“Consider three things, and you will not fall into the hands of transgression, know what is above you: A seeing Eye, and a listening Ear, and all your deeds are written in a book.”
Pirke Avot 2:1
You stand upright this day, all of you, �before the L-rd your G-d (29:9)
�"This day" is a reference to Rosh Hashanah, the day on which we all stand in judgment before G-d (the Torah reading of Nitzavim is always read on the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah).
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov cited at Chabad.org
“All in the world pass before Him, like sheep of a flock.”
What is Rosh HaShanah?
רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה
Rosh HaShanah
“It is the way of the world…for most people to feel uncertainty and humility when they stand to be judged, as they do not know the ultimate verdict. They may show up in court dressed in black (signifying mourning…looking overwhelmed and weak. Yet, on Rosh Hashanah we act differently. Before Rosh Hashanah we take haircuts, which is a celebrative act. We dress in white garments, white being the color of purity and paradise (Nidah, 20a). We enter Rosh Hashanah in our finest attire, and we eat, drink and rejoice, “knowing that the Master of the World will perform a miracle.” We stand confidently before Hashem, sensing that the Creator will find favor with us, annul any and all negative decrees, and bless us with a beautiful coming year. We often need to change our mindset to view ourselves as a vessel worthy of blessings. So long as we cling to our old perceptions of self and world, we are stuck in them and not open to receive anything new and wonderful.”
R’ Dovber Pinson. Awakenings: Drawing Life from the Weekly Torah Reading (pp. 419-420). IYYUN PUBLISHING. Kindle Edition.
“All of you stand today in the presence of HaShem your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners who are in the middle of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water, that you may enter into the covenant of HaShem your God, and into his oath, which HaShem your God makes with you today, 13 that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.”
Deuteronomy 29:9-12
“Today all of you are standing…whoever is here…whoever is not here "Whoever is not here"—even future generations (Rashi on Deuteronomy 29:14) . “Today” is the most important day of your life, because it can and will have an effect on you and on all your future descendants. Our Sages teach: “When a person performs a mitzvah, he brings credit to himself, his family, and all his future generations, forever” ( Makkot 23b) . The converse is also true: an evil deed sends repercussions into one’s present and future. Therefore “today” is the most important day of your life (Likutey Halakhot VIII, p. 146a)"
�REBBE NACHMAN'S TORAH: NUMBERS - DEUTERONOMY - Breslov Insights into the Weekly Torah Reading (p. 367). Breslov Research Institute. Kindle Edition.
“I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them. I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. The sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Sheol gave up the dead who were in them. They were judged, each one according to his works. Death and Sheol were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:11-15
“See, I set before you this day life and prosperity, death and adversity. For I command you this day, to love your HaShem your God, to walk in God’s ways, and to keep God’s commandments, God’s laws, and God’s rules, that you may thrive and increase, and that HaShem your God may bless you in the land that you are about to enter and possess. But if your heart turns away and you give no heed, and are lured into the worship and service of other gods, I declare to you this day that you shall certainly perish; you shall not long endure on the soil that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess…”
“…I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live— by loving your HaShem your God, heeding God’s commands, and holding fast to [God]. For thereby you shall have life and shall long endure upon the soil that HaShem swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give to them.”
Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Sefaria.org
“Niphra’in Min HaAdam (Retribution is exacted from a person) with his knowledge and without his knowledge. (Avot 3:16). For I heard in the name of the Baal Shem Tov: Before any decree is passed against the world, God forbid, the whole world is gathered [and asked] if they concur with that judgment. Or the person himself against whom judgment has been decreed, God forbid, even he is asked whether he concurs—and thus the judgment is concluded. The point is as follows: Surely, if he were specifically asked about himself, he would certainly protest and say that the judgment is not so. However, he is misled. He is asked about a case similar to his own, and he passes judgment. In this way the judgment is concluded. . .”
“This is similar to what we find in connection to King David, of blessed memory, when the prophet Natan came to him and told him the story of the guest. [David] answered and said, “As God lives… and as for the lamb…” (2 Samuel 12:5, 6). Then judgment was passed against David, [precisely] as he had dictated. This is the meaning of: Retribution is exacted from a person with his daat (knowledge)—That is to say, they ask him his daat (opinion). And even so, it is without his daat—For he knows not that the judgment is about him. This concept, of how each person is asked, <is wondrous. But the point is> that in all the conversations and stories that a person hears, there can be found exalted and lofty matters. One has to take great care in this; not to pass judgment until one has considered a second and third time, for [such judgment] is life threatening.”
Likutey Moharan 113:1, translated by R’ Moshe Mykoff, Breslov Research Institute
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things. I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Matthew 12:33-37
“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son…”
John 5:17
“Shanah means ‘year’, and it comes from the same etymological root as the word / Shinui / change ( See Zohar 3, 277b, Ramaz, ad loc. Shoresh Yesha, Erech Shanah. Avodas haKodesh, 4:19. Ohr haTorah, Miketz, 338. Likutei Sichos, 4, p. 1323). As such, the term Rosh Hashanah also means ‘changing your head’, shifting and renewing your consciousness and way of thinking. On Rosh Hashanah, we need to change our perspective on ourselves and the people and world around us. On this day, we have to change our consciousness, press the reset button on our life, and begin again with a new mindset of spiritual self-confidence and firmness.”
Pinson, Dovber. Awakenings: Drawing Life from the Weekly Torah Reading (p. 418). IYYUN PUBLISHING. Kindle Edition.
“Every day, every hour, and every moment, man has the strength to renew and revive himself and to become a totally new creation. G-d makes new creations Every day. No one moment is like any other. Strengthen yourself and make a completely new beginning. Even on the very same day, you may have to start again several times. Whatever happened in the past, forget it completely. Keep your thoughts directed to G-d. Begin anew as from now. . . Whatever happens to you, with all your might make G-d your strength. For G-d is filled with love at every moment. The fountain of his kindness is never exhausted.”�
Reb Noson of Breslov, Restore My Soul, �Breslov Research Institute, pgs. 40-41
“In reality there is no such thing as time. Time is only an illusion…Our notions of time are pure illusion. Someone who thinks about this carefully will certainly put all his strength into abandoning the vanities of this time-bound existence and putting all his hope in that which is beyond time. You should have faith in the One who is beyond time. Then nothing in this world can throw you down. Wherever you are, you will always be able to remind yourself, “This day have I given birth to you” (Ps. 2:7). These words refer to Mashiach who is in a realm beyond time. There everything finds healing. Time past is annulled completely…
“There is only today. Today you were born. Literally! All that is wrong with the world is a part of the “Evil work that is done beneath the sun” in the time-bound world. . . what remedy is there for all the days and years, all the time that [one] wasted in wrongdoing? His only hope is in the realm beyond time. From there comes all healing. It will be as if he were born again today. So long as you have faith – in G-d, in the World to Come, and in the Messiah who is beyond time – you have eternal hope.”�Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, Meshivat Nefesh, Restore My Soul, �Translated by Avraham Greenbaum, Breslov Research Institute, pg. 88-89
“The sound of the shofar (שׁוֹפָר) represents “today.” It arouses us to “improve your deeds” (שַׁפְּרוּ מַעֲשֵׂיכֶם); right now. The past is gone, and the future has yet to come, now we need to hear the call of the present moment. Every Rosh Hashanah, the shofar of Mashiach is sounded, but until now, it has been “An inner voice that is not heard.” We pray that this year it will be heard loudly and clearly. “And it shall be that on that day a great shofar shall be sounded.” “Mashiach—Now!” in the present. …we want Mashiach today, without further delay.”
Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh. The Inner Dimension: Insight into the Weekly Torah Portion (p. 300). Gal Einai. Kindle Edition.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him. The one who believes in Him is not judged; the one who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God…”
“…And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.”
John 3:16-21, NASB