Knesses Yisrael

There are many people who won't stand before Hashem on Rosh Hashana. There are Jews who don't even know they're Jews or that's it Rosh Hashana. Even those who do know, may not feel connected. The Alter Rebbe (Rav Shneur Zalman of Liadi) says, "Atem nitzavim hayom..." The preparation to stand in the presence of the Creator on Rosh Hashana depends largely on strengthening the connection to knesset Yisrael, the body of klal Yisrael. Regardless of where a Jew will be on Rosh Hashana, whether in shul, or at home, or in the office, every spark of nishmat Yisrael returns to the central flame of knesset Yisrael, to the root of its existence in heaven.

The Tanya says there are 600,000 nishamot klaliyut, general souls. These souls of the generation are the roots which divide further to 600,000 sparks. Every nishmat Yisrael contains a spark. A tzadik is a neshama klaliyut and his presence rests within each of the souls of klal Yisrael in his generation and on a deeper level in all generations. He vitalizes, invigorates, and strengthens every spark. In the verse of Atem nitzavim, the Torah reveals ten levels of Jews which corresponds to the ten sefirot (attributes) within every Jew. Three levels correspond to the intellect-chacham, binah, daat, while the other seven levels relate to the emotions. The entire Jewish people down to the smallest Jew are like one body called klaliyut knesset Yisrael, the ingathering of Yisrael consisting of different organs. The leaders and great tzadikim correspond to rasheichem, the head and einei haedah, the eyes of the people.

For everything in this world that is holy, there is something counteracting it. The Gemara says that the seir l'azzel was thrown off the mountain and smashed limb by limb. This symbolizes the fate of Esav and Amalek. His limbs will fall apart one from the other. Esav symbolizes the world of division and separation while klal Yisrael comes from the world of oneness which corresponds to the seir l'Hashem. The Torah lists ten types of Jews in the verse of Atem nitzavim, among them woodchoppers and water carriers. This corresponds to the 10 powers of the soul. Within every spark of klal Yisrael, there exists all of klal Yisrael. Every Jew is bound to the entire knesset Yisrael through the ten supernal sefirot with which Hashem created the world. To understand oneself, one has to understand the 10 powers of the soul, the atzemecha, of how Hashem created the world and how He is revealed in the world through the 10 sefirot. Knowing yourself is knowing the Elokut (divine part) of oneself, that which makes one special. Everything else is an outgrowth of it. People are drawn to things which are rooted in their dominant sefira. Trying to break that causes suffering to the soul. Even if one works at making a different attribute dominant it will never become natural. Man comes from the root of chesed while women stem from the root of gevurah. Still within every one, there's a quality of the other, so that there's an interfacing of the sefirot.

Elkanah and his household went up to Shilo to offer up a sacrifice of gratitude. Rebbetzin Kanievski would say that when one sees a small improvement in one's situation, not necessarily the final one, one should say Nishmat. The act of expressing gratitude in and of itself causes changes. Chana didn't go up with her husband. She said, "Until the boy is weaned and then I'll bring him to see Hashem's face and he'll dwell there forever." We find in the Torah that when Yitzchak was weaned, Avraham made a party. Rav Hirsh explains that in an ideal state a parent looks forward to the time when his child will become independent. In the case of Yitzchak and Shmuel who were born to mothers who were quite old, just wanting them with them a while longer would have been the most natural thing. Yet they looked forward to the time when their children could dedicate themselves to Hashem.

It was greatness on Eli's part to accept Shmuel at his age because he understood the gravity of a vow, just as it was greatness on Chana's part to give him up. "And the child was a child." He acted like a child but he was verbal. The Gemara says he answered questions addressed to Eli in his presence. Eli wanted to kill Shmuel in keeping with the din of someone who says Torah in front of his Rebbe. Chana implored him not to do so. Eli said to her, "I could daven for you for another child and he'll be greater than him." But Chana said no. "This is the child I prayed for. I don't want something better. This is better." Whatever Hashem gives you in response to tefilah is what you're meant to have.

The Rambam says there are five different factors that make a person unique. The first is one's physical nature. Although Shmuel was bright and born circumcised, he was basically an ordinary child. The second factor is environment. Shmuel grew up in rarified sanctified surroundings. The fact that he reached the level of Moshe and Aharon didn't just stem from his giftedness but from what he was exposed to as a child. We too have to take responsibility to make sure our children grow up in an environment conducive to spirituality. There are a lot of fairly innocent pursuits where we have to ask ourselves, "Where will this take our children?" The answer isn't always so simple. Our job as parents is to make it easy for our children to find their yetzer tov and to do battle with the yetzer hara. Sometimes you have to throw the yetzer hara a bone or you can end up mystifying and glamorizing something you don't want your child drawn into. But you also have to be careful not to fall in the trap of saying yes when you should say no and thereby making it harder for your child. A responsible parent will stay focused and directed, make the effort to really get to know his child, find his strengths, and capitalize on that.

The third thing that makes one person different from another is the things we teach ourselves. We learn and draw conclusions about life. In raising children you sometimes have to teach them to reframe experiences so they can see things from a different perspective and make decisions for the future. The fourth element is habit. It's very hard to break old habits. The only way to do so is by introducing new behaviors slowly. Children are young and are still flexible. If you see a bad habit developing, stop it. Give your child a new way of responding. The fifth aspect is potential. There's negative and positive potential within each of our children. We have to redirect the former while nurturing the latter. May we merit the wisdom to nurture our sons and daughters in the path of Torah so that they grow to be worthy servants of Hashem.