On Rosh Hashana, G-d Embraces ‘All of You’
The mystics teach that the opening verse of parshas Nitzavim, which is always read on the last shabbos of the year, alludes to the upcoming holiday of Rosh Hashana. On the simple level, the verse was spoken on the day of Moses’ death, when he gathered all of the people together to address them and strengthen them before his passing. He therefore states “you are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your G-d,” and he then goes on to list all of the various types of people that comprised the nation, “the leaders of your tribes, your elders, your sheriffs” etc. (Deut. 29 9-10).
On a deeper level, the Alter Rebbe explains, the word “hayom/today” links this verse to the same word in the book of Job which refers to Rosh Hashana: “vayehi HAYOM vayavo’u bnei ha-E-lohim l’hityatzeiv al A-donai/And there was A DAY when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord” (Job 1:6). “‘This “day”,’ said (Rabbi Elazar), ‘was New Year’s Day, on which the Holy One sits in judgement on the world’” (Zohar II, 32b).
On this homiletic level, the term “kulchem/all of you,” refers not simply to all of the people, but to every aspect of each person. The Zohar teaches that the verse identifies ten different categories of people, “the leaders of your tribes, your elders … from your woodcutter to your water-drawer,” because it is a reference to the ten sefiros, or attributes, that comprise every individual (Zohar II, 82a).
From here we learn that “All of you,” every part of your being, comes to stand before G-d on Rosh Hashana. It is not merely a portion of you that presents itself to Hashem on this holy day. It is the complete complement of all of your attributes – the spiritual and the physical, the sacred and the profane, the good and the bad. And though it is the Day of Judgment, “you are standing today, all of you” – you are not falling, or failing, or cowering, but you are “standing” before Hashem.
How is it possible for us to do so? We have not been perfect, and if we are presenting all of our ourself, then there are certainly aspects that we are not proud of. Yet Hashem accepts and embraces “kulchem/all of you.” This, the Alter Rebbe teaches, is because we are approaching on this powerful day “lifnei A-donai.” Simply translated as “before G-d,” this phrase more literally means “to the face of G-d” which represents His innermost essence. At that level, there is no differentiation – no good and bad, no holy and unholy – there is only One, and “all of you” is G-dly.
The Kabbalist Avraham Abulafia taught that the holy name of G-d, י-הוה/Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei, is an acronym for “Yetzer Hatov V’yeitzer Hara/the good inclination AND the evil inclination.” We mistakenly believe that G-d is found only in our righteousness – but G-d is ONE, and therefore He is there even in our missteps and our darkest, deepest depths.
Rosh Hashana is a new beginning. We have been scattered and pulled in various directions throughout the past year. We have devoted some of our time and energy to good and G-dly pursuits, and some (perhaps much) of our time and energy has been devoted elsewhere. But on Rosh Hashana we come back to stand “lifnei A-donai,” to the root and core of our being. There Hashem embraces us, ALL of us, and we are reminded that He is One, and that we are One; that He creates every aspect of us, and that we are here to integrate all of our faculties to reveal His unified light throughout His creation.
— Pnei Hashem is an introduction to the deepest depths of the human experience based on the esoteric teachings of Torah. www.pneihashem.com
