{"id":3564,"date":"2012-09-12T23:17:24","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/holidays\/the-three-weeks\/coming_of_age_rosh_hashana\/"},"modified":"2020-09-08T11:49:52","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T11:49:52","slug":"coming_of_age_rosh_hashana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/holidays\/coming_of_age_rosh_hashana\/","title":{"rendered":"Coming of Age: Rosh Hashana"},"content":{"rendered":"

It may seem like the easiest thing in the world\u2014delivering a bar mitzvah<\/strong> speech on Rosh Hashanah<\/strong>. The obvious parallel to bar mitzvah\u2014a new year, a new beginning\u2014would seem to render any further discussion superfluous. But dig beneath the observable surface, and perhaps there is still much to analyze and discuss.<\/p>\n

More than simply the first date on the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Chavah in the Garden of Eden. It is the Day of Judgment, when not only Jews, but all people are measured and marked on their deeds of the past year. It is the start of the Ten Days of Repentance, which culminate on Yom Kippur, a period when Jews are called upon to be on their best behavior and reflect upon ways for self-improvement.<\/p>\n

But often lost in the historical and reflective significance of the day is one notion that ties all these other themes together and serves as the key to understanding Rosh Hashanah. What is the fuel that ignites the engine of the Jewish new year? And how does that fuel similarly ignite a bar mitzvah?<\/p>\n

The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 16a) relates, \u201cThe Holy One Blessed is He says…On Rosh Hashanah, recite before me [verses of] kingship (malchiyut)… so that you will make me King over you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Ponovizher mashgiach, Rav Chaim Friedlander, writes in his sefer, Siftei Chayyim, that the overarching theme of Rosh Hashanah is malchiyut\u2014 that is, our acknowledgement of God\u2019s authority over the world, its events and its inhabitants. The sole purpose of the long service of Rosh Hashanah, beginning with the melodious exclamation, \u201cHa-Melech!\u2014The King!\u201d is to infuse within the worshipper the sense that God is in complete control of the world.<\/p>\n

This simple notion\u2014that God is in complete control of everything happening to and around us\u2014while easy to grasp intellectually, is often difficult to experience. On an instinctual level we tend to impute authority to people who appear to exert some control over our lives: politicians, bosses, colleagues, teachers, parents, children, neighbors and friends. We don\u2019t necessarily perceive, in all places and in all times, that God is the driving force behind everything. If I\u2019m having trouble at work, it\u2019s caused by my employer; if I\u2019m having trouble at home, it\u2019s my spouse, my kids, or my parents.<\/p>\n

We have trouble feeling\u2014even as we believe\u2014that God is the ultimate source of any obstacles we face; and, moreover, that those obstacles are challenges to overcome, put there for our benefit, to help us grow and develop into better ovdei Hashem.<\/p>\n

As a bar mitzvah you are just beginning to enter this realm. Your father recently pronounced the blessing, \u201cBaruch she-petarani me-onsho shel zeh\u2014 Blessed is He who exempted me from the punishment of this [boy].\u201d Your parents are no longer responsible for your actions. Like it or not, you are now an adult, responsible for what you do and for how you behave.<\/p>\n

You must move forward with this understanding of malchuyot<\/strong>, \u201cso that you will make me King over you.\u201d You need to continually remind yourself that God reigns supreme over every aspect of your life. You must commit yourself to the understanding that everything in your life\u2014good or bad\u2014comes from Him. Your job is to respond appropriately, through the guidance of the Torah and your rebbeim.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean that with perfect faith, everything will work out the way you want it to. Even as you take the correct, ethical, halachic path, the world around you will sometimes spin in directions that you cannot comprehend.<\/p>\n

Additionally, no one\u2019s perfect. You will make mistakes. But never forget that God is constantly by your side. He loves you more than you can imagine, and will never abandon you. This appreciation of God\u2019s presence, his hashgachah peratit, will take years\u2014perhaps a lifetime\u2014to ingrain in yourself, but you must begin to do so now.<\/p>\n

As you continue to focus your mind on God\u2019s kingship, the distractions of daily living will fade, the noise that damages our senses will become muted. You will perceive more and more deeply God\u2019s hand in every aspect of your life. As such, anger, frustration, annoyance all begin to melt away.<\/p>\n

This Rosh Hashanah, the shofar blast is to you like a starting gun, signaling the beginning of your adult life, your life as an eved Hashem, your journey toward total dependence on God\u2019s personal, intimate, and unconditional love for you.<\/p>\n

From Coming of Age: An Anthology of Divrei Torah for Bar and Bat Mitzvah<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It may seem like the easiest thing in the world\u2014delivering a bar mitzvah speech on Rosh Hashanah. The obvious parallel to bar mitzvah\u2014a new year, a new beginning\u2014would seem to render any further discussion superfluous. But dig beneath the observable surface, and perhaps there is still much to analyze and discuss. More than simply the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":844,"featured_media":41545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rosh-hashanah"],"yoast_head":"\nRosh Hashanah, Bar Mitzvah, & Responsibility for Our Actions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rosh Hashana and becoming a bar mitzvah. 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