Bostoner Torah Insights: Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in Hebrew and English: Parshas Ki Tavo – 20 Elul 5785
Bostoner Torah Insights - Yerushalayim
Bostoner Torah Insights
Bostoner ‘Chassidus’ in English
Parshas Ki Tavo – 20 Elul 5785
Bostoner Rebbe shlit”a – Yerushalayim
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The phrase HaYom HaZeh [this very day] is a common terminology found in the Torah – 33 times to be exact. However, Parshas Ki Tavo contains a relatively high concentration where the phrase appears three separate times.
The first instance is in regard to the observance of Mitzvos (Devarim 26:16). Some suggest the Torah is eluding to the 613 Mitzvos. Others explain that this is referring to the impending completion of the Written Torah, which coincides with Moshe’s passing. After “HaYom HaZeh” there is nothing more to add, retract or amend to the Written Torah.
The second occurrence is ‘On this very day you have become a nation’ (27:9). From this point forward there is a national imperative of Areivus, where each Jew is a guarantor for the deeds of his fellow Jew. Klal Yisroel can be compared to passengers aboard a single boat, where one may not drill a hole on their side of the boat and claim that others should mind their own business.
The third citation relates that Hashem did not give Klal Yisroel ‘a heart to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear until this very day’. Since the literal translation is not feasible, commentaries explain that this refers to Torah knowledge. It is the realization that for the first time Klal Yisroel was given the ability to fully comprehend the Torah transmitted through Moshe (29:3)
We may suggest that the first HaYom HaZeh, which eludes to the completion of the Written Torah, is a hint to the concept of ‘World’, along the lines that ‘Hashem gazed into the Torah and created the World’. It is noteworthy that the phrase HaYom HaZeh is found in the beginning of the Pasuk, since it refers to an era before the creation of the ‘World’. Alternatively, the world’s continued existence is dependent upon the observance of Torah and Mitzvos (see Avos 1:2 and Rashi to Beraishis 1:31).
Furthermore, the second HaYom HaZeh eludes to ‘Time’ since only at this specific time, with the installment of Areivus did B’nei Yisroel officially become a nation. Once again, it is interesting that HaYom HaZeh is found in the middle of the Pasuk, hinting to the period of ‘Time’ at the relative midpoint of Jewish History, the ‘current day’ of the year 2488.
Finally, the third HaYom HaZeh hints to the soul of ‘Man’, since it took forty years of learning Torah from Moshe Rabbeinu for each Jew to have a comprehensive understanding of the Torah. Accordingly, we find the words HaYom HaZeh at the end of the Pasuk, since it was only on this very day, after decades under Moshe’s tutelage that this comprehension of Torah was accomplished. Alternatively, ‘Man’ was created on the sixth and last day and is viewed as the culmination of Creation.
The Rebbe zt”l pointed out that the phrase of HaYom HaZeh connects to the upcoming festival of Yom Kippur, ‘Because on this very day He will bring atonement upon you, to purify you from all of your sins…” (Vayikra 16:30) This portion which is read on Yom Kippur is juxtaposed with the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, teaching us that just as Yom Kippur atones, so too does the death of the righteous atone (Yerushalmi Yoma 1:1)
With this in mind, we may add that HaYom HaZeh in Parshas Ki Tavo is referring precisely to the last day of Moshe Rabbeinu’s life in This World. That very day, with its components of the Written Torah, Mitzvos, Areivus and Daas Torah, coinciding with the atonement inherent in Moshe’s passing, is a day that should be as vivid to us today as it was then. As we recite in the Kriyat Shema twice daily, ‘Let these matters that I command you today be upon your heart’ each and every day until the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeynu.--