rambam titles his laws of the Beit HaMikdash as Hilchot Beit HaBechira, the Rambam understood that the makom asher yivchar Hashem is not just a physical place but an essence. I am not even sure how to define it - it is the house in which Hashem's choice takes place, not that He chose a place to manifest itself but the choice comes out constantly there. The title Hilchot Beit HaBechira itself is thought provoking as describing the Beit HaMikdash.

The peak of this idea appears towards the end of Parshat Nitzavim, re-eh natati lefanecha hayom ... ubacharta bachayim - choose life. The theme of bechira in the Torah began with the place asher yivchar Hashem - that He will choose, and has now been place on our shoulders. Hashem has said that He wishes for us to become people of bechira.

The freedom implied by the shofar, that we pray for daily, and the bechira found at the end of Parshat Nitzavim bring us to the same idea - freedom. Chazal teach us that Moshe Rabenu was speaking to the people on his final day, he wished for us to become people of bechira. By placing the idea of the shofar in the middle of hilchot teshuva the Rambam certainly understand Parshat Nitzvaim on this level - the parsha which speaks much of teshuva is related to our choice. This for a second, reflect for a minute, the only way to truly grow in this world is to be enticed by the yetzer hara and then overpower it. One who is never enticed has not tasted the beauty of this. I would say that Yosef needed to be grateful to Eishet Potiphar for tempting him and allowing him to overpower his yetzer hara. He learned the concept of bechira and was able to reach a higher place.

How much of our life is our own choice and how much of it is our being slaves to societal pressures and patterns. On Rosh Hashana we are able to reach that level of cherut through the shofar. The shofar as we said is a gezerat hakatuv but also affects me. The idea of kol, sound, is also a constant theme throughout Sefer Devarim. In Vaetchanan and Ekev when Matan Torah is described, Moshe Rabenu says that Hashem heard 'kol divreichem', there is a difference between a kol - a voice, and words. Words can often mask a person's true feelings but when we hear their voice there is so much more. There is so much to the sound of the shofar.

Back to our discussion of cherut. I was approached by someone who told me that he feels great pressure before Rosh hashana what should he do. I explained that while Ellul and the mussar we learn focus on my sins that is not the idea of Rosh Hashana, we make no mention of our sins. The theme of the day is that Hashem is King - just look at the tefillot especially the central bracha of kedushat hayom. Rosh Hashana remember is the first of the ten days of tshuva, what we learn from here is that tshuva begins by not focusing on yourself. If you feel pressure then you are too wrapped up in yourself. On Rosh Hashana you must step out of your world and focus on Hashem's creation of the world. What is the purpose of creation and what is my role? We are going back to Bereishit - hayom harat olam. Rosh Hashana is about something much greater than me. After Rosh Hashana I must begin focusing on where I went wrong and correcting it, but tshuva begins not by focusing on me but on Hashem and His world. If I am able to experience this during these 48 hours, if I am able to forget about myself and my needs then my tshuva during the remaining days leading to Yom Kippur is coming from the right place.

Rosh Hashana is not self-centered, but coming from a place of tikkun olam. When I focus only on myself I feel pressured. You may then ask me - does the mishna not say that on Rosh Hashana all pass before Him kivnei maron. Is it not a Ym HaDin for myself and my family?   Hashem is telling us not to focus on ourselves but to show how much we care for Him and His world. In the haftarah for the second day Hashem says - al kein hamu mei-ai lo - He invested, literally His kishkes for us, don't we care? Rosh Hashana is not about putting our best foot forward in the heavenly judgment, it is how we feel about Him and His world. At mincha on Yom Kippur we read how Hashem says to Yonah - it does not bother you that Ninve may be destroyed? Don't you care about My world that I put so much into? Hashem wants us to care. He is saying I care and I expect you to care - ubacharata bachayim, choose mitzvoth not so you can receive a high grade in the judgment not because you are in a supermarket and wish to collect as much as possible but because you are interested in tikkun olam.

Two different people may be learning Torah day and night, yet one feels he is here only to collect mitzvoth. Hashem asks him - is that all? What about My world, if you are such a tzaddik why don't you care? Forget about yourself for once, you will be able to reach levels you never thought possible.

Yitzchak was the pillar of avoda in klal Yisrael, just as Avraham was of gemillut chassadim and Yaakov of Torah. Yitzchak let himself go for Hashem's sake, it is not a story of sacrificing as we may think. The avodah of Yitzchak means letting ourselves go. Many ran into the furnace 70 years ago, 300, 500 years ago. They did not give up their life - we are eternal. This was just one layer. There are so many layers. On Rosh Hashana I need to free myself as if our soul is hovering up above after leaving the body. We will discover how many of life's tensions and emotions are simply wasted emotional dust clogging our minds and hearts. We must be part of this world but not wrapped up in it. We must have our feet on the ground but rise up the ladder to the heavens above. I am connected to that which is earthly but am not imprisoned by it. Yosef attained his freedom on Rosh Hashana - he was able to bond with something which is sensitive yet dangerous. On Rosh Hashana Yosef shed his physical connection he was no longer imprisoned - he chose life.

We all think we are alive, but are we truly alive? Many suffer from this, we are driven by our urges and rules of society. I have a baal-teshuva friend who is amazed that when he goes back to visit his family they can sit for hours eating and talking about the food. He is amazed how much you can talk about rice, not as a means of oneg Shabbat, but as a subject on its own. They are slaves to pieces of food.   They have the opportunity to live their lives connected to Hashem but don't know how to.

On Rosh Hashana our task is to take all these pieces of rice that my mind is imprisoned by, whether it is my relationship with my children, friends, or boss. There are so many issues with parents. Rosh Hashana offers us a chance to be free, the Torah invites us even begs us - ubacharta bachayim. Hashem is saying I chose you, I gave you freed of choice, but the choice must be yours. Do not be a slave to this world what a wonderful opportunity.

Many commentaries say that the opening pasuk: atem nitzavim hayom - hayom is Rosh Hashana. The word hayom appears many times in Sefer Devarim. The Ramma opens the Shulchan Aruch with shiviti Hashem lenegdi tamid. I would like to say that every day of the year it is an aspiration, a yearning to reach a level. On Rosh Hashana it is a chiyuv - we must view ourselves as being lifnei Hashem. What does this mean, where does it take me? There is no end to the effect this has. A person is able to reach the level of bechira and cherut the moment he is in front of Hashem. How free can a person become when standing before Hashem. When I focus on what is in front of Him, what is beyond, I am cleansed from what is effecting me in this world, from all my insecurities and grudges. I am able to see beyond this world and live in the world of Hashem. The implementation of this differs for each person. We should merit entering Rosh Hashana as anshei bechira and cherut - the Torah was given to us for this purpose. Hashem is our King and it is now that we re-establish that relationship. True bnei Torah are free from every other idea, when we view Him as the only Melech then all my relationships and other issues in this world become clean, pure, and pleasant. Shana Tova.