Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Sections
- Chemdat Yamim
- Parashat Hashavua
- Shabbat and Holidays
- The High Holidays
- Rosh Hashana
What about Rosh Hashana? The Torah says nothing specific about the day’s significance, other than listing several special korbanot (fewer than any other yearly holiday) and the fact that there are some "horn blasts" or related remembrance. Chazal, of course, uncover the great significance. Rosh Hashana commemorates the creation of the world, and it is the day on which all of mankind is judged on a yearly basis (Mishna, Rosh Hashana 1:2). Yet, if we think about it again, we should wonder if there is any national element to this important day. All of mankind was created, and all of mankind is judged! Yet, we are the only ones who are commanded to commemorate the day. Do we or do we not have a special connection to the day?
One of the best ways of answering the question is by looking at the special berachot of Musaf of Rosh Hashana, which is a text that is paralleled only by the Haggada of Pesach in providing a framework for understanding the day. The first beracha, Malchuyot, is quite universalistic in talking about the need for the whole world to "coronate" Hashem in the broadest sense. Yet, it also discusses how a prominentAm Yisrael is a tool to bring this about. The beracha concludes "… King over all the land, Who sanctifies Israel and the Day of Remembrance." The second beracha, Zichronot, is also a mix of the universalistic, invoking the story of Noach, and national, discussing Avraham’s binding of Yitzchak and the resulting covenant. It ends off "… He Who remembers the covenant". The third beracha, Shofarot, is the one which clearly focuses on Israel, as we are the ones who communicate with Hashem with the shofar, starting with Hashem using it at Sinai and with our praising Him with it. The beracha concludes "… Who hears the sound of the blasts of His nation, Israel, with mercy."
We summarize as follows. Rosh Hashana is important for the whole world. However, the opportunity and obligation to act on it by means of a specific set of commemorations, with the shofar standing above all others, is reserved for us. Since the other nations do not have that, they are less likely to gain significantly from the day, which is balanced by the fact but they are not responsible or culpable for failing to do so. "Fortunate is the nation which knows the blasts."
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
P'ninat Mishpat A Non-Contractor in Changing Times – part I
(based on ruling 85128 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Moreshet Shaul Our King on Rosh Hashana, Our Father on Yom Kippur.
Based on Aroch Siach, p. 221 (Rav Shaul Yisraeli)
