The Totality of Judgment

A person is made up and created by different aspects and influences, some internally bred and others that come from the outside. The Zohar Hakadosh says that the opening verse of Parshas Nitzavim, אתם נצבים היום - You are standing today, refers to Rosh Hashanah. When you stand on Rosh Hashanah before Hashem, its כולכם - all of you. You along with all of those influences that have helped mold your existence. The verse continues, ראשיכם שבטיכם וכו' טפכם נשיכם - your heads, your tribes, your elders, women and children, all of them. And we have to decide which things work for us and which have not been helpful to the mission. Those things that were detrimental, that compromised our dreams and integrity are חוטב עציך - wood-choppers; we must chop them down and cut them out. And those things that we would like to draw more of are שואב מימך - water-carriers, as water is a source of life and vibrancy. All of them are here with us on the Day of Judgment. We can not ignore anything in our lives for on this day it is all לפני ה' אלקיכם, before Hashem, your G-d. We must address everything. To conveniently forget about any particular skeleton in the closet, aspect of our personality that needs tending to or any choice that we have made that we are maintaining, is to deny outright the totality of Hashem’s scrutiny. We bring everything with us when we step into the courtroom.

As we approach Rosh Hashanah, we must look deeply into our lives and selves and decide which things are wood-choppers, the detrimental forces that must be excised, and which are water-carriers, those things that revitalize us and bring us closer to the Source of Life.

(Shabbos Netzavim-Vayelech 5767)