Nitzavim

You are standing today, all of you (Deuteronomy 29:9) This is why Moshe assembled all the levels within Israel before his death and warned them that everyone must fulfill all the words of this Torah. As it is written: “You are standing today, all of you… your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers,” and so forth, “from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water” (Deuteronomy 29:9–10). Observe with whom he began and with whom he concluded: he began with the heads of the Children of Israel, who are exceedingly exalted in stature, and proceeded to enumerate all the levels in the world included within the ten categories he lists, until he concluded with “the hewer of your wood and the drawer of your water.”

These are the Givonim, who converted without pure intent but because of fear, as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said: this teaches that the Givonim came in the days of Moshe, and so forth (Rashi on Deuteronomy 29:10). They allude to the very lowest level. Before his passing, Moshe assembled them all and declared that he was transmitting the Torah to all of them, as it is written there: “For you to enter the covenant of Hashem your God,” and so forth (Deuteronomy 29:11).

He likewise warned there that he was transmitting the Torah to all generations until the end, as it is written: “Not with you alone,” and so forth; “but with whoever is here with us today before Hashem our God, and with whoever is not here,” and so forth (Deuteronomy 29:13–14). This teaches that the Torah was transmitted to everyone—to every level in every generation until the end—for all can succeed eternally through the Torah, whoever one may be and whatever one’s level, because the way of Torah is a shield for all.

You are standing today, all of you (Deuteronomy 29:9) Before Rosh Hashanah we read the parsha of “You are standing today, all of you,” and so forth (Deuteronomy 29:9), to inform all the souls of the House of Israel, great and small, that everyone must assemble together and be incorporated together in love within the supernal holiness—within the aspect of the Holy of Holies, the Foundation Stone, the inclusive intellect, which is the aspect of Moshe and the aspect of the true tzaddik, to whom one must travel for Rosh Hashanah.

By being incorporated together within the Foundation Stone—the inclusive intellect—each person merits reviving his own intellect until he can sweeten every kind of judgment and constriction. From there, sweetening is drawn to each person in his place, day, and hour. Each person, according to his particular state and wherever he may be—at home or on the road—must know that on that very day, during that very hour and moment, he can bind himself to Hashem, blessed be He, from the place where he presently stands, despite all his blemishes, confusions, crookedness of heart, and everything then passing over him, in accordance with the person, place, and time. For everything is sweetened and nullified through the aforementioned supernal inclusive intellect.

This is “You are standing today” (Deuteronomy 29:9)—the aspects of person, place, and time. “You” signifies the person, the aspect of the collective souls of Israel; “are standing” signifies the place upon which they stand; and “today” signifies time.

This is “All of you before Hashem your God” (Deuteronomy 29:9): all of you, each person in accordance with his place and hour, must know that today you stand and remain before Hashem your God. One merits this through incorporation within the true tzaddik, who is the aspect of the Holy of Holies, the Foundation Stone.

This is “For you to enter the covenant… that I establish with you today” (Deuteronomy 29:11), the aspect of: “Today, if you will heed His voice” (Psalms 95:7). One must strengthen oneself to begin the service of Hashem at every time, during every hour, and at every moment in which one stands, without postponing it at all from one day to the next. For one must know that in his world a person possesses only that particular day and moment, as it is written: “You attend to him each morning; You examine him every moment” (Job 7:18). (Likutay Halachos, Laws of a Deposit and the Four Custodians 5:36; following Otzar HaYirah, Awe and Divine Service 149)

You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, every man of Israel (Deuteronomy 29:9) Concerning clapping one hand against the other during prayer: our Sages, of blessed memory, asked why the Torah began with Bereishis. The idolaters will say to us: You are robbers, for you conquered the land of the seven nations. Therefore: “He declared the power of His works to His people” (Psalms 111:6)—He declared that all the worlds are entirely the work of His hands, and He gives them to whomever the Holy One, blessed be He, desires. This is “to give them the inheritance of nations” (Psalms 111:6), for everything is in His hand (Bereishis Rabbah 1:2; Rashi on Genesis 1:1).

All things are called “the power of His works,” corresponding to the twenty-eight letters of the account of creation and to the twenty-eight joints of the hands. It is known that the atmosphere of the lands of the nations is impure, whereas the atmosphere of Eretz Yisrael is holy and pure, for the Holy One, blessed be He, removed it from the hand of the idolaters and gave it to us. But in the lands of the nations—outside the Land—the atmosphere is impure.

When we clap one hand against the other, the twenty-eight letters of Bereishis—the “power of His works”—are awakened. It follows that it is in His hand to give us the inheritance of nations, for everything belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He. Through this we possess the power to purify the atmosphere of the lands of the nations, since those lands return beneath the dominion of the Holy One, blessed be He, and it is in His hand to give them to whomever He desires, as it is written: “To give them the inheritance of nations” (Psalms 111:6). The atmosphere of the place where the Jew prays is then purified, and he draws in holy air as in Eretz Yisrael.

This is “You are standing today” (Deuteronomy 29:9)—standing signifies prayer (Berachos 6b). “Before Hashem your God” (Deuteronomy 29:9) is the aspect of Eretz Yisrael, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: whoever dwells in Eretz Yisrael is like one who has a God (Kesubos 110b). That is: through what will you merit having your prayer take place in the atmosphere of Eretz Yisrael? Through “your heads, your tribes,” and so forth (Deuteronomy 29:9). The verse enumerates ten aspects, corresponding to the aspect of clapping the hands; through clapping, the prayer takes place in the atmosphere of Eretz Yisrael. (Likutay Moharan I, Teaching 44)

With whoever is here... and with whoever is not here (Deuteronomy 29:14) All the days of the tzaddik’s life are the aspect of day. Then occurs the principal drawing down to us, as he draws down holy daas and Torah. After his passing comes the aspect of night; the gates of Gan Eden are then closed, as it were, and daas departs. We must then revive ourselves through the Torah that he drew down upon us during the day—that is, during his lifetime. For the great tzaddikim, who are the aspect of Moshe, draw Torah from such a supernal, awesome, and exalted place and through such wondrous intellect that their Torah possesses the power eternally to restore and revive every soul that engages in it.

The revelation of their Torah came through elevating souls in the aspect of pregnancy, and so forth, as explained in the original discourse. Through their immense power they also elevated the souls destined to come in the future, in the aspect of: “Not with you alone… but with whoever is here… and with whoever is not here,” and so forth (Deuteronomy 29:13–14). They drew down Torah with such holiness that, for everyone who engages in their Torah, it will shine and enable him to emerge from his dark gloom, in the aspect of: “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path” (Psalms 119:105).

Through engaging in the Torah, his soul returns and is renewed even now in the aspect of pregnancy, because these Torah insights were drawn from the elevations and renewal of the souls “who are here” and “who are not here,” and so forth. This is the aspect of: “She perceives that her merchandise is good; her lamp does not go out at night” (Proverbs 31:18). That is, even during the night, after the tzaddik’s passing, the lamp of his holy Torah will never be extinguished.

The tzaddik who draws down Torah through the elevation of souls, as explained above, draws it down with such wondrous holiness that even afterward, when those souls are no longer with him but each is in his own home, every individual will nevertheless possess the power to draw upon himself the light of the holiness of that Torah, until it shines for him like a light and lamp by which to emerge from darkness into great light. (Likutay Halachos, Laws of Lost and Found Property 3:5, 7)

The hidden things belong to Hashem our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our children forever (Deuteronomy 29:28) Rashi, of blessed memory, explains this in relation to mutual guarantorship: “And if you say: You punish the many for the thoughts of the individual, and so forth; yet no person knows what is hidden within his fellow? I do not punish you for the hidden things, and so forth, but for the revealed things, and so forth” (Rashi on Deuteronomy 29:28); see there. That is, Scripture settles our minds and tells us not to fear this, for He does not, God forbid, deal tyrannically with us by placing upon us a burden that we cannot fulfill. We are required to do only what lies within our power.

We must educate our children and students in the path of holiness and see to it that they are added to the holy gathering. Through this we will, as a matter of course, discharge the obligation of mutual guarantorship, by virtue of the multitude of houses that will be added. For according to the calculation of permutations and the multiplication of houses built through the addition of stones, as explained in Sefer Yetzirah: three stones build six houses; four stones, twenty-four houses; five stones, one hundred twenty houses; and six stones, seven hundred twenty houses, and so forth—until the mouth is incapable of speaking it and the heart of conceiving it (Sefer Yetzirah 4:16).

The souls of Yisrael are likewise called stones, in the aspect of: “The holy stones are poured out at the head of every street” (Lamentations 4:1). Therefore, when one Jewish soul is added to some small gathering of Jews who have assembled for a holy purpose—and especially when they merit to gather around the true tzaddik, who occupies himself with the rectification of Jewish souls and with bringing them to the ultimate perfection of their holiness—then, through that soul newly added to them, the houses of holiness multiply beyond end and measure.

For example, when one soul is added to a holy gathering of nineteen Jewish souls, thereby making the number twenty, then, according to the calculation mentioned above, the houses increase by more than two thousand million times milli-million. You already know the number called a million: it is one thousand times one thousand; and milli-million is one thousand times one thousand million.

It follows that when one more soul is added, forming a holy gathering of twenty-one souls, the number will be twenty-one times the entire number stated above; and so it continues, until the mouth is truly incapable of speaking it and the heart of conceiving it. Through the immense multiplication of the houses, even the souls that are still entirely outside are brought inward, into the multitude of houses mentioned above, which, by virtue of their immense number, are built around those souls as well.

Through this, every person can discharge the obligation of mutual guarantorship, for every Jew is a guarantor for his fellow and for all Yisrael. Thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads of covenants were made concerning every single mitzvah, as explained in the words of our Sages, of blessed memory; and they said there: “There is a guarantor and a guarantor for the guarantor among them” (Sotah 37b). Seemingly, who can discharge the obligation of all the mutual guarantorship described above, especially in these generations?

Accordingly, one who wishes to discharge the obligation of mutual guarantorship, together with the immense multitude of covenants made concerning it, should endeavor to draw Jewish souls close to Hashem, blessed be He. Then, even if he merits only to add one soul to the holy gathering, many thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads of thousands of millions of houses are added through him; all the more so if he merits to draw several souls close. Through all this the houses multiply so greatly that even all those who are utterly distant, who are poured out at the head of every street, enter as a matter of course into the houses of holiness. In this way he discharges the obligation of mutual guarantorship with great completeness.

Every person can fulfill this by endeavoring, at the very least, to draw his children close to His service and His Torah, and to the holy gathering of those attached to the true tzaddik, the authentic leader, who guides them in the holy path—the true path of holiness in which our forefathers have walked from of old. This applies especially to one who merits to establish other students as well.

This is: “The hidden things belong to Hashem our God”—for He alone, blessed be He, knows hidden things, and He certainly will not punish us for what is hidden from us, as Rashi explains according to the subject and his approach. Rather, it is specifically “but the revealed things belong to us and to our children”: our principal obligation is to endeavor to draw our children and students—who are likewise called children—close, to the extent of our ability, to His service, blessed be He, and to join and add them to the holy gathering mentioned above. Through this the houses will multiply exceedingly, until everyone will, as a matter of course, be drawn inward. This is: “forever, to perform all the words of this Torah”—merely by drawing our few children and students close to the gathering, as mentioned above, the endurance of Torah and prayer will certainly be sustained forever, so as to perform all the words of this Torah; for through this, ultimately, everyone will truly be drawn close to Hashem, blessed be He (Deuteronomy 29:28). (Likutay Halachos, Laws of Procreation and Laws of Marriage 5:13)

Hashem your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring (Deuteronomy 30:6) If he merits truly to feel the pain of his sins—that is, when he circumcises the foreskin of his heart—for as long as his heart is uncircumcised and sealed, it is impossible for him truly to feel. Only when he circumcises the foreskin of his heart and a hollow is formed within his heart will his heart truly feel the magnitude of its pain, and he will genuinely regret and grieve. By virtue of the magnitude of that regret, all the hearts of all the drops that issued from him will also feel it; wherever they were drawn, they will feel it there, in the place where they are.

This applies both to the drops that issued from him and from which his human children came into being, and to those that issued from him to another place, God forbid—for there too they possess a heart and other limbs. Then, when he circumcises his heart and his heart feels the magnitude of its pain, and he begins truly to grieve and regret, all the hearts of those drops will feel it there. The truth will become known to them: in what filthy place they lie, in the lowest pit. At first it appears to them that things are well with them, for they are destructive forces of the world. Only afterward, when their hearts are circumcised through the circumcision of their father’s heart, do they feel where they are; they begin to grieve and lament, and a great tumult arises among them there.

This is: “Hashem your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring” (Deuteronomy 30:6). That is, when Hashem circumcises his heart, He will also circumcise the heart of his offspring. This applies wherever the seed was drawn: if it was drawn into the human species, his children are then compelled likewise to experience a thought of teshuvah through the circumcision of their father’s heart; and if it was drawn to another place, God forbid, the hearts there will be circumcised and will feel as described above. The time especially suited to this is the month of Elul, for “Elul” is an acronym of “your heart and the heart”—es livavcha vi’es livav. That is, Hashem will circumcise his own heart and also the unspecified heart dependent upon him, wherever it was drawn, as described above.

This means the heart of the drops, wherever they were drawn: both when they were drawn forth and his human children came into being from them, and when they were drawn, God forbid, to another place; these too are his children and are dependent upon him. Therefore, when a person passes away, they follow the bier and lament over him, just like his actual human children. Yet their following him and lamenting after him constitute great disgrace and shame for him, may the Merciful One save us. May the Merciful One save us from these punishments, as is known. (Likutay Moharan, Part I, Torah 141)

It is not in heaven (Deuteronomy 30:12) Certainly, even if it were possible to fulfill the Torah only by ascending to heaven—that is, by immediately performing exceedingly lofty forms of divine service, which are the aspect of heaven—we would certainly be required to ascend to heaven after it. For it is certainly fitting that a person serve Hashem, blessed be He, at the ultimate degree of the highest level, which is the aspect of heaven.

Hashem, blessed be He, however, desires kindness. “He knows our nature; He remembers that we are dust” (Psalms 103:14), and “the inclination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). It is impossible for every person to begin immediately with lofty forms of divine service reaching to heaven; and even after beginning, not every person merits lofty forms of service even at the end of his days. If so, God forbid, were Hashem, blessed be He, unwilling to accept the simple forms of service performed by ordinary worthy people, the hope of most of the world would be lost, God forbid.

The Torah therefore admonished concerning this: “It is not in heaven” (Deuteronomy 30:12), and concluded: “For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to perform it” (Deuteronomy 30:14). That is, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal tyrannically with His creatures, and He does not require a person to ascend to heaven—that is, specifically to perform lofty forms of service that he does not yet possess the strength to perform. Hashem, blessed be He, desires a person to do what is possible for him according to his level.

This is in the aspect of: “A ladder was set upon the earth, and its top reached toward heaven” (Genesis 28:12): he should draw himself upward little by little, each time higher and higher, proceeding from level to level. It is as we request every day: “Accustom us to Your Torah” (Berachos 60b)—specifically “accustom us,” like the habituation by which a person accustoms himself to something little by little.

It follows that, at the beginning of his divine service, a person need not look toward ascending immediately to a lofty level. This is the aspect of “It is not in heaven”: you need not ascend to heaven immediately. Rather, he must strengthen himself to draw close and immediately ascend to the level nearest him. This is: “For the matter is very near to you” (Deuteronomy 30:14). For in truth, the Torah and divine service that you must presently fulfill in accordance with His will, blessed be He, are very near to you; you need only strengthen yourself to ascend from your present level to the adjoining level, which is very near to you.

Concerning this you are admonished: “In your mouth and in your heart, to perform it” (Deuteronomy 30:14). One must strengthen himself greatly through words of Torah and prayer. Through them one cools the heat of the heart belonging to the sitra achra, so that the heart will not burn, God forbid, for evil desires; and one also cools the heat of the heart belonging to holiness, so that it will not burn beyond measure and seek to ascend immediately to what lies beyond him. Through this one merits to ascend from level to level and to perform all the words of this Torah. (Likutay Halachos, Laws of Terumos and Maasros 3:10; Otzar HaYirah, “Yirah and Divine Service,” 111)

For the matter is very near to you (Deuteronomy 30:14) It is impossible to receive the Torah, for every person and at every time—that is, to merit fulfilling the Torah and properly understanding the ways of the Torah, which is the essential aspect of receiving the Torah at all times, both collectively and individually within each person—except through great exertions. One must break through immense obstacles before each person merits the aspect of receiving the Torah, in accordance with the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory: “I exerted myself and found—believe it; I did not exert myself and found—do not believe it” (Megillah 6b).

One must be willing literally to surrender his soul and to descend into the sea and into the abyss itself in order to search for the ways of the holy Torah; that is, to break immense obstacles that are truly like a sea and an abyss. When a person is willing to do this, and his desire and yearning for the holy Torah are so strong, Hashem, blessed be He, assists him in meriting to break all the obstacles, and the obstacles fall away of themselves. For the Holy One, blessed be He, does not deal tyrannically with His creatures, and He does not send a person obstacles that he will be unable to break if he truly wills it.

The essential means is the force of desire. All the obstacles come upon a person only for the sake of trial and free choice; they are also drawn from the accusation of the Satan, who levels accusations against the aspect of receiving the Torah, both collectively and individually. Yet as soon as the person is so strong in holy desire that he is willing literally to surrender his soul and to break every obstacle, all the accusations fall away of themselves. Since he is willing to break such obstacles, he certainly deserves, on that account, to merit receiving the Torah. All the obstacles then fall away of themselves, and he merits receiving the Torah in completeness.

This is the aspect of: “It is not in heaven… for the matter is very near to you” (Deuteronomy 30:12–14). As soon as he is strong in holy desire—to the point that he would be willing to ascend to heaven for it and likewise to cross beyond the sea for it, in the manner explained there by Rashi (Rashi on Deuteronomy 30:12–13)—then immediately, “it is very near to you”: all the obstacles fall away of themselves, and all matters of holiness become near to him, as described above. (Likutay Halachos, Laws of Kashering Vessels 4:24; Otzar HaYirah, “Torah Study”)

Which I command you today (Deuteronomy 30:16) The essential meaning of a person’s length of days is that one must take care to lengthen and broaden the day, each and every day. For at its beginning every single day is exceedingly short, and it comes upon a person—each individual according to his own aspect—in great constriction. This is plainly perceptible: at the beginning of every day, the divine service that a person must perform on that day is exceedingly difficult for him.

Because of this, many people refrain from His service, blessed be He, and postpone and mislead themselves each and every day. They say: “Today it is difficult for me to pray; today my heart is sealed; today I have these obstacles and confusions.” Almost every day something of this kind occurs to him, until, because of it, many people treat lightly matters that stand at the height of the world—and what are they? Prayer (Berachos 6b). Prayer seems to them like a burden, and they wish to cast it off themselves.

All this results from their failure to understand and to set their hearts to observing carefully that this is how it is every single day. At its beginning, every day is short and comes upon a person in great straits and constriction; the divine service and holiness that he must accomplish on that day are still hidden within great constriction and exceedingly profound smallness. A person, however, must be mighty as a lion every day and strengthen himself to lengthen and broaden the day; at every hour he must proceed from smallness to greatness, increasing the day at each hour with an additional measure of holiness. This is the essence of divine service: at every time to emerge from mochin of smallness into mochin of greatness.

This is the essential Exodus from Egypt that we must remember each and every day: every day we must endeavor to emerge from constriction into expansiveness. This is the aspect of: “From the strait I called to Yah; Yah answered me with expansiveness” (Psalms 118:5). This is the essential meaning of a person’s length of days, as described above. (Likutay Halachos, Laws of Theft 3:10; Otzar HaYirah, “Yirah and Divine Service”)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today (Deuteronomy 30:19) Precisely two witnesses are required in order to reveal truth from amid falsehood. They are the aspect of heaven and earth, the aspect of above and below, in the aspect of: “If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in the netherworld, behold, You are there” (Psalms 139:8). For the entirety of the Torah is faith, as it is written: “All Your commandments are faith” (Psalms 119:86); and as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Habakkuk came and established them upon one”—namely, faith (Makkos 24a).

The essence of faith, which depends upon truth, consists in the two aspects mentioned above. One must believe in Hashem, blessed be He: that He is the singular, primordial One, Who was, is, and will be; and one must likewise believe in His existence, blessed be He. One must believe that He is the Creator, He is the Former, He is the Director—the King, Ruler, and Governor—Who exercises providence over everything from beginning to end. For if a person does not believe, God forbid, that He, blessed be He, rules over everything and that His kingship continually governs all, he denies the root and severs the plantings.