Rosh Hashanah is called (Bamidbar 29:1), "a day of
teru'ah." What is the teru'ah referred to in
the posuk? What is its exact nature?
"When you go to war in your land against the enemy that
oppresses you, then you will blow a teru'ah with the
trumpets, and you shall be remembered before Hashem your
Elokim, and you will be saved from your enemies" (parshas
Beha'alosecho, Bamidbar 10:9). This posuk reveals
to us that the teru'ah is an alarm that people are
accustomed to using when in danger. It is like a boat sinking
in the middle of an ocean signaling over its radio an urgent
SOS. (Save Our Ship!).
The teru'ah on Rosh Hashanah is thus an alarm sounded
at a time of utmost danger.
What is the danger anticipated for us on this day? "On the
first day of Tishrei all people in the world pass before Him
like sheep [to be tithed]" (Rosh Hashanah 1:2). On
this day HaKodosh Boruch Hu judges all His creations
according to the ways of judgment known only to Him; it is
not the type of judgment mortals are used to. The main axis
of this Divine sentence is showing man his mistake and
proving to him that he has erred even after making allowances
for his own particular condition. This judgment clearly
reveals Heavenly truth to man; it demands that he account for
all his acts.
Man himself is always prepared to apologize, and to justify
the blunders that have been caused by his negligence in all
his affairs, including his spiritual affairs. However, the
Heavenly scales weigh differently than he presumes; they
measure only the unadorned facts.
Here is an exact account of how he drove himself to his
ultimate capacity in his private life, without ever lagging
behind or ever being neglectful. How much fortitude he had
when he endangered himself to reach his aspiration: the
sheepish person turned into a daring lion and the outgoing
person suddenly became an introvert who only watched over his
own matters, who was concerned with nothing else. He
buttressed himself to bravely fight life's battle of
existence by relying upon speculations, by counting on his
forefather's zechuyos, by basing himself on all sorts
of chances and forecasts, all in the hope he would find his
"way in life." This is what Yeshaya the novi
castigated us about (57:10): "Though you are fatigued through
your myriad ways, you did not say `There is no hope.'"
HaKodosh Boruch Hu will demonstrate to man at his
judgment what he has made out of the life given to him: in
other words, how great was his mistake in life. A matter
considered by him to be a veritable cornerstone, upon which
he based his life, turns out to be insignificant. Man reaches
the bitter realization that he has wasted his life.
Chazal compared Hashem's rebuke of man at his inevitable
judgment to the Ten Tribes, Yosef's brothers, who were unable
to bear the rebuke of their brother Yosef when he disclosed
himself to them. They too became aware at that moment of
their huge mistake in life. The brothers had initially
thought that Yosef planned to harm them and that the
halocho of a rodeif (one who pursues another
with intent to kill him) applied to him. His deserved
punishment, then, was death. They even threw him into a deep
hole and later sold him.
However, when Yosef revealed himself, it was evident that he
had the power to harm them, and now they were under his
control. Yosef, however, only thought to benefit his
brothers, not to harm them. All at once their suspicions
burst like a soap bubble and they realized their terrible
mistake. The tribes felt at that moment that they were
passing the demanding test of Heavenly judgment, the test of
absolute truth, and therefore they "were unnerved before his
presence" (Bereishis 45:3). Chazal therefore remark on
this posuk: "Woe to us on the Day of Judgment; woe to
us on the Day of Rebuke."
A condition similar to what happened to the Ten Brothers with
Yosef -- revealing their mistake -- is the essence of man's
Heavenly judgment. A Jew who believes that Hashem judges man
and that he must eventually give a reckoning for all his
acts, is required to analyze himself constantly. He must
appraise and examine the mistakes liable to be interweaved
throughout his life and deeds; he must carefully inspect his
deeds in order to find their weak points.
It is proper for a Jew who knows that on Rosh Hashanah he
must stand in judgment to be cognizant that he is not feeble
or powerless when it comes to spiritual matters and his
obligations to Heaven. There is nothing to prevent him from
doing Hashem's will, and he does not have less capability in
spiritual matters than in material ones. Every Jew is a
spiritual giant, equipped with powerful qualities, together
with zechus Avos that is by no means at an end.
The Days of Judgment call out to us: "Return,
Yisroel, to Hashem your L-rd, for you have stumbled in your
sin" (Hoshea 144:2). All our stumbling happened to us
because we did not see life's real truth. We walk without
seeing how many stumbling stones are placed in our way, that
we are liable to fall over. Everyone is included in the
precept "Return, unruly children" (Yirmiyohu 3:14).
Even if we have greatly sinned towards Him and rebelled
against Him, and even if we have intentionally betrayed him,
the gateway of teshuvah has not been closed to us.
HaKodosh Boruch Hu still calls out to us: "Return to
Me and I will return to you" (Malachi 3:7). The
posuk is saying that if we only show our willingness
to return, and truly exert ourselves to return to Him, then
Hashem will fill in what is missing in our neshomos so
that we will be once again pure and clean from sins.
There are no impediments before teshuvah. Any Jew who
honestly wishes to repent immediately, changes all his
outlook on life, all his soul's demands, with his spiritual
and material needs of life, until the soul is ready to ascend
to the level of a ba'al teshuvah -- a level that even
tzaddikim are unable to attain.
May it be His will that both the public and every individual
will repent, and that our public and private life will be
saved from any sin and cleansed from any iniquity, and that
we will be faithful in our service to Hashem.
On the first day of Tishrei all people in the
world pass by Him like sheep [to be tithed] (Rosh
Hashanah 1:2). The Tanna uses this parable to emphasize
the individual status of a sinner. By its means a sinner is
enabled to fully grasp just what a personal sin really
entails.
It is human nature that when a person must appear in front of
a court or another place where he will be judged, if others
are also being arraigned for the same act, he will feel some
relief. The knowledge that he is only one of those accused
and that he will not have to bear the entire responsibility
alone, comforts him.
The Tanna negates such vain comforts by defining the judgment
on Rosh Hashanah as people passing before Him like sheep: one
after the other, singly. "Do not let your yetzer make
you confident" (Ovos 4:29) -- you should not feel
protected by the knowledge that you are a small part of a
gigantic legion of sinners, since each individual passes
alone under the staff of judgment.
"This day is the beginning of your deeds" (Machzor Rosh
Hashanah) -- on this day HaKodosh Boruch Hu takes
account of the deeds of the chosen one among His creations --
man. Hashem created man in His image and He endowed him with
free choice and presented him with a goal on Earth. Hashem
said to man: "I am alone in the world and you are alone in
the world. Let us make an accounting!" HaKodosh Boruch
Hu assigned one day in the year to meet with man, so that
man and Hashem can scrutinize each other. Every single mortal
"passes" before Him and is seen by Him, and in addition, man
too can "see" HaKodosh Boruch Hu on this day. This
being "face-to-face" with Hashem is what we call judgment.
If a person ever sees the Angel of Death -- even without the
Angel talking to him -- he has a feeling of being unable to
continue living. We have no concept of this feeling except an
understanding that it is a perception of the worthlessness of
life. Man attains a recognition of life's insignificance as a
result of seeing the Angel of Death. If seeing an angel has
such an effect, still more when a person stands before the
King of the Universe is this a mortifying moment, when the
naked truth is revealed to him, and when he is rebuked by the
vision shown him of what should have been done and what in
fact he actually accomplished.
"I will rebuke you and set it before your eyes"
(Tehillim 50:21). When HaKodosh Boruch Hu
personally judges His creations and rebukes them according to
their capabilities, how will man be able to justify his
deeds?
About Yosef's brothers the Torah writes, "And his brothers
could not answer him because they were unnerved in his
presence." They were not frightened by any external fear;
they were frightened simply because of their enormous
shame.
Indeed this feeling of genuine shame is the greatest
punishment. Dovid cursed the reshoim only with shame:
"Ashamed and utterly petrified will all my enemies be, they
will return and be instantaneously ashamed" (Tehillim
6:11).
Chazal wrote: "Woe to us on the Day of Judgment; woe to us on
the Day of Rebuke! Bilaam was the wisest from the nations and
a mule the stupidest of the animals, but Bilaam was unable to
bear the rebuke of his mule. Yosef was the youngest of the
tribes, but they [his brothers] were unable to answer him
because they were unnerved in his presence."
The lesson we learn from this is that a person's acts are so
senseless that even a mule is capable of rebuking him for
them. A person's understanding is so inadequate that even a
little knowledge blinds him. We common people are witless and
blind in understanding the Creator's intent, and therefore we
are so far from recognizing that all His ways are kindness
and truth.
Man only merits this recognition through humility. True
humility helps man to realize his own insignificance, and
afterwards he is capable of reaching a genuine recognition of
the True Power. Malchuyos, zichronos, veshofaros
(declaring Hashem's kingdom, remembering our mitzvos, and the
blowing of the shofar) said in our prayers, together
proclaim Hashem's reality.
Malchuyos designate truth; zichronos
designate judgment, and shofaros designate kindness.
The ganuchei gonach (the three shevorim) and
the yalulei yoleil (the abrupt teru'os), these
melodies of the shofar, are intended to break our
heart in order to prepare it for such a recognition. The
simple long melody of the teki'ah calls out to us to
elevate ourselves and reach true awareness of life "above the
sun." Yom Teru'ah is a day of awakening.
Rosh Hashanah entreats us to halt our routine way of life and
to reflect about the creations of HaKodosh Boruch Hu,
since, "This day is the beginning of Your deeds." According
to one opinion the world was created in Tishrei, and if so,
it is of course imperative to reflect on this day about the
significance of the creation and its aim, and how we -- a
part of the Creation -- have been loyal to our purpose in
life.
We cannot provide an exact account of this subject without a
profound appreciation of the kindness and truth of Hashem.
Therefore the shofar in the malchuyos, zichronos,
veshofaros arouses us to this appreciation. This is
evident from what Chazal (Rosh Hashanah 16a) write:
"Say Malchuyos, zichronos, veshofaros on Rosh Hashanah
before Me. . . . Zichronos so that the memory of you
will arise before Me for kindness; and through what? Through
the shofar."
The above are mere outlines about the essence of the Day of
Judgment -- Yom Teru'ah. "How fortunate is the nation
who understand the call of the teru'ah; Hashem, they
go in the light of Your face" (Tehillim 89:16).
