Rabbi Singer's Message

There is an interesting duality associated with Rosh HaShanna: feelings of joyous renewal on the one hand and those of trepidation and fear on the other. We are told to dress in our Yom Tov finery, eat delicious meals, and celebrate the “birthday of the world”. This idea is clearly supported from a pasuk in Nach: “And Nechemya said do no not mourn, do not cry. Go and eat from tasty foods, drink sweet things, because today is Holy to our Master, do not despair because Hashem will give you strength”. (Nechemya 8). Yet this celebration is severely constrained by the realization that our very lives are hanging in the balance. “Three books are opened on Rosh HaShanna: Those of the completely wicked, those of the completely righteous, and those of average people. The completely righteous are immediately written and signed to life. The completely wicked are immediately written and signed to death. The average person’s fate is left undecided until Yom Kippur. If they find merit, they are written to life. However, if they do not find merit they are written to death” (Rosh HaShanna 16b).

The “ambiguous” nature of the Yom Tov is reflected in Halacha as well. We do not say Hallel because it would be inappropriate to sing its joyous praises “while the King sits on His throne of judgment with the books of life and the books of death resting before Him” (Rosh HaShanna 32b). There is even a dispute as to the propriety of weeping on this day. The Arizal was accustomed to weep on Rosh HaShanna and Yom Kippur (even when they fell out on Shabbos) and went so far as to say that anyone who didn’t cry in those days suffered from a defective and incomplete neshama. Conversely, the Vilna Gaon, citing the aforementioned verse in Nechemya, ruled that one should not cry on Rosh HaShanna. (Please see the Piskei Teshuvos 584:2 for the resolution of this machlokes.) Perhaps these apparent contradictions can be resolved if we realize, first, that the simcha of the day is derived from our confidence that Hashem will move from His throne of judgment to His throne of mercy. Second, that that confidence is justified only if we have honestly come to terms with our limitations and lack of commitment in serving Him properly. And, third, if we fully resolve to address that lack of commitment by making His service the center and purpose of our lives. In so doing, we remind Hashem of the abiding love and faithfulness of His nation and make the case for preserving and protecting its remnants. We also make the case that our enemies are His enemies and those who pretend to serve Him while murdering innocent men, women, and children defile His name. All this derives from the dual nature of the day: the painful recognition of our estrangement from G-d and the joyous reconciliation that follows.

May Hashem grant us all a year of good health, happiness, success, and satisfaction. May He bring peace and security to Eretz Yisrael. K’siva v’Chasima.

Rabbi Yosef Singer

Mora d'Asra

Young Israel Ezras Israel of Potomac