This D’var Torah should be a Zechus L’Ilui Nishmas my mother Chaya Rochel Bas Dovid Tzvi (Hareini Kaparas Mishkavah), my sister Kayla Rus Bas Bunim Tuvia A”H, my maternal grandfather Dovid Tzvi Ben Yosef Yochanan A”H, my maternal grandfather Dovid Tzvi Ben Yosef Yochanan A”H, my paternal grandfather Moshe Ben Yosef A”H, my paternal grandmother Channah Freidel Bas Avraham A”H, my uncle Reuven Nachum Ben Moshe & my great aunt Rivkah Sorah Bas Zev Yehuda HaKohein,

It should also be in Zechus L’Refuah Shileimah for:

-My father Bunim Tuvia Ben Channa Freidel

-My grandmother Shulamis Bas Etta

-MY BROTHER: MENACHEM MENDEL SHLOMO BEN CHAYA ROCHEL

-Mordechai Shlomo Ben Sarah Tili

-Noam Shmuel Ben Simcha

_R’ Simcha Yitzchak Ben Mirela Yudka

-Chaya Rochel Ettel Bas Shulamis

-It should also be a Z’chus for an Aliyah of the holy Neshamos of HaRav HaGa’on V’Sar HaTorah Shmaryahu Yosef Chaim Ben HaRav Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky A”H, Dovid Avraham Ben Chiya Kehas—R’ Dovid Winiarz ZT”L, Miriam Liba Bas Aharon—Rebbetzin Weiss A”H, as well as the Neshamos of those whose lives were taken by terrorists (Hashem Yikom Damam), COVID-19, and other tragedies.

-It should also be a Z’chus for success for Tzaha”l as well as the rest of Am Yisrael, in Eretz Yisrael and in the Galus.

בס”ד

Be”H, I will be translating / transcribing / paraphrasing Divrei Torah of my Rebbi, HaGaon R’ Yonason Avner Sacks Shlita. (Any inaccuracies, whether added, misrepresented, or due to omission and/or points lost in translation or context should be attributed to me alone. * = My addition.)

“Parshas Ki Savo – Takanas Ezra & Arvus” (2020)

     The reading of Parshas Ki Savo is not just an ordinary Parsha HaShevuah, but it fulfills a Takanas Ezra (Institution of Ezra) as the Gemara in Megilah (31B) states that the Brachos (blessings) and Klalos (curses) of Tocheichah, or the passage of Admonition in Sefer Devarim, should be read before Rosh HaShannah, “K’dei SheTichleh HaShannah V’Kilelosehah,” literally, “in order that the year should conclude and its curses” (Ibid.).

     The Gemara there actually notes that there are two such passages of Brachah and Klalah in the Torah, and that the same Takanas Ezra rules that the Brachos and Klalos of Sefer Vayikra be read before Shavuos, for the same reason,  “K’dei SheTichleh HaShannah V’Kilelosehah.”

     Why in fact does the Torah contain two Tocheichos? Why are two such passages necessary?

     The Ramban writes at length that the two Parshiyos of Brachah and Klalah correspond to the two Churbanos (destructions), that of Bayis Rishon and that of Bayis Sheini. The Ramban elaborates that if one were to look at the tragic curses of these two Parshiyos, one will observe stunningly that the Klalos of Sefer Vayikra align precisely with the misfortune that took place during the era of Churban Bayis Rishon, and that the Klalos of Sefer Devarim align precisely with the misfortune that took place during the era of Churban Bayis Sheini.

     And yet, there is another key difference between the two Parshiyos. If one looks at the Tocheichah of Sefer Vayikra, the Torah speaks in Lashon Rabbim (plural), whereas the Tocheichah of Sefer Devarim shifts to a Lashon Yachid (singular). What is the difference between passages addressed in Yachid and passages addressed in Rabbim?

     We have often pointed out that the Vilna Ga’on writes in Aderes Eliyahu that, ironically, in many instances, when the Torah speaks in Lashon Rabbim, it is addressing every single individual, whereas, in many instances, when the Torah speaks in the Lashon Yachid, it is addressing the entire Kneses Yisrael as one collective whole.

     In this vein, the Gra comments similarly on the Pesukim in next week’s Parsha (Devarim 17:18).

פֶּן־יֵ֣שׁ בָּ֠כֶ֠ם אִ֣ישׁ אֽוֹ־אִשָּׁ֞ה א֧וֹ מִשְׁפָּחָ֣ה אוֹ־שֵׁ֗בֶט אֲשֶׁר֩ לְבָב֨וֹ פֹנֶ֤ה הַיּוֹם֙ מֵעִם֙ ה׳ אֶלֹקֵינוּ לָלֶ֣כֶת לַֽעֲבֹ֔ד אֶת־אֱלֹקֵי הַגּוֹיִ֣ם הָהֵ֑ם פֶּן־יֵ֣שׁ בָּכֶ֗ם שֹׁ֛רֶשׁ פֹּרֶ֥ה רֹ֖אשׁ וְלַֽעֲנָֽה
וְהָיָ֡ה בְּשָׁמְעוֹ֩ אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֨י הָֽאָלָ֜ה הַזֹּ֗את וְהִתְבָּרֵ֨ךְ בִּלְבָב֤וֹ לֵאמֹר֙ שָׁל֣וֹם יִֽהְיֶה־לִּ֔י כִּ֛י בִּשְׁרִר֥וּת לִבִּ֖י אֵלֵ֑ךְ לְמַ֛עַן סְפ֥וֹת הָֽרָוָ֖ה אֶת־הַצְּמֵאָֽה

     In Parshas Nitzavim, the Torah anticipates a complacent individual who feels as though he will not be impacted by the Klalos. What would lead an individual to such a notion? Explains the Ga’on, it is the Lashon Yachid, the singular language which, again, addresses the collective as a whole. He feels that since the target audience was Kneses Yisrael as a whole, he would not be individually at risk of harm from the Tocheichah. Thus, the Torah has to warn him in Parshas Nitzavim that, on the contrary, not only is he too accountable, but all of Kneses Yisrael is accountable for his behavior.

     Indeed, every Yachid of Klal Yisrael is also a member of a Tzibur, a larger Kneses Yisrael. This concept, the mechanism by which one Jew is responsible for another, in a word, is “Arvus” (cosigner-ship), the idea that “Kol Yisrael Areivin Zeh BaZeh”-“All of Yisrael are guarantors of one another” (Sanhedrin 27B and Shevuos 39A). That means that if one Jew was not Yotzei (discharged) of his Chiyuv (obligation) of Kiddush, for example, then that is not irrelevant to me. Even if I was already Yotzei, I can nonetheless be Motzi my friend. And what is the source of Arvus, that not only must I perform the Mitzvah, but I must see to it that you perform a Mitzvah?

     The Gemara says in Sotah (37B) and in Sanhedrin (73B) that the source is none other than the Klalos of Sefer Devarim, “וְהַנִּגְלֹ֞ת לָ֤ׄנׄוּׄ וּׄלְׄבָׄנֵ֙ׄיׄנׄוּ֙ׄ”-“that which is revealed is for us on our children” (Devarim 29:28), that we must account for one another.

     The full measure of Arvus only began here, because the unity of Klal Yisrael requires Eretz Yisrael. In the Midbar, we were Yechidim. Until we crossed that Yardein, the complete Arvus did not kick in. That is why the second Tocheichah is in Lashon Yachid.

     It is not surprising that we are set up to reflect on Arvus at the threshold of the Yimei HaDin, as many aspects of the Yimei HaDin rely on our place in the Tzibur; from the Tekiyos, to the Tefilah, to the public Viduy. The Kaparah of the Yimei HaDin comes from the Zechus of the Tzibur.

     Ritva (Rosh HaShannah 29) classifies and defines “Arvus” as “Guf Echad,” literally, as “a single body.”

     Tosafos in Menachos (37A) writes that there was a Din Torah (Halachic lawsuit) that was presented to Shlomo HaMelech, a question pertaining to Yerushah, division of inheritance. One brother walks in with two heads, one body. That “brother” argued that we was entitled to Pi Shnayim, a double portion, however, Shlomo HaMelech ruled that he was “Guf Echad,” only entitled to one portion.

     Shita Mekubetzes (printed on the Daf) addresses a simple question; how did Shlomo HaMelech come to his ruling? How did he know that this “brother” was only “Guf Echad”? Explains the Shitah Mekubetzes, Shlomo HaMelech did a test; he placed a bag over one head and poured hot water onto the other head. Head number one cried out in pain. Evidently, they were “Guf Echad,” a single body.

     That is measure for Arvus, how you respond to the pain of another member of Klal Yisrael.

     *We should all be Zocheh to embrace one another through true Arvus as members of a common Tzibur and thereby achieve Kaparah in these Yimei HaDin, and Hashem should grant us a year of Geulah with the coming of Moshiach, Bimheirah BiYomeinu! Have a wonderful Shabbos!