Recently, I’ve been making a big push for our entire community to shift to the right.
With apologies for the admittedly click-worthy title, when I say shift to the right, I do not mean hashkafically, rather, Kabbalistically.
Allow me to explain.
There are different ways that Hashem interacts with the world. At this time of year, the one that immediately comes to mind is Din – Justice. Hashem assesses our behavior and determines what the coming year will bring.
But there is another Divine attribute we desperately hope to awaken: Rachamim – Compassion.
The Midrash teaches that this is one of the powers of the shofar. When we blow it, Hashem, so to speak, rises from the Throne of Judgment and moves to the Throne of Compassion. According to Kabbalistic tradition, Din is associated with the left, while Rachamim is associated with the right.
So how do we get Hashem to shift from left to right—from exacting judgment to compassion?
The Rema (Darchei Moshe, Orach Chaim 95:3) writes that during Shemoneh Esrei we place our right hand over our left, symbolically strengthening Compassion over Justice.
But there is something far more consequential we can do.
The Baal Shem Tov famously taught that Hashem is our shadow. Just as a shadow reflects our movements, the way we treat others is reflected in the way Hashem treats us.
Every interaction therefore presents a choice. Do I greet this person with warmth or coldness? Am I forgiving or demanding? Do I focus on what they did wrong or what they did right? Do I criticize or encourage?
Those choices don’t only shape our relationships. They shape the relationship we ask Hashem to have with us.
I recently spoke to a friend who was having a hard time with his marriage. He described an ongoing disagreement with his wife. He was absolutely convinced that he was right and couldn’t understand how to get his wife to see things his way.
I asked him a simple question:
“Do you want to be right, or do you want to have a loving marriage?”
The Maharal (Nesivos Olam, Nesiv Hadin, 1) writes that human beings, with all our limitations and imperfections, cannot truly emulate Hashem’s attribute of absolute justice. We simply don’t have the necessary precision to judge with perfect accuracy. But rachamim is something we can emulate.
And perhaps that is something worth remembering during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah.
We are standing before Hashem asking Him not to insist on strict justice. We are asking Him to look beyond our mistakes, to understand our weaknesses, to give us another chance.
Can we really ask that of Hashem while refusing to do the same for one another?
Recently, I started a practice that may sound a little cute, but for me, has been transformative. When I find myself getting upset at an individual, I slowly say, “Harei ani mekabel alai mitzvas aseh shel ve’ahavta l’rei’acha komocha. I accept upon myself the positive mitzvah of loving others like I love myself.” It usually works. If I cannot manage to say something nice, at the very least I can say what I want to say nicely.
So yes, this year I am encouraging everyone to shift to the right.
A little less judgment.
A little more understanding.
A little less insistence on being right.
A little more willingness to forgive.
A little less criticism.
A little more encouragement.
And in the merit of moving ourselves from the left to the right, may Hashem move from the Throne of Judgment to the Throne of Compassion and bless all of us with a year of rachamim, forgiveness, and abundant bracha.
Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph
Chief Executive Officer