Parashat Ki Tavo describes a powerful communal ritual: six of the tribes will stand on Mt. Gerizim, and six others on Mt. Ebal. The Priests would then proclaim a series of blessings and curses. “Cursed is the one who misdirects a blind person underway.” “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.” And all the people would respond “Amen.”
Certainly, the blessings were not meant to fall exclusively on only half the tribes, and the curses on the other. So why were all the people assembled? For two reasons: They stood as witnesses for each other. And they represented the entirety.
We will do something similar when we gather for the High Holy Days. We will speak many words, some of which will fit us and others of which will not. We will “confess” to a litany of sins that we didn’t commit. Why do such a thing? Indeed, why gather together all?
Although no one person committed all the sins listed in the confessional “Al Cheyt,” as a collective we committed many of them. By reciting them as one, we give each other cover for making the confessions we need to. By standing together, we become an audience for each other, so that each person can come clean publically. By gathering in numbers, we give each other the gift of anonymity—no one knows what’s in his neighbor’s heart.
This yontif, why not go alone to a mountain top (as some Jews do)? So that we can offer each other support, audience, and privacy. Those are blessings indeed.
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