ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלקיך שאל מעמך כי אם ליראה את ה' אלקיך ... (י-יב)
Sefer Maharam Brisk says a nice remez on this oft-quoted posuk. He writes that there are 45 days from ט"ו באב until ראש השנה (this parsha coincides with that timetable). Thus, says the posuk, "מה" has the numerical value of 45. What does Hashem want from us in this 45-day period? "ליראה את ה'" - to work on our יראת שמים. And as the posuk continues, to go in His ways, love Him and serve Him with all your heart and soul.
I would be remiss if I neglected to mention the Gemara which extrapolates from this posuk the halacha of saying מאה ברכות each day. אל תקרי מה אלא מאה. What’s the reason that Chazal felt the need to change the reading of the word from מה to מאה? The Medrash (Bamidbar Rabba 18) relates that in the time of Dovid HaMelech there was a plague where one hundred people died every day. To stop the plague, Dovid HaMelech instituted that the Jewish people should recite 100 berachos daily, and the plague ended. The machshava is that when a person doesn’t just say the beracha by rote, but focuses rather on its meaning and is filled with true gratitude to Hashem, that is what enables a person to increase the fear of Hashem that our referenced posuk alludes to. That יראה is what prevents illness and epidemics.
There is another area which at this time of year begs improvement. That is our Ahavas Yisroel. The posuk in the Haftarah says "קרוב מצדיקי מי יריב אתי נעמדה יחד". Hashem is close to me, so anyone that wishes to wage war is welcome to try. I am confident in His protection. The same sefer quoted above explains this על פי דרוש. The Aibishter is telling us, that the success of your Tishrei judgment, is conditional on one thing: נעמדה יחד - your standing together in unity as one.
May we all chap arein these last few weeks of the summer to focus on these areas of Avodas Hashem and Ahavas Chaveirim, ushering in chodesh Elul, הבא עלינו לטובה.
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