The Great Light of Rosh Hashana

BY Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah

From the beginning of Elul until Shemini Atzeres, we say after davening the chapter of Tehilim that begins L’David Hashem ori v’yishi. The Mateh Efraim (based on Medrash Tehillim 27) explains the connection. Hashem Ori – Hashem is my light – refers to Rosh Hashana, and Yishi – He is my salvation – refers to Yom Kippur. Other sefarim add that Hashem’s Name appears 13 times in this chapter, alluding to Hashem’s 13 Attributes of Mercy.

These explanations connect this chapter of Tehilim to Elul only through allusions. Does the content of the chapter itself have anything to do with this period of the year?

The Slonimer Rebbe answers that it does. This chapter has several messages that we need as we approach Rosh Hashana. David Hamelech declares in this chapter: “One thing I ask of Hashem… that I dwell in the house of Hashem all the days of my life!” A king typically has a wide-ranging agenda to advance. David made clear that he had only one chief goal in life – that he spend his days and nights in the beis medrash. Even if he had to do something else, he did it as quickly as possible in order to get back to the beis medrash without delay.

This is an important part of the work of Elul – making sure that our aspirations are what they should be. Perhaps over the year we’ve developed various other hopes and plans. We have to assess them carefully and get clear to ourselves what it is we really want in life – we want to study Hashem’s Torah, do His will and get closer to Him. Whatever we do, we are thinking about this goal and how we can achieve it.

If we’re in yeshiva, this means making full use of the sedarim. If we’re not in yeshiva, still, how much time that could be used for learning is presently going to waste? And even if we’re using all the time we have for learning, what else can we improve? Perhaps we can find a minyan that davens at a pace where we can focus better? Can we strengthen matters of bein adam l’chaveiro? Perhaps we should undertake to say every bracha clearly and with feeling?

Also, David Hamelech speaks about bitachon in this chapter: “If an army encamps against me, my heart shall not fear.” We as well should strengthen our bitachon in Hashem, especially now. This is a time when we want to get closer to Him, and bitachon is a key to this. Any problem we have, we should turn to Hashem and discuss it with Him. We should say that we know He is here with us, and that we are relying on Him to help us. The Meshech Chachma (Parshas Eikev) says that this is the greatest way to gain closeness to Hashem.

Our preparation for Rosh Hashana should also include bitachon. We should be approaching the work of teshuva as a necessary task that Hashem will help us accomplish. However, how many of us give up on teshuva before starting? How many feel we have no idea where to begin? This is a mistake. Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaarei Teshuva 1:1) writes that as hard as we may view teshuva, we have to do everything we can, and Hashem will help us do the rest. Bitachon in teshuva means turning to Hashem openly and saying: “I know that there are things I need to correct that are very hard for me. I’ll do everything I possibly can, but please help me with the rest.”

Say this and trust in Hashem that He will help you.

On Rosh Hashana itself, we are expected to reach a higher level of bitachon, in which we rely on Hashem to make miracles for us even though we are not perfect tzaddikim, and award us with a year of life. This is why we treat this Day of Judgment like a yom tov (Tur, Siman 781).

The sages teach us that the very fact that we feel this bitachon in Hashem can be the reason why we merit a year of life. The Medrash (Shocher Tov Tehillim 25) relates that a man was caught transgressing a law in a certain kingdom, and he cried out to the soldiers who captured him: “Wait, I’m a close friend of the king!” The soldiers decided not to harm this man until they brought him to the king to see if this was true.

The king asked that this man be brought before him, and when he saw him, he asked: “I don’t recall ever seeing you. Why did you say that you are a close friend of the king?”

“The truth is,” he explained, “I am not a close friend of yours, but I trusted that if my case would be brought before you, that you as the king would find a way to help me.”With that, the king pardoned the man, since after all, he had trusted in him.

This is an analogy for our how much our bitachon in Hashem can accomplish for us on Rosh Hashana.

We began with the Medrash, that Ori refers to Rosh Hashana and Yishi refers to Yom Kippur. The latter idea seems clear, that the atonement of Yom Kippur is a salvation for us. We can ask, however: Why is Rosh Hashana alluded to as Ori, my light?

Rav Moshe Schwab would explain that there is a certain spiritual light on Rosh Hashana – the day of the creation of the world – that we can tap into. This light on Rosh Hashana can help a person reach clarity about what he should or should not be doing, and can provide inspiration to get closer to Hashem. The more we prepare ourselves to receive this light, the more we will gain from it. Preparation should include as we’ve said: Working on clarifying our aspirations, doing teshuva and trying to get closer to Hashem through bitachon. This is why we say l’David Hashem Ori for the entire month of Elul, to remind ourselves that there is a great light on Rosh Hashana that we are preparing to receive.

If we prepare ourselves, Rosh Hashana can provide a surge of illumination that can orient us spiritually for the whole year. Rav Schwob would compare this to a man lost in the middle of the night in a forest. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning illuminates the sky. For a split-second, the sky is bright and he sees exactly where he is and how to reach a place of settlement. Even though the following moment the lightning is gone and so is its light, the clarity he gained from that moment of illumination remains with him.

Indeed, I know a man who makes a point of davening every year in a minyan of especially intense davening for Rosh Hashana, and he told me that he comes away from Rosh Hashana with a spiritual clarity that lasts him throughout the year. When the year is ending and Rosh Hashana is approaching, he starts anticipating the next burst of illumination and spiritual clarity that he will soon get.

May we be zocheh to a great light on Rosh Hashana!