By HaRav Dov Begonis head of Jerusalem's Yeshivat Machon Meir.
“You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God” (Devarim 29:9).
Rashi brings a Midrash Aggadah: “Why is the section ‘You are standing’ adjacent to the curses (in the previous verses)? Because when Israel heard one hundred curses minus two, besides the forty-nine curses that are in Vayikra, their faces turned green and they said: ‘Who can stand up to these?’ Moshe began to appease them: ‘You are standing today’ - you have angered the Omnipresent greatly, yet He did not make an end of you, and behold you still exist before Him.”
The Nation of Israel lives and exists until today and forever.
The author of “Maor VaShemesh” explains that Moshe our teacher gave Israel advice how to be saved from all these curses: “The main shield against destruction is love and unity. When there is love and unity in Israel there is no place for calamity, as the Sages said: ‘Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone’ - that even if, Heaven forbid, they are idol worshippers, but there is among them connection without division of hearts, then they will live in peace and rest. Through love and unity they are distanced from the curses and from the sufferings. And this is, ‘You are standing today, all of you’ - by ‘your heads, your judges, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel’ being with one heart in loving brotherhood.”
And indeed, at Mount Sinai, Israel stood at the base of the mountain as one man with one heart, and from this they merited to receive the holy Torah in unity (Ba’al HaTurim).
As of now, on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, when we bless others saying: “May the year end with its curses, may the year begin with its blessings,” it is not enough merely to bless - we must also act and do, so that the curses and calamities be removed and the blessings descend upon us. The more we act and do for the unity of the nation, to increase love in Israel, and the more we live together in love, we will be able to stand firm against enemies and defeat them.
It is from this active pursuit of national unity that we will merit peace and continue to advance on the path toward complete Redemption. Thus, our request will be fulfilled: “Save Your people and bless Your inheritance, tend them and exalt them forever.”
Anticipating victory and complete salvation, I extend to everyone a blessing of a good and sweet year.