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Parshas Ki Savo - Yom HaDin Impact

By Rabbi Moshe Meiselman

Posted on 09/23/16

Parshas HaShavua Divrei Torah sponsored by
Dr. Shapsy Tajerstein, DPM - Podiatry Care.
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Before Rosh haShannah we read brochos and klollos of Mishna Torah. Why did Chazal make such a chiyuv?


As we approach Rosh Hashono, we approach the Yom Hadin. We have to take serious inventory about what our yiddishkeit means to us, what Torah means to us, and how are we measuring up to what the Torah demands of us.


The brochos and klolos of Mishna Torah begin with an introduction. There was a first bris made between Klal Yisroel and Hashem on Har Sinai, and a second bris is being made in Arvos Moav with the new generation of the Jewish People 40 years later who will be entering into Eretz Yisroel. It is a whole different situation and period of history.


When Klal Yisroel left Egypt, they were formed and fashioned as a people through kabbolas HaTorah. They spent 40 years in a barren desert, detached from civilization. They ate mon and drank water from a rock, surrounded by anonei kovod. It is a supernatural existence. But when they come to Arvos Moav, they enter real life. They’ve conquered large amounts of territory and some shevotim have already started to settle and build. They are surrounded by other nations and civilizations. They are beginning normal, real life in the world. It is a whole different situation. And the bris reflects this.


Hashem begins the bris by establishing a special relationship between Him and Klal Yisroel. He is focusing on Klal Yisroel out of all the creations in the universe, and we have to dedicate our lives to five elements: 1) imitating Hashem’s middos 2) Listening to chukim 3) mitzvos, and 4) mishpotim. Out of the three types of mitzvos, chukim have a special role. Every mitzvah has two dimensions—one is the impact that it has on the human being—whether it’s his mind, his character or his emotions. The other is the statement one makes when he fulfills a mitzvah that he is submitting to Hashem’s command. Our will is not primary. Our wisdom is not primary. We sacrifice our will and our minds to Hashem’s will and wisdom. Chukim emphasize this dimension of a mitzvah.


Mishpotim which are logical and natural have certain absolute rules in the details of the halachos which may not be understandable. Chok is completely removed from our understanding. Mitzvos like eating matzah on Pesah is something we wouldn’t think of ourselves, but have some reason behind it that we can appreciate. 5) But we don’t obey the Torah because of its benefits to us a individuals and a society. We obey the Torah regardless of what it demands—logical or not—because it is rotzon Hashem.


There is a progression. We keep mitzvos and accept the yoke of obligation. We become a superior nation that all the nations look up to, and finally we become the am kodosh. Our national identity is uniquely defined by our relationship with Hashem. It demands that we lift ourselves up to earn that status of being the Chosen People. The bris is a two-way contract. There are brochos and klollos on Har Gerizim and Har Eval. When you look to one mountain, it is green and full of vegetation, and when you look to the other mountain is is totally barren and desolate. One is brocho and one is klolloh.


We have to ask ourselves a troubling question in this time of year: Is yiddishkeit at the center of your life, defining who you are? Or is there something else which defines you and Torah and mitzvos are on the periphery. The message of Har Gerizim and Har Eval are clear. When you keep the Torah and uphold the bris to be a superior nation, Hashem showers us with brocho. When we don’t keep Torah and we sink down to the lowest common denominator, we become totally barren and desolate. Keeping mitzvos is not an optional part of life. It is the most important thing we can do at all.


The cheshbon hanefesh we need to make is discovering within ourselves what is important in life and what isn’t. Before Klal Yisroel are allowed to enter Eretz Yisroel and start living regular, natural life, they have to be reminded who they are and what their relationship with Hashem depends on. Our identity revolves around this relationship. Our success depends on our relationship. Yiddishkeit is not peripheral. It is central to everything in life.


Notice how the parsha opens—bikkurim. We give the first fruit to the Kohem and make a declaration. Why am I standing here in the Beis Hamikdosh? What brought me to this place on earth and this moment in time. We need to realize that this is happening 1000 years after Yetziyas Mitzrayim. The person who has his farm somewhere in Eretz Yisroel is reciting the history of Klal Yisroel from Avrohom Ovinu onward. He attests to the fact that his whole existence today is a continuation of the original bris Hashem made with the Ovos and with Klal Yisroel to give them Eretz Yisroel. When a Jew looks at what he is, the answer has to be his relationship with Hashem.


We have to confront the reality that wherever we are in life, our existence as frum Jews is that we take yiddishkeit very, very seriously. It is not some layer of religion added to our lives. It IS our life—it’s what our life is about. We can go into business, but we need to recognize that on Rosh Hashono, the gezeiroh of our future parnossoh is based on how well we are keeping the Torah. Whether there will be war or won’t be war is based on how well we are keeping the Torah. As much as all the leaders and pundits think it depends on this or that factor, we know it depends on us and how well we keep the Torah. Torah is our lives and the source of the life of the universe.


The brochos in this parsha describe amazing blessings in every aspect of individual and national life. It all comes from keeping the bris. And the klolos impact all areas of individual and national life. Chazal made the takkono to read these parshiyos to understand clearly how important Torah is to the life of every Jew, and how deeply it affects every aspect of his life. It is not to depress us or discourage us. It is to wake us up to realize how central Torah must be in our lives. The Torah completely disregards all natural forces or societal forces of cause and effect. The Torah says it is Hashem who decides all these things based on how well we keep the Torah.


Rosh Hashono is a time when we take a step back and reflect how seriously we took Torah till now. It is also a time to look into the future: will our level of identity with the Torah be the same it’s been till now, or will it be different?


Towards the end of the tochocho, we read that these kollos will chase after us and catch up to us because we refused to submit to the will of Hashem. Not just by doing aveiros, but by not doing avodas Hashem with simchoh and good hearts when He gave us so much blessing. When Hashem brings prosperity, it is an opportunity to enhance our level of avodas Hashem. When we use that opportunity correctly, the blessings continue and increase. When we squander those opportunities and misuse them, they are taken away. This is how we approach the events of the world, and the day of Rosh Hashono as the Yom Hadin.


Chazal point out that the extra dimension that is unique to this bris is the concept of “arvus”. What is the definition of arvus? The gemara in Rosh Hashono talks about being motzi someone else with a mitzvah that we perform. In order to be motzi someone else, I have to myself be obligated in that same mitzvah on the same level. If I am not obligated, I cannot be motzi someone.


The rishonim ask: if the person already fulfilled his mitzvah earlier how can he still be motzi others when he is no longer obligated? The Ran answers that there are two dimensions to a person’s obligation in mitzvos. You have your personal mitzvah and a second element is to make sure that other people fulfill their obligation. That is a part of my mitzvah embedded in every mitzvah.


It is not limited to mitzvos. The Gemara in Shabbos tells a frightening story about what happened in Bayis Rishon before the churbon. Hashem instructed His angels to put a letter tof on the forehead of each Jew. Put a black tof (For Torah) upon the tzaddikim who will be spared, and a red tof (for Toe’voh) on the heads of resho’im who will be destroyed. Curiously enough, the middas Hadin protested—why are you killing the wicked and sparing the tzaddikim? Hashem answered that this is what each group deserves! The middas hadin argued that the tzaddikim are not so worthy—they saw what the wicked were doing and made no effort the object and give rebuke. Had they given rebuke, maybe the wicked would have done teshuvoh! Hashem responds that it is clear to Me that their rebuke would not have helped. The middas hadin responded that this may have been known to Hashem, but how could the tzaddikim have known it was futile to rebuke them? Hashem acknowledged the argument and instructed the angels to switch all the tofs to red. And He gave the order to begin the churbon with the tzaddikim.


This story has frightening implications. It means if someone is a complete tzaddik, doing all the mitzvos and no aveiros, but he has a Jewish next-door neighbor who is evil and doesn’t try to influence him into doing teshuvoh, that tzaddik is implicated. There is a relationship of arvus between all Jews. This arvus is very real and practical. I am responsible not only for my own Torah but for the Torah of anyone I can impact and influence. The Torah wasn’t given to us as isolated individuals. It was given to us a national unit. As part of a nation, we rise together or fall together. As an individual, I am responsible to help the group rise, and I can’t just stand as a bystander and watch it fall.


The Torah says there is a curse for someone who fails to “prop up” the Torah. The Yerushalmi quoted by the Ramban there says that if someone learns and keeps the Torah but could have inspired others to keep the Torah and didn’t, is included in this curse. All Jews are responsible for one another. King Yoshiyau read this verse and took on that responsibility to revolutionize the Jewish community in his time.


The biggest rewrad of kriyas HaTorah is to do hagboh. Why? Because when he picks up the Torah, everyone in shul proclaims the truth of the Torah. The person doing hagboh gets the biggest credit for doing that - for ensuring that the community acknowledged the truth of the Torah.


Each person is a part of different social circles at different times of his life and sometimes at the same time. One’s sense of responsibility should grow as he goes through life in various ways and degrees. This sense of arvus is alien to western culture. Western culture tells us to honor people’s personal space - not to be critical or to delegitimize someone else’s religious feelings or experiences. All streams of Judaism are equally valid. No. We know the truth and we have an obligation to help as many Jews as possible realize the truth.


Another aspect of arvus is expressed at the end of Parshas Shoftim. Hashem should atone for the nation that He has redeemed. The gemara says even those who left Egypt need the kapporoh of the egloh arufoh. How is that possible? The haftoroh of Parshas Bahalosecho talks about Yehoshuah Kohen Godol standing before a maloch. The maloch tells him that if he walks in Hashem’s ways, keeps the Torah, and judges Klal Yisroel properly and build the Beis Hamikdosh correctly, then he will become a “mehalech” among the “omdim”.


The Vilna Gaon explains that no Jew is stationary. A Jew while alive is either is rising in madreigos or declining. After 120 years when there are no more opportunities for doing mitzvos and aveiros, then your level is fixed based on what you’ve achieves and you become an “omeid”. But certain tzaddikim can continue to be “mehalchim” even after death.


This happens because a person is judged based on more than what he did which impacted his own neshomo. He is judged on what his impact was –and what it continues to be—on all the people he came in contact with. So if people are still being affected by what this person said or did (or didn’t do) after he dies, that impact is part of this person’s judgment in Heaven –whether positive or negative-and his level keeps moving up or down even after he dies. I am not only responsible for the narrow things I do for myself, but also for how I impact others—for better or worse.


Kaddish for a parent comes from a similar idea. There is a story about Rebbi Akiva in Meseches Sofrim. Once an evil man came to Rebbi Akiva in a dream and pleaded to him to save him from all the severe punishments he is getting in Gehhinom. Rebbi Akivah asked whether he left a son behind? The roshoh said yes, and he told him his name and his location. Rebbi Akivah found him completely abandoned and ignorant, so he took him under his wing and taught him enough basic information to be able to go to shul and say kaddish. After his son did that, the rosho came back to Rebbi Akivah and thanked him for arranging that he be spared from the terrible suffering of Gehhinom. A parent is judged by the impact he had on his children and what thye do.


A person has to gain a wider, long-term perspective about his life and his actions. He has to calculate how he is going to affect other people around him as well as future generations after him. He has to be mindful regarding what will be the repercussions of those actions back on him in the next world. I have a responsibility to make sure future generations are impacted positively by what I do. If I bring kovod to Hashem and His Torah in the eyes of other people, I am doing a Kiddush Hashem and I’m rewarded. If chas ve’sholom I cause the Torah to be disgraced and looked down upon by people, then I’ve made a chillul Hashem and I am severely punished. I have a responsibility for the impact I have on others.


The bris of arvus lies at the heart of what it means to be an Am Seguloh. We are a single organic unit where each individual affects the entire unit. My obligation is to make sure the impact is positive. The Parsha says Hashem made a bris with Klal Yisroel—whether they were physically present at the time or not didn’t matter. Because Klal Yisroel is one single unchanging unit comprised of all Jewish neshomos together. Hashem made a bris with this entity called Klal Yisroel and all Jews throughout all times of history are part of that unit. One Jew can have an impact on the entire unit. That is the essence of arvus.


One of the reasons these parshiyos have to read before the Yom Hadin is because we have to make a cheshbon hanefesh about the impact we have on other people as well as ourselves.


Arvus means responsibility for the people you confront and interact with. Klal Yisroel is one group—a single unit. We rise together and we fall together. A yeshivah is also a group. Hopefully we are all here to rise. But we rise as a group. There is no such thing and looking out for your own personal growth at the expense of anyone else’s growth.


Parshas Ki Savo is the beginning of the bris of Arvos Moav where Klal Yisroel ceased to be a band of individuals and became an interdependent unit. While they were in the midbor, it was very idyllic and simple. Now they are entering normal life with its complicated structures of nationhood and society. When we enter the days before the Yom Hadin, one of the things we have to think about is: what are the ways my life and my actions impact the people around me? Are they positive or negative? It is all part of the cheshbon hanefesh of preparing for the Yom Hadin.