Advice for the Judgment of Rosh Hashana

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.com)

Rosh Hashana is a frightening day. The Taz (Orach Chaim 584) states this as halacha, that we are supposed to be afraid on Rosh Hashana, because the Books of Life and Death are open before us. Just look at the Nesaneh Tokef prayer, which describes in detail the verdict being rendered on each of us, who will live and who will die, who by fire and who by water. Rav Yisrael Salanter would ask, how can any normal person not be terrified now? We are on trial and our lives lie in the balance!

And yet, Rosh Hashana is called a Yom Tov. A Yom Tov is always a day of thanking Hashem. How can we thank Hashem for making us terrified? Moreover, in the Rosh Hashana prayers we thank Hashem for “giving us this Day of Recalling [of our deeds] with love.” How can Hashem put us on trial with love?

Sefer Hachinuch (311) explains that Hashem’s judgment of us is indeed an act of love, because were He to leave us un-judged, over the course of a lifetime, we could accumulate so much sin that we could never do sufficient teshuva. His love for us is expressed by judging us every year, keeping us from sinking so deep into sin that we could not gain atonement.

Only, we can still ask – the Tur (581) says that on Rosh Hashana we must celebrate, wearing festive garments and eating a festive meal, trusting that Hashem will do a miracle for us. But if we trust in His helping us, why must we fear His judgment? And since Hashem wants us to fear Him, how can we really be happy and celebrate?

The Brisker Rav would answer that indeed, we have to feel fear that we are being judged by Hashem. If a Jew simply goes through the Yom Tov without a sense of fear, it shows that he does not believe in Hashem’s judgment. Only, whenever a Jew feels fear, he should rely on Hashem and feel secure that He will help him. Now as well, in these days, after a Jew feels fear, he should turn to Hashem and say “I rely on You.” These are days of mercy and forgiveness, and certainly Hashem will help him.

The Brisker Rav brings as a source for this answer Rambam’s Perush Hamishnayos (Rosh Hashana 3:4), which states that even as we fear Hashem, we flee only to Him, as the famous liturgical poem “Keser Malchus” states: “I shall run away from You – to You.” In short, the fear we must feel of Hashem’s judgment should be so real that we want to run, but to where do we run? To Hashem.

When a Jew has this sense of trust in Hashem, his trust itself assists him greatly in his judgment, as Nefesh Hachaim (1:7) states, that the more we rely on Hashem, the more He does for us.

Rav Leib Minzberg adds that there is something else that helps us very much in judgment – accepting Hashem’s kingship on this day. The Sages (Rosh Hashana 16a) say: What should one do on Rosh Hashana? He should say the verses of Kingship and Recalling [of our deeds], accompanied by the sounding of the shofar, in order to be recalled favorably before Hashem.

The Ritva (ibid.) explains that when we say the verses of Kingship and blow the shofar – this makes Hashem king, and this causes Him to recall us for good in the coming year.

On first day of the year, our task is to make Hashem king, and one who does this sincerely, Hashem judges favorably.

The Gra explains further that the shofar blowing is like the sounding of trumpets and bugles done at the coronation of a king, and this should be done with great joy.

While coronating Hashem is done through saying verses of Kingship and blowing the shofar, the main way of making Hashem king is in one’s heart. Meaning, Hashem is king whether we declare this or not, but making Him king over us means that everything we do, we do only because it is His will. Whatever we see, hear, eat, drink, talk about, laugh or cry about must comply with His will. Even actions that come to us naturally, if they do not comply with Hashem’s will, “making Him king” means that we resolve to refrain from doing them. Since we are subjects of the King, we do not defy Him. This acceptance of Hashem’s kingship over us can help us greatly in the judgment of Rosh Hashana.

The Midrash (Vayikra 29:3) says that shofaros and kingship change Hashem’s outlook on us entirely, and the Zohar says that they “make Hashem rise from His seat of judgment and move to His seat of mercy.”

The Sages give us other ways to help us succeed in the Day of Judgment. In Maseches Rosh Hashana (16b and Rashi), they state that if we enter the New Year as if we are poor, meaning with deep humility, thinking that we really deserve nothing at all and that everything we have is Hashem’s chessed – our prayer will come forth from deep in our hearts with a cry, begging Hashem to save us. A prayer like this will certainly be answered.

The Sages also advise (Rosh Hashana 17a) that “whoever foregoes his trait [to be strict with others], all of his sins are forgiven.” The way to merit a good judgment is to forgive others and make sure not to feel anger toward anyone on Rosh Hashana. Rav Naftali Amsterdam would warn his family during these days not to feel anger even in their heart, and surely not to express anger outwardly.

The Alter of Kelm would point out that the danger of the Day of Judgment is only on individuals, but Klal Yisrael as a nation will surely live on. If we make ourselves part of the Klal, we are no longer in danger. We can do this by helping others, and praying for them with sincere intent. Try to make people happy, as the Sages recount (Taanis 22a) that once, Eliyahu Hanavi pointed out two men who would regularly go to cheer up sad people, and said that when their time comes, they will go directly to Gan Eden.

Rav Zeidel Epstein, mashgiach of Yeshivas Torah Ore, would advise bachurim: We see that when people are sick they go to a doctor, and if necessary even to medical specialists. If conventional medicines don’t work, however, they seek out alternative remedies, and are ready to try anything to get well. The same applies to us on Rosh Hashana. Of course we have to do teshuva, but Chazal gave us all sorts of alternative ways that can help us in the judgment of Rosh Hashana as well.

May we all be written and sealed in the Book of the Righteous!