One of our main tasks on Rosh Hashonoh is, "Say before Me
[pesukim of] Malchuyos, . . . in order to accept Me as
your King."
One of the main issues of Rosh Hashonoh is thus Hashem's
malchus, His rule as King over the world. Hashem's
malchus in the world at large is incomplete until it
extends to all of Creation. Thus, more than any other
period, we pray for the ultimate Redemption in great detail
as applied to the entire universe: "Put Your fear . . . upon
all your creations . . . may all created things bow down
before You . . . and all the evil dissipate like smoke . . .
"
Though we cannot directly make Hashem the King of Creation as
He will ultimately be, we can work at making Him King of
ourselves.
Of course we have a lot of work to do on ourselves —
throughout the year and especially during Elul and the Yomim
Noraim. In this small space we cannot cover it all, but each
year we try to highlight a little niche that is often
overlooked.
In order to fulfill our obligations relating to the
Malchus of Hashem, it is clearly important to have a
clear conception of just what the rule of Hashem implies, so
that we will know what we are praying for and so we will have
a vision to guide us in working towards it.
The focus during the Rosh Hashonoh davening on the
extreme case of the ultimate Geulah can help us bring into
focus what we are working towards in ourselves —
throughout the year and especially during Elul and the Yomim
Noraim.
The full revelation of Malchus Shomayim means:
Vesimloch Attoh Hashem levadecho al kol ma'asecho
— that Hashem, and Hashem alone, will fully and
immediately rule over everything. Everything will recognize
its own true nature which is to serve Hashem according to its
abilities, and there will be no other focus for the entire
world. There will be no states and no sports; no movements
and no causes; no politics and no culture. Nothing else will
matter except Hashem, for nothing else truly matters except
Him. At that time, when the world will be full of knowledge
of Hashem, this will become evident to all.
In our daily lives we all have to deal with various matters.
Some help us and help the world to realize (even if only in a
small way) that Hashem is the true King. Other matters hinder
us and hinder the world, and we have to neutralize or
overcome them, in order to remove blocks to the revelation of
Hashem's Malchus.
In the Malchuyos section of the Musaf of Rosh
Hashonoh we start with the request that Hashem remove the
gilulim, the disgusting goals that some people adopt,
and also that He completely cut off all of the elilim,
the powers that have sway in the periods of darkness, but
that are false. There are some elements that are so wrong and
far out, that there is no alternative but to destroy them.
But there are still many who, while they are rish'ei
oretz, evil people, can nonetheless be turned towards
Hashem. We pray that even they — and everyone else
— will recognize and know that Hashem is the only power
that one should bow before, and that all will accept the yoke
of His rule and that He will agree to rule over all.
This is a grand vision for better days at some time that is
very different from the world in which we spend most of our
time, but that may be here sooner than we expect.
It is interesting that the final posuk of the ten of
Malchuyos is Shema Yisroel . . . The ultimate
kabbolas ol Malchus Shomayim is something that we do
several times daily. In our own lives and especially in our
own minds, we must strive to implement the full rule of
Hashem — throughout the year and especially during Elul
and the Yomim Noraim.
May we all be successful.
