SHOFAR excerpt from Reb
Shlomo Carlebach, z'l, on Netzavim/Vayelech
The All of Me
You know friends, life is also a combination of two
things. On the one hand I have to do things like everybody else, meaning that
there are certain rules which everybody has to do. But then there is something
which only I have to do, nobody else can do it. There is one thing which makes
me so special. Everybody has something so special which is so deep and this
cannot be written down in words. Once a year G-d is revealing to us what we
have to do and this happens when we blow the shofar. When we hear this voice of
G-d everybody hears what this special thing is that he has to do, and it's not
in words.
Anything which has to do with me which everyone else is
doing is on the level of details. Keeping Shabbos, putting on tefilin, being
good, eat with a fork, don't talk evil about other people, be positive and do
this and do that is all very beautiful, but it's all details. Then that one
thing which is just 'I' is the all. There is one thing which touches the all of
me which is the deepest depths of my existence.
Parshas Nitzavim -
Rav Sholom Brodt,
Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Simchat Shlomo
"ATEM NITZAVIM HAYOM" YOU ARE
'STANDING' 'TODAY'
"You are all standing
today before Hashem your G-d, all of you, your leaders of your tribes, your
elders and your officers, every man of Yisrael; your children, your wives and
the convert that is in your camp, from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of
your water. To pass you through [to enter] in the covenant of Hashem your G-d,
and His oath, that Hashem your G-d is cutting with you today. In order that He
establish you today unto Himself as a nation, and He will be unto you a G-d, as
He has spoken to you and as He has sworn to your ancestors, to Avraham, to
Yitzchak and to Yaakov. [Devarim 29:9-12]
"All of you", that
is everyone of us, from our greatest leaders to our most simple, holy simple
heart warming wood choppers and thirst quenching water carriers. All of us are
standing together, not only those of you who are present here today, but also
whoever is not here yet today.
"Today", our holy
Rebbes teach us, refers to Rosh Hashanah, the "day of judgment." All
of us, whatever state we are in, in a state of "mochin de'gadlus"
higher consciousness or in a state of "mochin de'katnus" small
mindedness; in our creative states and in our simple labour states, as leaders,
as followers, as woodchoppers, as water carriers, all of us are standing before
G-d, TODAY!
Oh G-d, please embrace us,
with a loving embrace, a healing embrace to remember that day when we were
standing there all together; to remind us that TODAY too we are standing before
You. Give us the strength to embrace You and Your love and truth. Give us
please, the strength to return to You, to reaffirm our commitment to You, to
our brothers and sisters, to our parents to our holy children and to Your
Torah, in joy with strength and love. Please bless us with the quick arrival of
Mashiach, in our days, and the rebuilding of Your Holy Temple. Amen Kein Yehi
Ratzon.
"THIS THING IS VERY NEAR TO YOU"
For this [body of] commandment[s] which I am commanding
you today, is not concealed from you nor is it distant. It is not in the skies
that you should say, "Who will go up to the skies and take it for us, and
tell it to us, so that we can keep it?" Nor is it across the sea, that you
should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea and fetch it for
us, to tell it to us so that we can keep it?" Rather, this thing is very
near to you, in your mouth and heart to observe it.
(Devarim 30:11-14)
The Torah and its mitzvot are
not concealed from us, nor is their observance beyond our capabilities. The
Talmud says "Ain Hakadosh Baruch Hu ba bitrunya im bree'yotav." G-d
does not come in a storm with his creatures - Hashem does not ask us to do
something, that we are not capable of doing. Even though at times we feel that
we are incapable of withstanding our temptations, like it is impossible to keep
the commandments, we need to remember that the very fact Hashem commanded us is
proof that we do have the capability to do accordingly.
The fulfillment of the mitzvot
is not equally easy or difficult for each person. Nor is it always equally
difficult or easy to do the mitzvot. Life circumstances change every so often,
and what was easy yesterday may be very difficult today, and vice versa. We
need to know clearly, without any doubts - that every Jew possesses the
capability of 'messirut nefesh', the strength and capability to give our lives
for the sanctification of Hashem's Name. The Tanya teaches us that not only can
we access this phenomenal power of complete devotion to Hashem, when faced with
the ultimate choice of turning away from Hashem, or giving our lives for
Hashem, we can learn to utilize this great strength to live for G-d each day of
our lives. (See Tanya chap. 25) It is in this sense that the Torah is "not
distant from you ... Rather, this thing is very near to you, in your mouth and
heart to observe it."
In his commentary on the Tanya
(Ch. 25) Rav Steinsaltz explains that it has been said that the difference
between the righteous and the one who is not yet righteous can be portrayed as
follows: both say "Wait, I'll attend to you soon." The righteous one
says this to his 'yetzer hara' - his evil inclination, whereas the one who is
not yet righteous in his behaviour says this to his 'yetzer hatov' - his
righteous inclination. However every Jew can learn to access and utilize his
and her embedded and innate love for Hashem to live and act righteously each
day at all times.
The Sfas Emes explains that
"the mitzvah is not concealed from you ... rather, it is very near to you,
in your mouth and heart" teaches us that Hashem has given us the ability
to relate to both the revealed and hidden aspects of the Torah. The Torah is
accessible to us and near to us both in our speech [intellectual understanding]
and in our hearts [emotional understanding]. New aspects of the Torah are
revealed to us each day via the wisdom of the mind and the understanding of the
heart.
The key for unlocking the
wisdom of the Torah and its secrets is found in the performance of the mitzvot
- "For the mitzvah is a candle and the Torah is light." Through our
doing of the mitzvot we acquire the needed light to learn and understand both
the revealed and hidden aspects of the Torah.
To acquire the light of the
Torah and to see clearly in its light we further need to make a blessing both
before and after the reading and the study of the Torah - beforehand so that
the gateways should be opened for us, and after so that we should have a
correct and true understanding of what was revealed to us. (Based on
5664.)
Have a wonderful Shabbos,
B'ahavah ubivracha
Rav Sholom Brodt
with great sadness
May the memory of the sweeetest neshama Rav Sholom Brodt, z"l, be for a blesSing.
10 Elul 5777 - Sept. 1, 2017
(Levaya motzei Shabbat 12 Elul, Mount of Olives)
Rav Sholom Brodt
San Fernando Valley, CA
© Joy Krauthammer
Reb Sholom and friends, the Mallers and Joy Krauthammer
Very blessed that Rav Sholom z"l, accepted my invitation to teach one evening in the San Fernando Valley - Joy
+Joy.jpg)