Rabbi Roodyn

As we enter into the last two weeks of Elul we ought to set our sights even more closely on Rosh Hashana. In just over two weeks we will be standing in front of Hashem and literally everything hangs in the balance.

Contrary to the common understanding of Rosh Hashana,  is not reallocating the resources not on the basis of what we have or have not done during the previous year. The judgement of Rosh Hashana is not a reward or punishment for last year’s mitzvos and averos. Rather, Hashem is recreating the word anew and will decide who to invest life and resources in on the basis of what we hope to do with them during the coming year. By committing ourselves to ‘go out to bat’ for Hashem, by identifying as part of His nation who are supposed to be a Kiddush Hashem, we make ourselves worthy of continued investment.

Put succinctly, the judgement of Rosh Hashana is not based on what we have done, rather on what we will do.

There therefore seems to be a dual focus to Rosh Hashana, on the one hand, we are thinking BIG and proclaiming Hashem as King of the world. On the other hand we also focus inwardly and crown Him King over ourselves.

Perhaps this is why the sefarim hakedoshim refer to Rosh Hashana as the day of Avraham Avinu, it is a day of clarity in Emunah. A time to reflect on what we know to be a universal truth, the existence of One G-d. At the same time we internalise the implications of that truth for ourselves. Avraham was not the first person to know about Hashem, Adam, Cain, Hevel, Noach, Shem and Ever to name but a few, were well aware of Hashem. He was, however the first person to realise that a finite human can have a relationship with Hashem. This relationship expresses itself in our own personal observance and also in bringing others to an awareness of it too.

This idea is perhaps reflected in the tefillah Avinu Malkeinu, Our Father our King. Hashem is King over the whole world, that’s the big picture, the objective truth, that’s for all of mankind. At the same time, He is our loving Father, who takes a personal interest in every facet of our lives and cares about every choice we make.

As we lead up to Rosh Hashana,  we need to make time to not only assess our value system but also how we as individuals choose to relate to those values.

In the coming days I hope to be able to spend some time translating and sharing some of the ideas that lie between the lines of Tehillim chapter 8. Although this chapter is not officially part of the Rosh Hashana service in contains within it important ideas that relate to Hashem both as our Father and as our King.

I hope and pray that learning through this chapter together will help us arrive at Rosh Hashana with a greater sense of clarity and perspective.