Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
After every sounding of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, we recite a passage beginning with, Hayom haras olam…,” generally translated as, “Today is the birthday of the world.” Actually, a more accurate translation would be, “Today is the conception of the world.” The liturgy then continues with the day being the Day of Judgment for all mankind. How can we reconcile this difference and show that both translations are relevant?
In Mada Labinah, Rabbi Rothberg explains that it is during conception that all relevant physical aspects of the human being are formed that will then grow after birth. On Rosh Hashanah, Hashem is judging us and assigning to us all the spiritual aspects for the coming year, and providing us with the necessary tools to accomplish our mission. In that sense, every Rosh Hashanah is a rebirth. In this sense, adds Rav Scheinerman. Hashem is recreating the original creation of Man. Throughout the coming year, we will continue to develop ourselves spiritually, using the tools Hashem provides.
With this in mind, we should be focusing on striving to fulfill part of Hashem’s plan for the world, to be worthy of the goodness He has bestowed upon us, and asking for what we need to continue in His service.
Sometimes we get so focused on the details, whether of Rosh Hashanah or other mitzvah observance, that we forget the bigger picture. We focus so on the “trees” that we forget the “forest,” the goal. Our focus on Rosh Hashanah should be on the sovereignty of Hashem Who created the world and runs the world, and Who has given us rules to partner with Him in creating the world of His vision. Already at creation, Hashem gave Adan one “rule,” not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. But Adam, having been created with free choice, disobeyed and sinned. As Adam at the beginning of time, so we are also given rules. When we realize that the entire world we live in belongs to Hashem, that we are actually guests in His house, we accept the mitzvoth as the house rules for the privilege of being His guests, writes Rabbi Mintzberg zt”l in Ben Melech. That is the essence of coronating Hashem as the Adon olam, the Master of the world. That title of Master is even more powerful than King. When we recite the Pesukei D’Zimrah, we acknowledge both that He created the world and that He continues to be Master of the world. And when Shabbos, the day that bears witness to Hashem as Creator, coincides with Rosh Hashanah, we have a double dose of the reminder that Hashem is both the Creator and the Master. Therefore, we need not sound the shofar on Shabbos.
The entire purpose of creation is to accept the yoke of Heaven. Therefore, when I pray on Rosh Hashanah, I am praying to be given that which I need to serve Hashem better. Each of us is a world unto ourselves; just as Hashem rules over the macro world, so does He rule over me, a micro world, writes Rabbi Chaim Friedlander zt”l.
Therefore, notes Rabbi Biederman, “Hayom haras olam, Today is the conception/birthday of the world,” not centuries and millennia ago. Today we are building a brand new world, birthing it anew. The three books are open before Hashem. He pushes them toward us and tells us to write in them the vision for ourselves for the coming year. We can create the most beautiful vision of ourselves.
It is the blowing of the shofar that symbolizes this rebirth. As Hashem blew into us the breath of life on that first Rosh Hashanah, so are we, in service to Hashem, blowing that breath out and up. It is the voice of our neshamah, writes Rabbi Wolfson zt”l.
Since Rosh Hashanah is when we are recreating ourselves, the day is a day of conception, a day we can transform ourselves into an image according to our higher selves, writes Rabbi Tatz. It is a day we commit to act and live according to that higher image.
If Rosh Hashanah is a day of new beginnings, how can it be a Day of Judgment? Usually judgment is rendered after the period being judged. But din/judgment also suggests the beginning of an idea, when one is first considering it. Rosh Hashanah was the day Hashem first considered creating the world, the day the idea formed. And originally, Hashem wanted to create the world through the attribute of justice. He envisioned the world as a place for Him to rest His shechinah, His presence, where the Aleph [אלופו של עולם] of the world can reside in the dam [דם] the blood and life force of mankind, in Adam, writes Rabbi Pincus zt”l. Only when we connect our life force to Hashem are we on a level higher than an animal. It is also a day of remembering, remembering a time of our youth when it was only Hashem and us, together in the desert.
Rabbi Bernstein quotes an interesting anomaly in how the Torah commands us to bring the various yom tov korbanot. The Torah commands us to offer/והקרבתם sacrifices for all the other holidays. In contrast, the Torah commands ועשיתם/you will make the sacrifice, alluding to the idea that you are remaking yourself into a new being as a sacrifice, a being no longer encumbered with the sins of the past. In other words, writes Rav Boruch Dov ben Shalom in Bemotzoai Menuchah, you elevate yourself as an olah, a complete offering, no longer compartmentalized and filled only with minutiae, but as a person totally dedicated to elevating himself.
Rabbi Mattisyahu Salomon zt”l echos that idea and expands on it. Rosh Hashanah is a time to reframe my entire life from the perspective of having constant opportunities to connect to Hashem. The three themes of Rosh Hashanah help us focus. Every moment we acknowledge Hashem’s Sovereignty. Then, through memory, we recognize Hashem’s presence in the world and in our lives, and we are therefore accountable for our actions. Finally, the shofar reminds us of the shofar sounds at Sinai, and reinforces the theme of Hashem as the Master of the world with the right to set the rules in His house. The three sections thus form the three legs upon which the world exists and remain stable. When we read the ten verses as the proof texts of Hashem’s Sovereignty, we are symbolically recreating the world anew. Just as Hashem created the world through speech, we too are creating our world through speech. We need to focus on these verses in each section of the Mussaf, stresses Rabbi Wolfson.
This idea is very clearly expressed in Aleinu, “It is our duty to praise the Master of all, to ascribe greatness to the Author of all creation…” And we accept His mastery over us by prostrating ourselves before Him.
To further understand each of these sections, let us study one verse from each section.
We begin with Malchuyot, Sovereignty. Our verse, “Hashem will reign forever and ever,” comes from Bnei Yisroel’s affirmation and belief in Hashem after the splitting of the Sea. At that moment, the faith in Hashem was absolute. Bnei Yisroel joyously accepted the yoke of Heaven. And today, we affirm that same faith and again feel privileged to joyously accept the yoke of Heaven, urges us
Rinat Chaim, Rabbi Friedlander.
From Zichronos, Memory, we focus on Hashem’s memory of our following Him faithfully into the desert, on pure faith, with no provisions. In that moment, writes Rabbi Wolbe zt”l, we were transformed from servants into the greatest of men. We understood with full clarity and knowledge that Hashem is above nature. We had no need to question. Let us tap into that memory so that we, too, can have complete faith and love for You, suggests Rabbi Meislish.
From Shofros, “And the entire nation saw the sounds of the shofar… and the people saw and trembled…” The sound of the shofar at Sinai subjugated the evil and strengthened our goodness, making us proper vessels for accepting the Torah. May the sound of the shofar this Rosh Hashanah have the same effect on us, writes Rabbi Friedlander. As Rabbi Meislish elaborates, we should see Hashem’s glory in our lives, and internalize the reality that ain od milvado, nothing exists except Hashem alone.
The sound of the shofar is the sound of truth. It was so clear, that we could actually see it. Nothing obstructed our vision, writes Rabbi Eliyahu Roth zt”l. Incorporating these ideas can give us a greater understanding of the command, “…And you will make an olah, a burnt offering to Hashem…” on Rosh Hashanah. We will elevate ourselves not in one huge jump [for then you can easily fall], but through small steps as you rise up on the ladder to coming closer to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. In that way, we are recreating ourselves with each small step, writes Rabbi Nevenzahl.
If we are new, still a fetus in the developmental stage, we are guaranteed nothing, not even life itself. This is our situation on Rosh Hashanah, writes Rabbi Scheinerman. We can take nothing for granted, even as we view our past as natural and ongoing.
But it is not only the fetus that is in danger. The woman in labor is also in danger, not certain if the birth will be successful, if she herself will survive. Similarly, writes the Matnas Chaim, we are also in crisis, and we cannot know with certainty what the outcome will be.
Rosh Hashanah is both a day of conception and a day of birth. We recognize the gravity of our situation on this day, and we pray fervently that that we be successful in recreating ourselves, at least in part, in the perfected image Hashem has for us. We pray that in so doing, Hashem grants us a year of health with the tools we need to be successful in our spiritual journey.
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