BS"D
INCREDIBLE
ILLUMINATION: ROSH HASHANAH
Shira Smiles shiur 5782/Erev 5783
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
From
the beginning of Elul until Hoshanah Rabba we add Psalm 27 to our daily
prayers: "Ledovid Hashem ohri v'yishi.../By David, Hashem is my
light and my salvation." Our medrash teaches that ohri/my light
refers to Rosh Hashanah while yishi/my salvation refers to Yom Kippur.
In other words, light is the essence of Rosh Hashanah, explains Rabbi
Bernstein. Why is Rosh Hashanah called a day of light when it is generally
named Rosh Hashanah/the Beginning [Head] of the Year, Yom Hazikaron/Day
of Remembrance, or Yom Teruah/Day of Blowing the shofar? What is the
connection between the shofar and light, and between light and salvation, asks
Rabbi Roth in Sichot Eliyahu.
In
Shevivei Ohr, Rabbi Yaakov Katz starts with another source. Verses
11-13 in Psalm 96 state: "Yismichu hashamayim vetageil ha'aretz...
/The heavens will be glad and the earth will rejoice... before Hashem,... for
He will have arrived to judge the earth. He will judge the world with
righteousness, and the people with His truth." So while Hashem's coming
evokes fear and trepidation, it also inspires joy, for Hashem is coming to each
of us individually, whoever opens his heart to Him.
While
Hashem is always here, we live in a world of darkness and trepidation. It is
only with a flash of light that we begin to see ourselves and our world
clearly. We understand what Hashem wants of me and recognize that these
obligations are indicative of the greatness within each of us. We see the world
as Hashem's domain, and we feel Hashem shining His light upon us. We need to
use this light effectively.
This
light is not a new light. It is the primal, hidden light of creation. the light
that enabled Adam to see "from one end of the world to the other
end." We have a glimmer of that light on Rosh Hashanah, when Hashem
"comes down" into our world as He came down to Adam and Chavah in the
garden of Eden. As Hashem asked Adam, "Ayekah/Where are you,"
so does He ask each of us where we are on Rosh Hashanah.
What
voice of Hashem did Adam and Chavah hear in the garden, asks the Shvilei
Pinchas? It was the sound of the shofar, asking them—and asking us every
year - "Where are you?"
This
primal light does not appear automatically, writes Moda Labinah. The
shofar awakens us to it. We are blessed if we understand the sound of teruah/shofar
blast (Tehillim 89:17). When we hear the shofar, we have to imagine we
are in the darkness awaiting the illumination of Hashem's arrival. But you have
to know what you are looking for now that the light is turned on. As Rabbi
Roberts relates, citing Rabbi Chasman, we live in a world of illusion, as
within a darkened movie theater. However, when we turn on the light, the
illusion presented by the Satan onto the screen in front of us disappears. We
are in the midst of reality. Rosh Hashanah shines that light on our world and
helps us see reality. Let us use this light to examine our values, to see
whether we are spending our time and our money on things of true value.
The
first 2,000 years after creation, after Adam's sin, were years of tohu/desolation.
The primal light was hidden, waiting to be revealed again when Hashem would
again come down to give us the Torah at Sinai, writes Rabbi Roth. Then we again
saw clearly that the only reality is Hashem, for a mitzvah is a candle and
Torah is light. Torah illuminates the path to reconnect with Hakodosh Boruch
Hu. Fittingly, all the proof text verses in the Shofrot section of the Rosh
Hashanah Mussaf Prayer refer to receiving the Torah. The sound of the shofar is
the wordless communication that wakes us up to see the light and the truth we
saw at Sinai. While we live in a physical world and must acknowledge physical
needs, we must establish a balance that creates a meaningful life of
connection, not an empty life consisting only of ephemeral material things that
disappear when one searches for true meaning.
Rosh
Hashanah is a time we are reborn to start life as a new person. It is a day of
judging and accounting. All that is concealed comes before Hashem on this day
to be fully weighed as good or bad, in the absolutes that only Hashem sees, not
as we judge them relatively. We rationalize, have hidden motivations that we
often are not aware of ourselves. Hashem sees what is truly motivating us.
While we are surrounded by so many good middos/character attributes, we
nevertheless tend to remain focused on ourselves, on what other people may
think of me, or on how my action will give me greater profit, observes Rabbi
Shach in Machshevet Mussar. How often do we ask ourselves what Hashem
will think of our action?
When
Yosef revealed himself to his brothers they were stunned speechless. They
suddenly realized that their entire perception of Yosef had been through the
lens of their own jealousy, of their own egos rather than through the truth of
who Yosef himself was. When Hashem confronts us with our own egos, how will we
react?
Rosh
Hashanah gives us the opportunity to look at the world through the lens of
reality, with the lights turned on. We can ask ourselves how we focus on
ourselves, on our responses, rather than on the other person, when we are in
dialogue with others. We must ask ourselves in every situation, not what I
want, but what Hashem wants of me. Zichronos/Remembrance, Hashem
remembers us through all our actions and interactions.
Hashem's
memory is all encompassing. It includes not only all our actions and words, but
all our motivations, all our circumstances, both positive and extenuating, and
our potential versus our actual accomplishment. And just as Hashem judges us in
all these ways, so must we also examine our lives and hold ourselves
accountable, to live up to our potential and the greatness Hashem has invested
in us. As we try to judge ourselves positively, so should we also judge others
positively, and try to build them up. The light shines on us to judge ourselves
and for us to light the path others must walk. If you help light the path of
others, Hashem will shed light on you.
We
have discussed the symbolism of light with regard to Hashem's Kingship and with
regard to Remembrance. Now let us turn to the light that turns our gaze upward.
As we articulate our deepest feeling through our mouths, so does the sound of
the shofar begin in the mouth and emanate upward, writes the Tosher Rebbe in Avodat
Avodah. The sound of the shofar awakens the truth deep within us that
Hashem breathed into us when He created us and gave us life. As the verse
states, "Elokhim has ascended with a teruah/blast, Hashem [YKVK]
with the sound of the shofar" (Tehillim 47:6). It is this light
that illuminates and maintains the world. With the sound of the shofar, the
blankets of nature, represented by the Name Elokhim that obscure God's
presence, are pierced, and the primal light of Hashem is revealed.
When
that light comes, we look outward, inward, and upward to transform ourselves.
On Rosh Hashanah, we realize again that we are living with Hashem, in His
country, not as tourists, but as citizens. We dress like His subjects, eat the
foods of His nation, and act according to their rules and customs, writes Rabbi
Pincus. This is what it means to accept Hashem as our King. This is a process
that will be completed on Yom Hakippurim.
The
second half of the verse we cited earlier (Tehillim 89:16), those who know and
understand the sound of the shofar "in the light of Your countenance will
they walk." The shining of Hashem's light is the source of all salvation
and blessings, writes Rabbi Reiss in Pa'amei Moed. Our prayer is to be
able to walk in His light, in His kingdom, for it is His light that animates
our lives.
In
Shevivei Ohr, Rabbi Katz give us a profound insight. Light has a fundamental
characteristic different from other entities. If I fill a bottle with water,
then cap it and separate it from its source, the bottle still contains the
water. Similarly, if I fill a balloon with air, stop blowing into it and tie
the balloon, the balloon remains filled with air. Not so with light. If light
flows into a room through its windows, if I create a barrier by covering the
windows [think blackout shades CKS] the room becomes dark. the room remains lit
only when it is still connected to its source. So too are we only fully alive
and animated when we remain connected to Hashem's light within us. The entire
world can only continue to exist if Hashem continues to shine His light upon
it, a light we are privileged to get a pure glimpse of every year on Rosh
Hashanah.
May
Hashem shine His light upon us and bless us throughout the coming year.