(9) You stand this day, all of you, before Adonai 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 water drawer— (11) to enter into the covenant of Adonai your God, which Adonai your God is concluding with you this day, with its sanctions; (12) to the end that God may establish you this day as God's people and be your God, as God promised you and as He swore to your ancestors, 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 Adonai our God and with those who are not with us here this day.
(1) אתם נצבים YE ARE STANDING THIS DAY [ALL OF YOU BEFORE THE LORD] — This teaches that Moses assembled them in the presence of the Omnipresent on the day of his death, in order to initiate them into a covenant with God.
(א) אתם נצבים היום כלכם לפני ה' אלהיכם (דברים כט, ט). ובו יבואר הגמרא (ר"ה לד:) אמרו לפני מלכיות כדי שתמליכוני עליכם אמרו לפני זכרונות כדי שתעלה זכרוניכם לפני לטובה. כי הכלל, הוא הבורא ברוך הוא דרכו להיטיב ובפרט לישראל וזה רצונו כשמשפיע טובות וברכות לישראל עמו וחס ושלום כשישראל אינם ראוים להשפיע עליהם טובות אין זה רצון הבורא ברוך הוא אדרבא רצון הבורא ותענוגו כשמשפיע טובות על ישראל והם ראוים להשפיע עליהם כל הטובות והברכות וחס ושלום להיפך אין זה רצון הבורא. והכלל הוא, דבר אשר הרצון רוצה בזה הבחינה הזאת נקרא פנים ואשר אין הרצון רוצה בזה נקרא אחור. וזהו הרמז בגמרא אמרו לפני מלכיות שמה שתמליכו אותי יהיה בבחינת פנים. וזהו אמרו לפני זכרונות, והזכירה תהיה לפני בבחינות פנים ולא בבחינת אחור ועל ידי זה כדי שתעלה זכרוניכם לפני לטובה, כי בזה שאני משפיע טובות רצוני בזה להשפיע עליכם טובות כדי שתהיו בבחינת פנים. וזהו כדי שתעלה זכרוניכם לפני, בחינות פנים לטובה שרצוני בזה על הטוב להשפיע. וזהו הרמז בפסוק אתם נצבים היום כולכם לפני ה', אתם היום לפני ה' בבחינות פנים. וזהו אלהיכם, כי המדה המשפיע טובות לישראל המדה הזאת נקרא אלהיכם, כלומר בזה שאתם נצבים היום לפני ה' בבחינת פנים על ידי זה יושפע עליכם כל הטובות הנרמז במלת אלהיכם כנ"ל, כי מלת פנים הוא מלשון פונה ובה טובות השם יתברך שרוצה לפנות לעמו ישראל לטובה אבל בהרעה אין רוצה השם יתברך נקרא אחור שאין השם יתברך פונה לזה:
(1) Deuteronomy 29,9., “All of you are standing assembled this day in the presence of the Lord your God;” 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 God,” 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 God having requested that on these days we proclaim God 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 affect how we are going to be judged on these days. [Most of you are aware that the (liturgy) 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, God is interested in the dispensing of God's largesse to mankind, and especially us, God's people; the word פנים, usually translated as “face, or presence,” alludes to God being in a benevolent frame of mind vis a vis mankind or God's people, whereas the word אחור, usually translated as “rear, or backward,” allude to times when God is angry at mankind or, God forbid, His people.
By addressing the whole nation as “standing” לפני (from פנים) before the Lord when God is in a benevolent frame of mind, Moses hints that the reason that God is in such a frame of mind is because God is not only God but “your God,” i.e., you have related to God as your Patron. The author adds another nuance of the word פנים, tracing it to the root פנה, to turn, change direction. God is looking for a reason to aim God's largesse in your direction.
[Seeing that in verse 17 the Torah uses the word פנה also negatively, i.e. as turning away from God, when it writes: אשר לבבו פונה היום מעם ה' אלוקינו, “whose heart turns away from being with the Lord our God,” and we do not find the word אחור in that context, it is difficult to accept the author’s definition of פנים ואחור. Ed.]
(יא) כִּ֚י הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לֹֽא־נִפְלֵ֥את הִוא֙ מִמְּךָ֔ וְלֹ֥א רְחֹקָ֖ה הִֽוא׃ (יב) לֹ֥א בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲלֶה־לָּ֤נוּ הַשָּׁמַ֙יְמָה֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃ (יג) וְלֹֽא־מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיָּ֖ם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲבָר־לָ֜נוּ אֶל־עֵ֤בֶר הַיָּם֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃ (יד) כִּֽי־קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃ (ס)
(11) Surely, this commandment which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. (12) It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” (13) Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?” (14) No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.
(1) The meaning of "Surely, this commandment" refers to the whole Torah. And this is correct because of the whole Torah it says (Deuteronomy 8:1) "All the commandment which I [God] command you today". But "this commandment" refers to repentance. Because [the verses] "you will return in your hearts" (Deuteronomy 30:1) and "you will return to the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 30:2) [prove that] the commandment (to return) that He commanded us to do [is a commandment]. And it was said indirectly to hint at the promise because it will be this way in the future. And the reason to say this is because if your wanderers be in the edges of the heaven and you are in the hands of the nations you will be able to return to God and to do all I [God] command to you today. Because this thing is not too esoteric or distant for you, but rather is very close to you to do it in every time and in every place. And this is the meaning of "in your mouth and in your heart to do it": That they should confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors with their mouths and return in their hearts to God and welcome onto themselves today the Torah to do it the generations as it is mentioned (Deuteronomy 30:2) "you and your children with all of your heart" as I have explained there.