<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><font color="#010105" class="">"Atem nitzavim hayom" (You are standing today). Rav Aharon of Karlin pointed out that ATEM is made of the letters of the word EMET, truth. This, he said, is the only way to achieve LIFNEI HASHEM, to stand before God. <br class=""> <br class="">The Alshich points out that the Torah describes the People as "all of you, before God", and then proceeds to delineate different types of Jews. Before God, we are all the same. It is true that we assume diverse roles, and how we live our lives differentiates us from each other, but the fact remains that we are all God's creations.<br class=""> <br class="">Fascinatingly, the Hebrew shoresh (root) "shuv" (shin, vav, bet) meaning "to turn or "to return" occurs seven times in the first ten verses of chapter 30 of this Torah portion (Tishrei is the seventh month). The High Holy Days are a time of "teshuvah" (also from the root "shuv"), repentance and returning to HaShem. Nitzavim is always read on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah. How apropos also that during these holidays we strive to stand before Godin "truth."<br class=""> <br class="">The famous Posek (the L'vush) has discovered the Gematria of the first three words "Atem nitzavim hayyom" equals the value of the words "La'amod Li'selichot," (694) which means "to get up for Selichot". <br class=""> <br class="">I went one step further and if you can say there was one out of 10 chances of coming up with this, you are correct. The gematria of the above as I stated is 694. To get the final figure you would add 6+9+4 which equals 19 and then you add 1+9 and get 10. The final figure is 1+0 equaling 1. "Atem Nitzavim Hayom." "You are standing today" before the ONE GOD.</font><br class=""> <br class=""><br class=""></blockquote><br class="">Rav Aharon of Karlin pointed out that ATEM is made of the letters of the word EMET, truth. This, he said, is the only was to achieve LIFNEI HASHEM, to stand before God.<br class="">The Alshich points out that the Torah describes the People as "all of you, before God", and then proceeds to delineate different types of Jews. Before God, we are ALL the same. We are ALL of God's children despite our differences. We view some people as more valuable than others. But we really have no way to know how God views us. In His eyes, however, we are all standing erect this day...<br class=""><br class=""><br class="">On any Rosh Hashanah which fell on Shabbat, R' Levi Yitzchak rose and said, "Lord of the<br class="">Universe, today You judge each person for the coming year, and grant him life or condemn him to<br class="">death. But, on this Rosh Hashanah You are forced by Your own Torah to write that You grant Your entire<br class="">people a good life in the coming year. After all, on Shabbat You have decreed that one cannot write. How<br class="">then, can You fulfill 'On Rosh Hashanah it is written down'? <br class=""><br class="">There is no way You can inscribe anyone in the Book of Death, because writing is forbidden on<br class="">Shabbat. On the other hand, You may certainly inscribe us in the Book of Life, for when there is piku'ah nefesh,<br class="">the prohibition against writing on Shabbat falls aside."<br class=""><br class="">(A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit)<br class="">RABBI SHMUEL CHOUEKA<br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""> </blockquote></body></html>