Approach to Rosh HaShono

Approach to Rosh HaShono

We are facing a challenge; How do we deal with Rosh Hashana?

Rosh Hashana pushes us to see ourselves as part of a bigger picture

The challenge of dealing with Rosh Hashana is that we cannot simply ask “how do my personal actions weigh on the scales?” we need to rather see our life as part of a bigger picture. This is hard to see, and yet for Baalei Batim it is natural because in their career they see how their actions gradually result in “bigger picture” accomplishments. Kollel men who enter the business world later in life often face disappointment because they expect instant success. However, seasoned professionals understand that the natural course of business involves initial losses, recovering from setbacks, advancing, and occasionally falling behind. This ebb and flow is simply part of making money in the business world.

The tefillos of Rosh Hashana push us to be aware of the reality that there is something greater going on than our individual actions. It may seem like we are speaking about lofty concepts in the prayers, but the truth is that we are talking about the reality of the bigger picture of which we are a part of. The tefillos of Rosh Hashana are the only vestige we still have of the Beis Hamikdash. Chazal say that while the kohen gadol and avodah are no more, we have the tefillos of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur which Hashem should accept. The common denominator in these two tefillos is the bracha of the kedushas Hashem which is the vivid and detailed prayer that the whole world should become a different world in which a person can see Hashem’s presence through the physical world. 

We need to reframe Rosh Hashana

We need to reframe our Rosh Hashana. We cannot approach Rosh Hashana like the amateur approaches his business, thinking he will become wealthy in his first endeavor. We must not say that Rosh Hashana is the moment when we “accomplish everything.” Rather we need to understand that Rosh Hashana is coming to express that Hashem is a real presence in the world. We need to recognize that our world is completely contaminated with experiences that push Hashem out of this world. 

I saw R’ Shlomo Wolbe step out of his usual demeanor and nostalgically reminisce about his time in Sweden on Rosh Hashana with dying girls who had been saved from the Holocaust. On the first day of Rosh Hashana he said viduy with many of them individually and by the second day of Rosh Hashana many had already died. He was alone, and he saw through this Rosh Hashana that there was a Borei Olam present and that the world cannot exist without Him. This reality which he experienced of the Borei Olam was something he kept striving to reveal as his life went on. 

How to prepare for and stand in judgment on Rosh Hashana

If we think that our individual score of mitzvahs and aveiros is the main avoda coming into Rosh Hashana, then we are saying that the main focus is ourselves standing in judgment. But the prayers of the shemoneh esrei beg to differ! They express that the focal point of Rosh Hashana is Hashem and His malchus! 

In today’s society we experience ourselves as individuals and are far removed from feeling a part of a malchus. Yet the main focus of Rosh Hashana is the malchus of Hashem, meaning that there is a reality of the presence of the Borei Olam which manifests itself through Klal Yisroel. The avoda therefore is to give more value to this presence of the Borei Olam than to our own cheshbonos. This may initially sound like a lofty idea but it is actually quite familiar to those in the business world. They understand that in their professions, they contribute more to the company’s overall growth and direction than they take for themselves. 

Being part of something larger means that the collective vision always holds more significance than our individual interests.

We can see this from Rav Chaim Volozhiner in his sefer Nefesh Hachayyim. He writes in Shaar Bais that the tzaar (pain) of Hashem is greater than our own. At first glance this sounds abstract and kabbalistic. Yet when we imagine a young man who is passing away and contemplating his imminent death, he feels more pain for the family he is leaving behind than he does for himself! This is natural, as he is part of a bigger picture than just himself, and that bigger picture holds greater value for him than his own individual one.

We can now understand why Rav Yisroel Salanter says that preparation for Rosh Hashana means to have it that “other Jews need us.” He means that when we understand that we are a part of the bigger picture of Klal Yisroel, then that is our real reality, and then Hashem needs us for His business – which is the presence of the Borei Olam coming down to Klal Yisroel. This new approach of ours is distinct from the old way of understanding this Rav Yisroel Salanter: that the trick to “survive” the year is by tying one’s judgment to others’ judgment and therefore one will not be killed this year because other’s need him. 

How this attitude can be brought out in the tefillos of Rosh Hashana

I personally do not have any lofty ideas in my tefilla on Rosh Hashana, I approach it very simply and authentically and therefore the tefilla speaks to me. Here are some examples for how I experience it:

• I say “אַתָּה” – “you” – who would ever speak to the President of America with the word “you?” How much more so the King of Kings??
• And when I say “מֶֽלֶךְ חָפֵץ בַּחַיִּים” and I realize that Hashem wants Chayyim…the tefilla is speaking to me. This approach reframes the tefilla from one of “day of judgment nervousness” to one of calmness which exposes depth in a natural way.
• And when I say “וְכָתְבֵֽנוּ בְּסֵֽפֶר הַחַיִּים” what does it mean? Is it my name being written?…it is my life being written! Would I want my life written down for eternity? By Hashem? In His book?? The tefilla leads me to see my life from a new perspective. 

Baalei Batim have experienced this last point in their professional careers. When there is a very strict and professional business, the company records everything and holds each employee accountable for each minute of work. If an employee is not being productive, he is cut from the business. 

With that being said, we must still make sure not to be nervous in our davening on Rosh Hashana! The object is to read these tefillos in a different way than we’re accustomed to—calmly, slowly, and thoughtfully, with a curiosity to explore an entirely new world of the Borei Olam.

Everyone is able to be a part of the bigger picture

This is something every one of us can do. Chazal tell us that Achan wrote the prayer of “עַל כֵּן נְקַוֶּה לְךָ” the story is that when Klal Yisroel went to conquer Yericho, Yehoshua instructed Klal Yisroel not to take any spoils of war, but Achan took. Achan was sentenced to death. There was a natural fear that Achan would condemn Hashem. Achan said there was no need to worry and that he would go of his own volition to the execution and say

“עַל כֵּן נְקַוֶּה לְךָ…”

…לְהַפְנוֹת אֵלֶֽיךָ

כָּל רִשְׁעֵי אָֽרֶץ.

…he is referring to himself.

…כִּי לְךָ תִּכְרַע כָּל בֶּֽרֶךְ

…he is referring to when the executioner pushed him onto his knees.

…לְפָנֶֽיךָ

ה’ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ

יִכְרְעוּ וְיִפֹּֽלוּ

…he is referring to when he was pushed off the cliff to fall to his death. 

If Achan, who is the one person in Klal Yisroel who messed up, can be a conduit for revealing malchus shomayim, so then every one of us can also. Malchuyos begins with “עַל כֵּן.” We need to have the attitude that if Achan is part of the bigger picture, we can also be part of it! 

So the avoda of Rosh Hashana is “am I able to be part of a bigger picture?” We are united with Hashem in this endeavor, not “standing apart and alone like a defendant facing judgment.”