We find in Yalkut Shimoni an insight on the verse, "He
accepted the prayer of the juniper and did not despise their
prayer" (Tehillim 102:18). Chazal wrote: Said R'
Yitzchok: "This applies to coming generations which would not
have prophets or kohanim-leaders or a Beis
Hamikdosh to atone for them. All that would remain was
prayer alone, the services of Rosh Hashonoh and Yom Kippur.
And it was requested that Hashem not despise these prayers,
but accept them, as is."
We cannot help but be puzzled by this Chazal which only
mentions the prayers of the Yomim Noraim, whereas we
know that they established three daily prayers which is what
we practice. Why did Chazal say that all that remained was
those prayers? Why doesn't the request of Hashem's not
despising prayers refer to the daily services as well?
Let us first explain the nature of the Yomim Noraim
prayers. We might wonder which of the prayers are more
suited to the High Holydays, the days of awe and reverence:
those established for the Yomim Noraim or those which
were designated for every day?
On the day when all the inhabitants of the world pass before
Hashem like sheep, and the Books of Life and Death are opened
before Him, and man is judged regarding the three major
aspects of his life, namely: children, life and livelihood;
on the day when whole nations are judged for the sword or for
peace, for famine or for plenty -- would it not be more
fitting to pray that Hashem return us unto him
(Hashiveinu), that He note our affliction (R'ei noh
ve'onyeinu), heal us, bless for us this year and so
on?
If we were asked, we would surely relegate the Rosh Hashonoh
prayer of "Rule over us" to our daily prayers and unanimously
choose the former blessings and requests as most suitable for
the Rosh Hashonoh Shemoneh Esrei!
The Gra siddur introduces the Rosh Hashonoh prayers
with the thought that we should really be gathering and
praying intensely for our very lives on this momentous,
awesome Day of Judgment and begging for pardon and atonement,
pleading for life, sustenance and children. For who is
excluded in this comprehensive survey of all mankind and its
judgment?
Why then, were we warned not to mention our personal needs on
this day and to concentrate, rather, all of our prayers only
on a request that Hashem's honor and glory be revealed to all
and that His Kingship become apparent, and that every living
creature be altogether cognizant that He created it . . . and
so on?
Nefesh HaChaim (Shaar B, perek 11) discusses the deep
meanings of the prayers which we utter daily. " . . . for
just as a soldier casts aside all personal interests and
submits himself wholly to the will and welfare of the king,
to augmenting his honor and to upholding the honor of his
homeland, so should an upright person mobilize all of his
purpose and direct all of his thoughts in prayer to increase
power to the holy spheres and to elevate with his voice the
supernal power of heaven . . . and to eradicate the spirit of
evil from the world and thereby rehabilitate the world in
Hashem's Kingship. He should not seek to promote his own
personal welfare and needs at all."
We cannot help but see with our own eyes how the Rosh
Hashonoh prayers are constructed, from beginning to end,
around the focus of enhancing Hashem's glory and kingship and
restoring it to its high status of before Odom's original
sin.
And while the text of our weekday prayers appears to revolve
mainly about our personal needs, it is surely clear to any
intelligent being that the Anshei Knesses Hagedoloh who
established the prayers, did not only incorporate merely the
superficial meaning of the words but invested them with much
deeper connotations. Actually, the end purpose of every
prayer must be more sublime and should convey pain over the
desecration of Hashem's Name in this world and reflect the
suffering, as it were, of the Shechina, commiserating
with the suffering of Jewry.
Maran R' Chaim revealed something very remarkable to us: that
the basic difference between the prayers of Rosh Hashonoh and
the text of the entire year lies in the words themselves,
whereas the underlying intent is identical. We pray for the
ultimate perfection of the world through the universally
acknowledged rulership of Hashem and not for petty or self-
serving needs at all.
This requires explanation. For if the basic meaning is one
and the same, why change the text so drastically?
This can be readily understood by way of illustration through
a parable. There was once a minister whose wealth lay in the
franchise he had for building materials. All contractors had
to procure their wood, stone and cement from him.
This minister was a good-hearted person. He had once taken in
a young child and raised him to manhood, providing him with
training in building until he became a master contractor. He
rose to such power that he was the foremost specialist in
architecture.
This young man came to his benefactor with an offer to build
him a magnificent palace as a token of his gratitude. The
minister was very happy and gave him carte blanche to take
all the materials he needed for this project from his own
warehouses. And so it was. Each day, the contractor would
come to the warehouse with a list of the materials he
required for the work of that day. The workers in the
warehouse would scurry to fetch all the things he had
enumerated -- this one -- bricks, that one -- wood, here --
windows, there -- doors and so on. And he would blithely
accept the offerings and hoist them away without paying
anything.
The usual customers could not help remarking how strange this
seemed, since they had to pay the full purchase price for all
their commodities. Furthermore, the master builder received
the best and quickest service and all he did was just hand in
a written list. When they were told, however, that he was
building a palace for his master all become clear to them and
they conceded that he really was entitled to it all.
*
We were directed by our sages to raise our sights on Rosh
Hashonoh, to glorify and exalt Hashem, to crown Him as our
King and to subjugate ourselves completely to His dominion.
We are obligated to build Him a splendid dwelling place here
below, in His honor. We must improve the world and bring it
to its perfected state, of all Creation acknowledging His
supremacy.
We recite the verse of Malchiyos to inaugurate Him as
our King. And when we do so truly and properly, with the
right intentions, then Hashem is pleased with us, as it is
written, "May Hashem's glory be forever; may Hashem rejoice
with the work of His hands" (Tehillim 104:31). And
then does He proverbially say to us, "Behold, I open My
treasure house before you of `children, life and livelihood'
to enable you to better serve Me in serenity and health."
The Gra concludes in the introduction to his siddur
that when we fulfill the verse, "Ani leDodi veDodi li -
- I am for my Beloved and He is for me," that is, when all of
my requests and aspirations revolve only around Him and
fulfilling His wishes, then He will answer my prayers and
pour forth His bounty and grant me limitless success.
Afterwards, we are able in good conscience to present a list
of our requests for all the things we need in order to serve
Him and please Him. If we are wholly dedicated to serve Him,
then we have carte blanche to ask for all the means necessary
to fulfill this goal and He will, indeed, provide us with
those needs, day-by-day, for it is obvious that on the basis
of the offer we made on Rosh Hashonoh to build Him a palace
here on earth, to increase His glory on earth, we are
eligible for those prerequisites.
That is what the Nefesh HaChaim says. We can see from
the liturgy of the Rosh Hashonoh prayers that we are meant to
create the climate for our serving Hashem all year round.
Even though during the year we may express requests that deal
with mundane creature needs, still our underlying intent is
surely that we need these elementary things as tools and
means to serve Hashem, which is our ultimate goal and
purpose. This is the significance of the words, "He accepted
the prayers . . . and did not despise them."
The fact is that it is our timely duty to rouse ourselves to
being worthy of being acquitted in our judgment, through the
worship of our hearts. As we stand in judgment, we must will
ourselves to be worthy and pure. And this very resolution and
aspiration elevates and ennobles us and determines our
attitude for the rest of the year; without it, our prayers
would not bring any pleasure to Hashem.
Thus, on Rosh Hashonoh we verbally express in so many words
our inner feelings, our basic intentions and the purpose of
our very being -- to be the latent backdrop of our later,
daily requests for the specific blessings that we require in
order to fully serve our Creator and serve our purpose in
this world -- to crown Him as the King over all Creation.
