When is an individual considered to be like a congregation?

(29,9) You are standing this day all of you before Hashem, your G-d, the leaders of your tribes and your officers, every man of Yisrael.

It seems to me this posuk is coming to say that if only one of Yisrael stands here it will be considered as if all of them are standing here, because each one is equal to all of them. This is what it means, “You are standing this day all of you before Hashem, your G-d, the leaders of your tribes, your elders and your officers - every man of Yisrael” - through each man in Yisrael it is considered as if all of you are standing before Hashem.

Now, the reason that it teaches this here now, is because in Arvos Moav they accepted upon themselves to be a guarantor for each other. Therefore, until now when each one was not a guarantor for his friend, one was not considered like all of them, but rather each individual was judged individually, only as an individual. But since they had now accepted upon themselves to be guarantors, since one of them could be a guarantor for all of them, therefore one of them is considered like all of them. Thus it says here “You are standing this day before Hashem…” through “every man in Yisrael” - through one man you are considered as if you are all standing before Hashem.

And further on in posuk 11 it gives the reason why it is considered that one of them is like all of them, in order “that you may enter the covenant of Hashem…which Hashem, your G-d, is making with you today” - today specifically. Therefore, because of the making of the covenant with you today concerning being guarantors, with this you gain that now one of you is considered like all of you. And this is very agreeable to them so that they will not be distressed that this covenant is to their detriment, that one person will be punished because of all of them. Therefore, Moshe said that there comes out from this a great benefit, that an individual is considered like a congregation, and if one of them will be a Tzaddik he will protect the whole congregation, as the sefer Akeidas Yitzchok wrote in parshas Pinchos.

With this we can understand a puzzling Midrash written in the Yalkut on this parsha: “You are standing here today” - on Rosh Hashanah. I have already written elsewhere different explanations of this Midrash, but right now it seems that we can explain it according to what Chazal said in the gemara in Yevomos: It is written in one posuk (Isaiah 55,6) “Seek Hashem when He is found, call Him when He is near”, which implies that he is only found sometimes, but it is written elsewhere (Devarim 4,7) “as Hashem our G-d is whenever we call upon Him”, which implies that He is found always. The gemara resolves the contradiction, that one posuk is speaking about an individual and the other is speaking about a congregation. The gemara then asks: The individual when? Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The question of the gemara “the individual when?” needs explaining, because this question should have been asked on the posuk in Isaiah itself: When is Hashem found? Why did the gemara only ask after it gave its answer and made a distinction between an individual and a congregation?

But really on the posuk itself we would not have had a question, because we could simply explain that when the Beis Hamikdash stood Hashem was found for us, but when it was destroyed the Shechinah removed itself - as Chazal taught: “the Shechinah travelled ten journeys - and so the posuk is speaking about when the Beis Hamikdash existed But the gemara showed that there was a contradiction between the two posukim, because the second posuk implies that Hashem is there whenever we call Him, even when the Beis Hamikdash no longer stands, and therefore it answered that the posuk in Isaiah is speaking about an individual, and the other is speaking about a congregation.

But this answer is problematic, because the first posuk “seek Hashem” is said in the plural, but according to the answer it should have said it in the singular. Therefore, it must be that even this posuk is talking about a congregation, and the gemara means that we always require a congregation, but there is a time when the individual is considered like a congregation, and there are times when we require an actual congregation. On this the gemara asked “the individual when?”, that is, when is the individual considered like a congregation? It could not answer when the Beis Hamikdash stood, because we do not find that when the Beis Hamikdash stood that the individual was considered like a congregation. Therefore, it answered that these are the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, because in the matter of time it is possible to make a distinction and say that there is a time when an individual is considered like a congregation, and there is a time when he is considered only like an individual.

Now we understand the Yalkut, because it says here “you are standing this day all of you…every man of Yisrael”, and we explained above that the meaning is that every man of Yisrael is considered like all of you. And when is the individual considered to be like the congregation? Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as Chazal taught in Yevomos. Therefore the Yalkut taught “you are standing today” - on Rosh Hashanah.

How does Hashem punishing us twice show His great love for us?

(29,9) You are standing this day all of you before Hashem, your G-d, the leaders of your tribes and your officers, every man of Yisrael.

It says also in the Yalkut “you are standing today” - Moshe said to Yisrael: these curses help you stand and endure. This Midrash is a puzzle - how do these curses - the ones mentioned in parshas Ki Sovoh - do this?

But it seems to me that we can explain it according to the Midrash about which I have already written elsewhere, on the posuk in Isaiah (10,20) “And it shall be on that day that the remnants of Yisrael and the survivors of the house of Yaakov shall not continue to lean on him that smote them”, and on the posuk in Yirmeyohu (14,19) “Have you indeed rejected Yehudah?”. What comes out from my words there, is that it is well known that which the Tanna wrote in Pirkei Avos, “the reward for a sin is a sin”. The commentaries explained that from the punishment for a sin itself makes a new sin, because he causes distress to Hashem that He has to punish him, because Hashem shares in Yisrael’s distress. And if so, he deserves a punishment also for the second sin - a punishment for the punishment.

According to this from the second punishment it is clear that Hashem loves us, because if Hashem did not love us, then He would not be distressed when we suffer distress, but rather we would be like all the nations, and we would not be punished for being punished. But since he chastises us with a punishment for a punishment it is clear that he has not stopped loving us . So the punishment itself is a comfort for us.

Therefore, here also, we can understand why we needed to be reproved twice - once in Bechukosai and once in Ki Sovoh. Because the first curses - the punishments for sinning - themselves produce a sin, and make us liable for a second punishment, which are the curses in parshas Ki Sovoh. From the first curses it was not clear that Hashem loves us when we sin, and perhaps if we sin Hashem hates us. But from the second curses it is clear that even if we sin He loves us, and is distressed by our distress, so much so that this is considered a great sin before Him, deserving of a second curse.

This is the meaning of the posuk here: “You are standing today before Hashem your G-d”, that through these curses you are able to stand and endure, because from this it is clear that He loves us always. This is the meaning of the Yalkut “These curses help you to stand endure” - so that even when we are in exile we not give up of being redeemed since we see His love for us, from that which He smites us again and again.