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An essay from Rabbi Shaul Yosef Leiter, director of Ascent

(for a free weekly email subscription, click here)

It is almost Rosh Hashanah. What does the new year actually mean to us? Have we invested any time thinking about it? Why do we say," May you be signed and sealed for a good and sweet new year"?

The Torah name for Rosh Hashanah is actually Yom Hazikaron, The Day of Remembering, when G-d brings to mind and judges every creature on earth, in particular, the Jewish people. It is the day our judgement is signed.

Rosh Hashanah is not a day for making an assessment and correcting our negative behavior. That is supposed to happen before Rosh Hashanah, now, during the preparation month for the High Holidays, called Elul. On Rosh Hashanah (this coming Sunday evening, Monday and Tuesday), we are supposed to be after all of that already. Rosh Hashanah is the actual court case when we, the defendants, must be on our very best behaviour before the Judge, demonstrating that we accept the Judge's authority and have already changed our behaviour for the better, hoping and praying for the best possible judgement. Yes, we wear our nicest clothes and eat good food. We sing in synagogue and wish each other a good and sweet year because we are confident in being forgiven. But it is still our day in court. Chassidim emphasize the importance of connecting with G-d on Rosh Hashanah by calling it "Coronation Day."

The seven days that come between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are when we are awaiting sentencing - the final judgement. It is a complete cycle. Just like the world was created in six days and on the seventh day G-d rested, so also the Torah gives us the cycle of a full seven- day week to practice our new behaviour and to show to all that the new behaviour is real and ingrained in us and that we are worthy of being forgiven.

After these seven days comes Yom Kippur which is the final sealing of the judgement - what our sentence will be. Each Jewish person moves to a much higher level. We behave like angels by spending the greater part of the day in synagogue, not eating or drinking. Many people dress in white, resembling angels. Deep down we know that it is our Father in Heaven who sits deliberating in judgement and Who will make the final decree. There is no question that we will be forgiven. But still, the seriousness of our sins from the last year require that everything we do, every nuance of our thought, speech and actions be perfect, to the best of our ability.

What is the reason that we call the beginning of our new year Rosh Hashanah, the head of the year? Why not, the New Year, or the Opening of the Year, or the Start of the Year. Why the head of the year? It is because it is a head in relation to all the other days of the year. Just like a head contains all the life force of all the other organs of the body and they draw from it, so, also, Rosh Hashanah contains all the life force of the year; all the energy of the remaining days of the year to come are hidden within Rosh Hashanah, and from it, their power is distributed in a revealed way to each individual day. From this we can understand why there is such an emphasis to cherish every minute of the forty-eight hours of Rosh Hashanah. Each minute and hour contains within it the days and weeks of the coming year. This is why Rosh Hashanah is higher than all the other days, not just in quantity, but in quality. This is also comparable to the head in relation to the other parts of the body. The brain has everything in it. Even a small injury to the brain, G-d forbid, can do damage to the other organs that rely on it.
(Torat Menachem 1:221)

Whether you are a scholar or a worker or somewhere in between, this is the secret of true success. May G-d bless you with success in physical things, all the things that money can buy. And may G-d bless you with success in spiritual things, all the things that money can't buy. May you have a good and sweet year.

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FROM THE SAGES OF KABBALAH ON KabbalaOnline.org

Specifically, for an overview of the recommended articles in the columns:
Holy Zohar, Holy Ari, Mystic Classics, Chasidic Masters, Contemporary Kabbalists, and more,
click to Ha'azinu, the Torah Reading for the Shabbat directly after Rosh Hashana.

one sample:
The Zohar

Opening Doors with Song

From the teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai; translation and commentary by Shmuel-Simcha Treister, based on Metok MiDevash
The Zohar's commentary on this parasha quotes: "I sleep, but my heart is awake. Knocking; it is the voice of my beloved"

The Zohar explains that this refers to Moses who knocked on the doors of our hearts to awaken us to correct our characters and learn the practical commandments. Then, just as we opened up to him, he was gone, leaving us to enter the Land under another leader.

To continue, click here.

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