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Beit Midrash
- Shabbat and Holidays
- The High Holidays
- Rosh Hashana
The Magen Avraham, one of the renowned Halakhic authorities of the latter centuries, rules that one may take any food with a name - even in English! - that can be "manipulated" to express one of our wishes for the new year. Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin writes that the name of an item tells us of its essence and source, through which we can grasp onto the point of sanctity within it.
The Sfat Emet explains the depth of these simanim by citing the Zohar: "They all cry out in prayer on Yom Kippur like dogs saying, 'Hav, hav, [give, give] us food, forgiveness, atonement, and life; inscribe us for life.' But they are brazen, just like those who worship stars and cry out to them, and they have no shame." The Zohar is telling us that the Days of Awe are not for asking for our personal needs, but rather are special days in which we engage exclusively in installing HaShem as King over us and developing both our love and fear of Him.
The Sfat Emet poses this question: "The Sages themselves enacted our prayer liturgy, which are replete with our personal requests! What is wrong with asking HaShem to fulfill our needs?" He answers that the Zohar's gripe is against those who yell out like dogs, "Hav – fork it over!" and whose primary prayer is to receive more and more. In truth, the essence of our prayer should be the opposite: that all our needs be those that cleave to the source of life, from which we will receive great abundance.
This is an important lesson for us. On Rosh Hashana, HaShem distributes life to all His creations, and on this day, too, we are to ask for this life that He is offering. We must seek to use it only for its most sublime and basic – and therefore, its most natural – purpose: that of serving HaShem. We want food, and we want life, and we want forgiveness, but it is all not for their sake alone, but so that we can better serve HaShem! This is what our soul cries out for!
We are essentially asking that HaShem connect our lives, our food, and our children to the source of Divine holiness –through which, we will inevitably be showered with abundance. But this is not the main thing; the main thing is actually the very connection and cleaving of everything to its source – again, that which our soul seeks always to do.
With this, the Sfat Emet explains the custom of the simanim. These symbolic foods hint to us that everything in the world is so that we can extract from it its particular essence that can be used for the service of HaShem. They tell us that behind every cooked dish and behind every vegetable lies a hidden but powerful force, a force of life that sustains and give it existence. The needs of This World are only like "outer garments" for the inner life and vitality hidden within them. This is why the Zohar rails against those who concentrate on the "outer garments" on this special, powerful day of Rosh Hashana, instead of focusing on the spirit of life. Rosh Hashana is the day on which our vitality was created, and which influences and directs it every year thereafter. Instead of concentrating on our clothing, we must be directed towards the life itself that is within the clothing. And according to each person's desire and his concentration in his service of Hashem, so he will receive.
May it be HaShem's will that we merit on this coming Rosh Hashana to receive abundance of life from the Source of Life for the entire year. And especially may the beginning of the year 5781 harbinger the end of this plague around the world, with a true, speedy, and full recovery to all those who are ill, physically and spiritually.
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Israel and the Nations A Few Minutes & Many Innovative Ideas on Antisemitism & What to do About It
As we approach the High Holidays, this short lecture (18 minutes) deals with the unfortunate situation of how Israel and the Jewish People stand against antisemitism, analyzing its cause according to Rav Kook, and how to deal with the issue pragmatically & via our prayers.
Ha'azinu PURSUIT is PERFECTION
p. Ha'azinu, Shabbat Shuva
Rav Kook deals with the question of the seemingly hopeless nature of Tshuva. For G-d Himself knows that He created us with free will, which inevitably means we will sometimes make mistakes and choose wrong. This can easily be frustrating, freezing us into inaction and ye'ush (loss of hope). If one sins even once, does he chalila have no choice but suicide?! Moreover, our Godly conscience demands justice, righteousness and perfection, but we all know this is impossible, so what's the solution? Rav Kook's innovative thinking, strongly based on chazal (our sages), offers an inciteful and important aspect to this topic, especially this time of year!
Sukkot Bug-Free Sukkah: Essential Halachic and Practical Schach Guide
How to inspect, clean, and store bamboo mats and palm branches to protect your mitzvah and holiday meals.
