Dvar Torah for Rosh HaShanah

Based on Likutey Halakhot, Hilkhot Rosh HaShanah 6, passim

If a young child were to ask you for $10, and you offered him a $100 bill, do you think he would accept it? You can be certain that he would. What would he do with that $100? Perhaps he would buy ten times the amount of candy he would have bought with the $10. Maybe he would buy some other things that he had wanted, but knew he could not afford. An older child might even entertain the thought that he could share some of this prize with others, perhaps even with strangers.

What about ourselves? Rosh HaShanah is almost upon us and we are all holding our hands out, asking Hashem (God) for that $10 bill. We want money, health, happiness and more. As human beings with genuine human needs and concerns, this is to be expected, and even desired. By approaching Hashem with our numerous requests, we are showing that we recognize that only He can fulfill our needs and provide us with all that we lack. If we are responsible for the well-being of others, whether by choice or by circumstance, praying to Hashem for their needs is part of what we must do in order to provide for them. Not only is there nothing wrong with praying for such things, it is incumbent upon us to do so. (We would do well to take a lesson from the child who asked for only $10—think BIG! It’s just as easy for God to send $100,000 as it is for Him to send $1; it’s just as easy for Him to heal someone completely as it is for Him to heal someone partially.)

Among the countless needs for which we must approach Hashem, there is one very great need that we may tend to overlook, since we have so many little needs. Yet it is basic to our existence, and it is our responsibility to ask for it; it is, in fact, the theme of all our Rosh HaShanah prayers and our very raison d’¡tre. This need is that Hashem’s kingdom be revealed.

One of the axioms of Creation is “kelipah kadmah l’pri” (the shell/peel precedes the fruit). This means, that in order to reach a goal one has to break through, or peel away, the barriers that stand between him and the goal. Thus, revelation begins with concealment. All those more minor needs—those distractions, many of which seem so important to us and may even be life goals—can keep us from asking the questions that need to be asked in order to come to understand Hashem. Often we have to experience a certain awakening in order to understand Hashem’s ways, as did our Patriarch Isaac, who, on his way up Mount Moriah, realized that something very critical was missing for the mission that he and his father (our Patriarch Abraham) had set out to accomplish: “We have the fire and the wood, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering” (Genesis 22:7)?! (From the story of the Binding of Isaac, the Torah reading of the second day of Rosh HaShanah.) When we seek in earnest the missing ingredients that will allow us to fulfill our particular role in life, we are answered: “God will see to the sheep...my son” (ibid. v.8).

Indeed, the ram that our Patriarch Avraham found, the ram that completed the first stage of its destiny there on Mount Moriah (ibid. v. 13), remains with us. Those piercing blasts of the shofar that we sound on Rosh HaShanah remind us that we must always call out to God from the depths of our hearts, even when we cannot manage to express ourselves in words. The repeated series of shofar blasts, in repetitive patterns, which are sounded at various points of the Rosh HaShanah service, teach us again that we must do teshuvah al teshuvah—that we must repent again and again, in every circumstance.

With what attitude do we approach the mitzvah of listening to the voice of the shofar? We prepare ourselves emotionally for the experience by reciting Psalm 47 immediately prior to fulfilling the mitzvah. Reb Noson writes:

“By searching for Hashem we merit the revelation of God’s kingdom, which is the ultimate tikkun (fixing, correction). By insisting that He be found, we reveal His presence, everywhere, even in those places and situations that seem to be Godforsaken. “If someone asks you, ‘Where is your God?’ tell him, ‘In the great walled city of Rome’” (Talmud Yerushalmi, Taanit 1). [This city was noted for its licentiousness and deviant spiritual practices.]

“For every time we want to grow in holiness, to reveal God’s rulership, to draw closer to Him, we begin by praising Him, no matter where we may be. Praise of Hashem is how we begin each day, in the shacharit (the morning prayer) service, and praise of Hashem is how we begin the Shabbat, each Friday night in our prayers. These praises focus on the fact that Hashem controls every event, and that all of mankind must become more intensely aware of Him.

“Praise of Hashem is how we introduce the sounding of the shofar as well. ’All you nations: Hold hands! Raise a joyous shout for Hashem...[He] is awesome, Great King over all the world’ (Psalms 47:2-3)!”

Sometime during the year one is bound to find himself in his own personal virtual “Rome”. One’s less than desirable actions and thoughts will place him there. We need to ask Hashem to allow us, collectively and individually, to always have the strength and presence of mind to acknowledge His kingship. By insisting that even when in “Rome” we be allowed to find Him, be allowed to praise Him, we realize the goal of Creation.

This is the $100 bill God is offering us as the new year begins. Let us be aware that if we have this $100 bill, there are many things that we will be able to “buy,” things we don’t have any notion about. Let us be mature enough to take the initiative of offering this prize to family, friends, neighbors and mankind by praying that they, too, turn to Hashem to ask for their needs and take what He offers.

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!

Dedicated on behalf of Aharon ben Chanah that he may have a refuah shleimah (complete recovery).