Seize the Day and the Hour

And Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying: "Be silent, Israel, and listen! This day you have become the people of the Lord your God.”                                                           Deuteronomy 27:9

“You have become the people of the Lord your God” – every day should be in your eyes as the day you entered into the covenant with Him.                Rashi

            Rebbi Natan, the disciple of Rebbi Naḥman of Bratslav, notes that throughout the book of Deuteronomy, whenever Moses cautions the Israelites about fulfilling the Torah, the Master of all Prophets mentions the word “today,” since a Jew must feel renewal of Torah every day and every hour of every day.

            Similar to Rashi’s comment, the Midrash states:

(The statutes and ordinances) shall be beloved to you as if you received them this day at Mount Sinai; they should be memorable in your mouth as if you heard them today.      Midrash Tana’im, Deuteronomy 11:32

            On the simplest level, relating to accepting mitzvot and entry into God’s covenant as an experience constantly being renewed should kindle the flame of enthusiasm in fulfilling mitzvot, but Rebbi Natan adds the practical aspect of the addition of the word “today”:

Every day you should relate to them (mitzvot) as new, for in truth, all confusion and descent and falling (from the path of Torah) which people experience is due to thoughts about days past and the day to come…

            There is a risk of despairing of the possibility of repentance:

Each one considers himself as being set in his ways, to which he has been accustomed for many days, to the point where it appears to him that it is not possible to repent and return to a better way, and thereby on despairs of the possibility of achieving closeness to God, and this can lead to one’s total loss.

            One who despairs of the possibility of renewal despairs of the possibility of repentance (teshuva, which literally means “return”), the essence of which is renewal, on the plane of “Return us, Lord, to Yourself and we will come back; renew our days, as they were in the past.” [Lamentations 5:22] 

            Thus, one who daily and hourly feels that he receives Torah anew and each day and each hour enters the covenant with God, not only will fulfill mitzvot with greater enthusiasm, but will prevent himself from descent into despair as the result of his previous sins, and will leave open for himself the path to repentance, the path of the land of the living.