Parshat Re’eh 5778-“The whole year should be like Elul-but Elul is still Elul (Rabbi Y.Salanter zal)

Rabbi Moshe Schwab zal, the mashgiach at Gateshead Yeshiva during the years I studied there (he died at a very young age in 1979), always began the Elul Zeman with this statement from Rabbi Salanter (the founder of the Mussar movement in Lithuania in the 1880’s). As this parsha also coincides with the beginning of the month of Elul, I wanted to connect the parsha with Rosh Chodesh Elul, as ‘Elul is still Elul’.

כו  רְאֵה, אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם--הַיּוֹם:  בְּרָכָה, וּקְלָלָה.

26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:

כט  וְהָיָה, כִּי יְבִיאֲךָ יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר-אַתָּה בָא-שָׁמָּה לְרִשְׁתָּהּ--וְנָתַתָּה אֶת-הַבְּרָכָה עַל-הַר גְּרִזִים, וְאֶת-הַקְּלָלָה עַל-הַר עֵיבָל.

29 And it shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt set the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.

The parsha begins by mentioning the blessings and the curses that can befall the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael. The blessing comes as a reward for observance and the curse for the opposite type of behavior. The sefer Be’er Yosef (R’Yosef Salant who passed away in Jerusalem in 1980) asks a number of questions on these pesukim. Firstly,why did the Torah use the expression of

רְאֵה ‘see’, when in fact the whole parsha of the blessings and curses involves an act of hearing and not seeing. Also, the verse begins with רְאֵה which is a singular expression and ends with

ִ לִפְנֵיכֶםwhich is a plural expression. Why the change? Another point: הַיּוֹם:/today, which is found in the verse dosn’t make sense, as the event being referred to above is going to happen when they will be in Israel, after crossing the Jordan (v.29 above). So what does הַיּוֹם mean here? A final point.What is the purpose behind this ritual of splitting the camp into 2 groups when giving over  the blessings and curses on the 2 mountains? We don’t find this happening anywhere else. Why here?

Rabbi Salant explains the whole parsha with a fantastic insight. He refers us to the gemara in Kiddushin (T.B 40a) referring to the performance of mitzvoth.

ת"ר לעולם

יראה אדם עצמו כאילו חציו חייב וחציו זכאי עשה מצוה אחת אשריו שהכריע עצמו לכף זכות עבר עבירה אחת אוי לו שהכריע את עצמו לכף חובה

‘A person should always consider himself as if he has merits and faults in balance and by performing a mitzvah the balance is tipped to the scale of merit(and vice versa for a sin).

ר' אלעזר בר' שמעון אומר לפי שהעולם נידון אחר רובו והיחיד נידון אחר רובו עשה מצוה אחת אשריו שהכריע את עצמו ואת כל העולם לכף זכות עבר עבירה אחת אוי לו שהכריע את עצמו ואת כל העולם לכף חובה 

R’Elazar says that not only does the mitzvah affect one personally, but it can also affect the whole world, which should also be seen in balance.

This amazing statement of the Rabbis explains to us the absolute importance of every mitzvah we perform and how it affects ourselves and potentially the whole world around us (and similarly for every sin we perform). The way the individual behaves will also  influence the way that God will reward or punish him.

Now, how can one present this basic message to every individual Jew? Rabbi Salant answers by explaining that this is why the people were divided into 2 equal groups, representing the 'world in balance'. (This event at Mt.Gerizim and Mt.Eval became the first ‘audio visual’ event in Israel designed to teach us an axiom of Jewish life). At the 2 mountains, the Jews made a commitment to Torah and to be responsible for one another, as we find throughout the Book of Joshua in a number of places. The image of the people divided into 2 groups brings home the message of the gemara above, and presents it in a most physical way. Everyone will realize that every action that he/she does will be crucial. The image of 'balance' will remain engraved forever in the mind of every Jew.

Now we can answer all our questions. The word  רְאֵה  makes perfect sense. The command to ‘see’ refers not to the words but to the physical events taking place which create this image and message in the mind of every member of the Jewish people. Also  the singular expression is used, even though the verse ends with the plural  לִפְנֵיכֶם.Even though the plural word represents the whole world before you, the singular word reminds you that each individual’s actions can affect the whole world. The entire world is waiting for the action of the individual. Furthermore  הַיּוֹם  now makes perfect sense , that even though the event of the blessings/curses on the mountains will take place only once in our history, but it will be a theme that every Jew should think about every day of his/her life. This is an obligation every day as the gemara says: לעולם, that this is something that one should contemplate ‘forever’.

A comment found in Hilchot Teshuva of the Rambam (3:4) makes this whole interpretation particularly relevant to the days of Elul and the Yamim Noraim.

'It is, therefore, necessary for every man to behold himself throughout the whole year in a light of being evenly balanced between innocence and guilt, and look upon the entire world as if evenly balanced between innocence and guilt; thus, if he commit one sin, he will overbalance himself and the whole world to the side of guilt, and be a cause of its destruction; but if he perform one duty, behold, he will overbalance himself and the whole world to the side of virtue, and bring about his own and their salvation and escape, even as it is said: "But the righteous is an everlasting foundation" (Prov. 10. 25), it is he, by whose righteousness he overbalanced the whole world to virtue and saved it.

And, because of this matter, it became the custom of the whole house of Israel to excel in alms-giving, in good conduct and in the performance of duties during the intervening days of Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom ha-Kippurim above what they do during the whole year. It also became a universal custom to rise early during those ten days, to deliver in the synagogues prayers of supplication and ardor till the dawn of the day.5'

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The Rambam adds that because of this idea we increase our performance of mitzvoth at this time of year , with extra prayers and good deeds to make sure that we do ‘tip’ the world towards the level of merit, exactly as was explained by Rabbi Salant above. This establishes the connection as I mentioned at the beginning, between the parsha and Elul.

With this fantastic insight of R’Yosef Salant and the comments of the Rambam we have already begun the process of introspection which we are required to go through as a preparation for the High Holidays. Even though we should remember this beautiful idea the whole year round, but at least ‘Elul is still Elul’. Let us take this to heart and hope God will judge us all favorably for a good and sweet New Year.

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov      Rabbi Ian Shaffer        Cherry Hill NJ              Aug 2018