(ט) אַתֶּ֨ם נִצָּבִ֤ים הַיּוֹם֙ כֻּלְּכֶ֔ם לִפְנֵ֖י יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם רָאשֵׁיכֶ֣ם שִׁבְטֵיכֶ֗ם זִקְנֵיכֶם֙ וְשֹׁ֣טְרֵיכֶ֔ם כֹּ֖ל אִ֥ישׁ יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (י) טַפְּכֶ֣ם נְשֵׁיכֶ֔ם וְגֵ֣רְךָ֔ אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּקֶ֣רֶב מַחֲנֶ֑יךָ מֵחֹטֵ֣ב עֵצֶ֔יךָ עַ֖ד שֹׁאֵ֥ב מֵימֶֽיךָ׃ (יא) לְעָבְרְךָ֗ בִּבְרִ֛ית יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ וּבְאָלָת֑וֹ אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ כֹּרֵ֥ת עִמְּךָ֖ הַיּֽוֹם׃ (יב) לְמַ֣עַן הָקִֽים־אֹתְךָ֩ הַיּ֨וֹם ׀ ל֜וֹ לְעָ֗ם וְה֤וּא יִֽהְיֶה־לְּךָ֙ לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר דִּבֶּר־לָ֑ךְ וְכַאֲשֶׁ֤ר נִשְׁבַּע֙ לַאֲבֹתֶ֔יךָ לְאַבְרָהָ֥ם לְיִצְחָ֖ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹֽב׃ (יג) וְלֹ֥א אִתְּכֶ֖ם לְבַדְּכֶ֑ם אָנֹכִ֗י כֹּרֵת֙ אֶת־הַבְּרִ֣ית הַזֹּ֔את וְאֶת־הָאָלָ֖ה הַזֹּֽאת׃ (יד) כִּי֩ אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֨ר יֶשְׁנ֜וֹ פֹּ֗ה עִמָּ֙נוּ֙ עֹמֵ֣ד הַיּ֔וֹם לִפְנֵ֖י יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֵ֑ינוּ וְאֵ֨ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֵינֶ֛נּוּ פֹּ֖ה עִמָּ֥נוּ הַיּֽוֹם׃
(9)You stand this day, all of you, before the Lord your God—your tribal heads, your elders and your officials, all the men of Israel, (10)your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, from woodchopper to waterdrawer— (11)to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which the Lord your God is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions; (12)to the end that He may establish you this day as His people and be your God, as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.(13)I make this covenant, with its sanctions, not with you alone, (14)but both with those who are standing here with us this day before the Lord our God and with those who are not with us here this day.
(ו) דבר אחר: וידבר אלהים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר אמר רבי יצחק: מה שהנביאים עתידים להתנבאות בכל דור ודור, קבלו מהר סיני, שכן משה אומר להם לישראל (דברים כט): כי את אשר ישנו פה עמנו עומד היום ואת אשר איננו פה עמנו היום. עמנו עומד היום אין כתיב כאן, אלא עמנו היום, אלו הנשמות העתידות להבראות, שאין בהם ממש, שלא נאמרה בהם עמידה, שאע"פ שלא היו באותה שעה, כל אחד ואחד קבל את שלו.
(6) As Moshe said to Israel (Deuteronomy 29:14), 'But with those here with us standing today and with those not here with us today.' It is not written [in the end of the verse], 'with us standing today,' but rather, 'with us today:' these are the souls that will be created in the future, that do not have substance, about which standing is not said. As even if they were not [existing] at that time, each and every one of them received that which was his."
Deuteronomy 29,9., “All of you are standing assembled this day in the presence of the Lord your G’d;” the paragraph commencing here with “in the presence etc.,” appears to contain unnecessary words. [Our author refers especially to the words: “in the presence of the Lord your G’d,” seeing that when Moses addressed the people in the name of the Lord during their stay in the desert they had always been “in the presence” of the Lord. Ed.] It helps us understand a statement in Rosh Hashanah 34, according to which the blowing of the shofar as well as the recital of certain benedictions in the prayer service are mandatory on New Year’s Day and on Yom Kippur, (Jubilee year) as opposed to other occasions, such as public fast days decreed by the Rabbis. This is based on G’d having requested that on these days we proclaim Him as 1) King, 2) as the One Who remembers all that has occurred in history, every individual’s thoughts, words and deeds, and 3) has promised that by doing so through blowing the shofar, this will beneficially effect how we are going to be judged on these days. [Most of you are aware that the Mussaph amidah on New’ Year’s day includes 10 verses from Scripture referring to these three elements, malchiyot, zichronot, shofarot, that distinguish this Day. Ed.]
As we have repeated on many occasions, G’d is interested in the dispensing of His largesse to mankind, and especially us, His people; the word פנים, usually translated as “face, or presence,” alludes to G’d being in a benevolent frame of mind vis a vis mankind or His people, whereas the word אחור, usually translated as “rear, or backward,” allude to times when G’d is angry at mankind or, G’d forbid, His people.
By addressing the whole nation as “standing” לפני (from פנים) before the Lord when He is in benevolent frame of mind, Moses hints that the reason that G’d is in such a frame of mind is because He is not only G’d, but “your G’d,” i.e. you have related to Him as your Patron. The author adds another nuance of the word פנים, tracing it to the root פנה, to turn, change direction. G’d is looking for a reason to aim His largesse in your direction.
[Seeing that in verse 17 the Torah uses the word פנה also negatively, i.e. as turning away from G’d, when it writes: אשר לבבו פונה היום מעם ה' אלוקינו, “whose heart turns away from being with the Lord our G’d,” and we do not find the word אחור in that context, it is difficult to accept the author’s definition of פנים ואחור. Ed.]