Rosh Hashanah
Hashem’s motivation in creating the world is the pleasure He receives from our fulfillment of the Torah & mitzvos. Hashem’s desire for us to serve Him is then the foundation that the world is built on. Remove the desire for our service, and there is nothing to sustain creation.
Every year before Rosh Hashanah Hashem withdraws His energy from the world (that keeps the world in existence) temporarily. The world only exists superficially, but the inner will is not expressed.
It says in Tehillim Kapital Mem Zayin Pasuk Vov - “Hashem (Elokim) ascends through this Teruah; Hashem (Y-H-V-H) ascends through the sound of the Shofar.” Hashem retreats deep within Himself to rejuvenate His desire in Creation. This is inspired by our Teruah, our efforts to draw closer to Him.
Teruah is when we blow the shofar nine short times, a fragmented broken flow, representing our struggle to ascend from the limitations of this physical world to true spiritual freedom. Y-H-V-H in contrast represents the Tekiah - continuous flow, a G-dly flow of energy uninterrupted.
Elokim - represents the name of Hashem that sustains the world through concealments and it takes strength for Hashem to keep the world in existence yet conceal Himself. Y- H-V-H represents the essence of Hashem, transcending creation.
Then “Elokim ascends through Teruah,” what follows is “Y-H-V-H through the sound of the shofar” - a new replenished flow of energy is drawn from Hashem’s Essence (Y-H-V-H). Hashem is reinstated as King and continues to sustain creation. (From the Baal Hatanya’s son, known as the Mitteler Rebbe.)
As Hashem goes into His essence, the light from the previous year withdraws to its source - which is like the world is in a state of sleep. Just like Hashem put Adam to sleep on this day to create Chava. His essence is beyond the world and beyond creation, where Hashem chose the Yidden and wants us and chose the Torah, Hashem brings a new Infinite Light into this world - as we crown Him with the blowing of the Shofar - that has never been in this world since creation, to heal, fill up, elevate us to Him as He commits to recreate the world. That light depends on our actions and the teshuvah we do during the aseres yemei teshuvah. (Tanya, Igeres Hakodesh - perek yud daled).
For a worker to do his job, he must feel inspired and motivated. So long as he is connected to pleasure in his work, he will be motivated to fulfill his duties willingly and with joy. However, if he is tired, uninspired, or disconnected to the inner mission of his work, he will not enjoy his work and won’t be motivated to perform well, and will become disinterested after a short while. The “toil of his hands” is inspired by his emotions.
His emotions are motivated by his intellect and his intellect from his pleasure. For this worker to become re-inspired about his work he must connect to the point of pleasure within him.
So too, the creation of the world is recreated every second. Creation is called work as it says “He rested on the 7th day from his work”. For creation to persist, the Creator must want to continue his creation. That desire comes from the pleasure He receives from our service. In order to elicit this pleasure, we have to re-ignite this at the source, by awakening the simple desire Hashem has in our avoda. When we show that it’s worth it, His delight will reawaken the desire for creation We arouse this through the simple blast of the Shofar. The simple blast of the Shofar awakens the simple pleasure which Hashem has with creation and caused Him to reignite his desire to recreate the world. This then leads Hashem to consider the importance of the world, to care about the world and to make our whole reality for a brand new year (The kabbalah of the shofar/Rabbi Amichai Cohen)
When we recommit to accepting Him, that we are His to fight for, to seek, and to crown, - that He is our King & our Father. That we love Him & we want to be close to Him. He comes back to us, unites with us & reignites the spark & desire that He had. When choosing to create the world for the purpose of Man - finding Him - seeking Him & making this place a world where Hashem is King and is revealed for all to feel His presence and see Him with our very own eyes.
The Baal HaTanya explains that this recreation is done on a deeper internal level with the world, while the “externality” of the material world may exist but will receive from the externality of the Middot (emotion, Z”A). This similar to the worker who may still do his job, albeit begrudgingly. This level is called “dormita” or sleep or slumber.
Just as when one sleeps his organs work, while his mind and emotions are dormant. So too, on Rosh Hashanah the world is in a state of sleep and it is up to us to awaken the desire of Hashem to give his inner life force from His essence.
This is up to us when we give ourselves over to Hashem, that we are His soldiers we are His completely and we are nothing without Him. He is everything and we are His servants ready to do His will, we crown Him as King, he then recommits to keeping all the worlds in existence. An act of closeness, a message of humility, not just at the start of the year, but a message to master in all parts of our lives.
The Shofar, a sound so simple igniting our hearts to arouse our deepest parts of us, to voice its yearning, to give rise to its passion & flame our fire; to push forward with strength & might, to return, to make His name Great. To COMMIT.
The Shofar’s shape is small at one end & large at the other. A cry. When we feel small, when we’re in pain & we cry out from the depths of our heart Hashem hears us & makes it wide on top. Creates our personal Geulah. Puts us in a situation, without the pain.
Humility. The acceptance of Hashem, that everything Hashem does is good. We can create a miracle. Allow the light of Hashem, the love of Hashem, to penetrate our soul. Allowing one to see with our very own eyes - the true good that Hashem intended for us all along.
Rosh Hashanah, blowing a shofar, just a little bit of effort & this loud noise comes out. When we put ourselves in a state of humility with just a little bit of effort, a state of smallness, just like the shofar’s size, starts out small on one side & with a little bit of effort Hashem opens up the peace around us, within our relationships, within our struggles inside, with our happiness & we feel at peace.
What is Techiyas Hameisim?!
It is the lives coming back to those that lived. Life back?! Only Hashem can do that, the Creator of the whole world; that constantly creates.Yet, when we make ourselves small, that we are nothing & Hashem is everything, like the dust of the earth; that we’re just servants of Hashem, here to do His Will. We are taught, that in that merit we will have techiyas hameisim. Those that lie in the dust will get up. To have complete humility to Hashem like the dust of the earth, we need to know what it is that Hashem wants and how to do His Will. So how do we get there?!
Hashem created us with the facade that we are independent from Him and feel ourselves very much. We can try to be humble to the will of Hashem but in every part of our life - that is a lot harder. There are different levels in souls. The level of souls like the avos and Dovid Hamelech they are all from Atzilus, because they are from so high they have the ability to nullify themselves to Hashem. However, most regular people’s souls are from lower spiritual worlds and therefore they feel themselves more and it’s harder to unite our will with Hashem. So Hashem gave us a solution. He put in every generation a leader - that has a collective soul - that is like the Moshe of the generation and by making our will what he wants we are able to fully nullify ourselves to Hashem. Because the Moshe of the generation is fully nullified to Hashem.
The leader teaches us how to fully serve Hashem in every part of our day and make Hashem close to our heart.
The message of the Shofar is humility - through nullifying yourself to Hashem we crown Him as King. The way to do that fully is to be guided by the leader of the generation which allows us to know how Hashem wants us to do His Will. And thereby bring the complete Geulah. When techiyas hameisim will happen there’s a medrash that says, “Hashem will take the great Shofar, which is 1000 cubits according to Hashem’s (measurement as opposed to human measurement) in His hand and blow it. The sound will travel from one end of the world to the other. The first blast will shake the world with its sound. The second will open up the earth. The third will cause the bones of the dead to gather together. The fourth blast will warm up the limbs, while the fifth blast will cause the skin to spread over the bones. The sixth blast will return the breath and spirit into the body and the seventh blast will finally revive the dead and cause them to stand on their feet, fully clothed.”
The shofar. Where is it from?! Do you remember Akeidas Yitzchok?!
Where Avrohom the epitome of Kindness had to go to the opposite extreme (of gevurah…) and follow the word of Hashem. To bring His son on the Mizbeach & offer him as a korban. The Malach said “now I know you are a G-d fearing man.”
Hashem sent a ram instead. In life sometimes we need to go to the opposite of our nature, to do the Will of Hashem. Since really it is just a test. If we acknowledge that, how much easier it is to do the will of Hashem.
Reb Chaim was a Chassid who made his living buying and selling merchandise in the European markets. Every free moment he had was devoted to studying Torah. Once a year he would travel to spend time with his Rebbe and fill up on inspiration and encouragement. Known as a scholar and righteous, Reb Chaim was always greeted with great respect. On Shabbos, they honored him by calling him up for the final aliyah of the Torah reading, maftir. And everyone knew that Reb Chaim’s aliyah of the Torah reading, maftir. And everyone knew that Reb Chaim’s aliyah to the Torah would be followed by a generous contribution to the shul. On one such trip, Chaim entered his Rebbe’s private study for “yechidos” - a highly personal and precious soul-to-soul meeting a time of deep connection. When they were together, Chaim poured out his heart, telling his Rebbe of an extremely difficult challenge he was facing in his Torah observance. “Every day my service to Hashem is disturbed,” he began. “I am hot tempered, and easily get angry and upset. And I don’t get upset about big things. Even the small stuff set me off. When things don’t go as planned, or people don’t do what I asked them to do in short, when I don’t get my way I blow up!” He finished his heartfelt description and eagerly waited for his Rebbe’s response. Chaim had been in yechidus many times before and merited receiving answers and instructions on a variety of matters. This time however was different. The Rebbe barely addressed the question. Instead, he waved his hand dismissively and said, “Your problem is really very small and insignificant. In fact, it isn’t really a problem at all.”
Chaim was shocked. He’d waited a long time to tell his Rebbe this problem and longed to hear a good solution. “But Rebbe! For me this is a big problem! I feel terrible every time I explode, and yet, I do it again and again.”
The Rebbe waved his hand again. “That is a very small issue, and really it’s not a problem at all.”
Chaim refused to give up and described the whole problem again, emphasizing how hard it was for him and how it pained him and those around him.
“Maybe now the Rebbe will answer me,” Chaim added hopefully. “It’s a tiny problem, and in fact it’s not really a problem at all.”
Chaim was shocked. He’d waited a long time to tell his Rebbe this problem and longed to hear a good solution. “But Rebbe! For me this is a big problem! I feel terrible every time I explode, and yet, I do it again and again.”
The Rebbe waved his hand again. “That is a very small issue, and really it's not a problem at all.” the Rebbe repeated. Even a fourth time of explaining the problem was met with the exact same response!
There was nothing left to do, and Chaim left the Rebbe’s room dejected and disappointed.
“I can’t believe I didn’t get an answer,” he muttered. After Chaim left the room, the Rebbe called in his shamash and instructed him not to give Reb Chaim his customary honor of maftir. Naturally, Chaim began to complain and loudly voiced his opposition. When the shamash explained that it was a directive straight from the Rebbe, he calmed down.
Ah, the Rebbe must be testing me, Chaim decided.
Shabbos arrived, and as the local Chassidim greeted Chaim, they assumed he would have the usual honor and give his usual generous donation. Everyone was stunned when someone else was honored with maftir. They all turned to look at Chaim, and their shock grew even greater. Chaim just stood there, completely calm. Shortly afterward, when he was honored with gelilah, the congregants were certain that Chaim would get angry. Yet he strode up to the Torah with a little smile on his face and a niggun on his lips. He tied the Torah scroll and quietly returned to his seat.
“What’s going on?” everyone wondered.
When the davening ended, Chaim remained in the Shul to talk with the Rebbe. He approached him and the Rebbe smiled. Chaim smiled back. “I see that your problem is not as great as you said it was,” the Rebbe began. “They tried to dishonor you in front of everyone, but you didn’t get angry.”
“Of course not, Rebbe,” said Chaim. “I didn’t get angry because I knew it was a test from you. Now, had they really wanted to make me angry, you can’t imagine how I would have reacted.”
“Well, that was exactly my intention,” he responded. “Listen to me carefully: it is always just a test! Hashem is constantly testing and assessing you. He sits up in Heaven, with all the malachim who are watching you to see your reaction. The whole world looks very different when viewed from that perspective.
“Hashem has many messengers-everyone around you, the people who annoy you. They are all His emissaries and part of the test He is conducting to see your reaction. Always look at it this way, and the world will appear completely different. You won’t have to overcome your anger, since you won’t even have a reason to be angry.” When Chaim realized the Rebbe was testing him to see if he would get angry, he was able to stay calm. If we look at life from the lenses of the animal soul, we become the center of attention, easily offended, easily angered, and self righteous. However, when we wear the lenses of the G-dly soul, everywhere we look we see hashgocha protis - Hashem personally overseeing every individual detail of our life, including the things that irritate us. (From GPS for the soul)
The self sacrifice that Avrohom had was beyond his nature, the exact opposite of how he served Hashem. (He served Hashem with Kindness usually and now he had to access his Gevurah.) Yet he was willing to go all the way & do it for Hashem. That is a true servant. Just like a wagon goes wherever the driver takes it. Hashem is the driver. The Avos are the three corner and Dovid Hamelech is the fourth. (In the example of the spiritual wagon - markavah.) They we’re completely nullified to doing the will of Hashem. Whatever Hashem asked of them with complete sacrifice and no agenda of their own. Their souls are from Atzilus however our souls are from a lower spiritual worlds, so we feel ourselves more and therefore we need to be connected with our forefathers and Dovid Hamelech that have paved the way. It says in Tehillim…..
Kapital Kuf Lamed Gimel - Passuk Gimmel - “When the nation is united, the brechah given to their leader is like the dew of the mountain of Chermon, that runs down to the top of har Tzion lower than it. It is there atop the mountains of Tzion, that Hashem has directed His Brochos of abundance and like forever.”
Metzudos explains: Just like the dew that falls on the mountain of Chermon, flows to the lower mountains of Tzion (Yerushalayim), so does the Divine brochos flow from the king to the rest of the nation. Hashem’s brochos appears in Tzion and descends first upon its king. It is therefore imperative that the Jewish people are united with the king and each other in order to receive Hashem’s brochos.
We see from here Hashem has chosen to put His Shechinah on the king of the Yidden in the future times which is referring to Moshiach, and through the king we get our physical brochos for the world and the spiritual. We need to be connected to the king. By us being given over to the king and the king being given over to Hashem, we have clarity, guidance, direction and Brochos, and the ability to be humble to the ways of Hashem. We can then learn how to truly serve Hashem in all ways.
Not only that - we have a mitzvah to appoint a King. Like it says in Sefer Hachinuch, Parshas Shoftim (Mitzvah 497), To appoint a King within Israel. Like it says in Devarim: “You shall certainly place a king upon yourselves.”
Why do we need to appoint a King, because Hashem chose that the fulfillment of His Kingship in the world, the true way of crowning Him as king is to have a human king that is completely nullified to the Will of Hashem, that the shechinah rests on to guide us in how to serve Hashem best (Derech Mitzvosecha 108a, Shmuel I 8:11 and Ralbag there). Just like when the yidden left Mitzrayim, Moshe Rabeinu guided them what Hashem wanted from them, like it says, in Shemos perek yud daled - possuk lamed aleph. After Hashem created the miracle of the splitting of the sea and destroying the nation of Mitzrayim - The yidden saw the great power of Hashem that Hashem saved them from the hands of the Egyptians “The yidden believed in Hashem and Moshe his servant.”
For us to know the will of Hashem and how to serve Him properly and fulfill all of His 613 mitzvos that He gave us, we need the third Beis Hamikdash and Moshiach to come and take us to Eretz Yisroel. We need our King so we can fully do the will of Hashem. The true crowning of Hashem as King is asking Hashem - please send us our Moshiach, our king, our redeemer, that we can give ourselves over to, to guide us, to teach us, the new Torah that will be revealed when Moshiach comes and we are ready to greet him right now!
We are ready to hear the Shofar of Moshiach. The great shofar that will arouse in us to completely make Hashem the most important in our life. Take us out of our insecurities, our limitations, our fears, worries and dreads, our empty indulgences & fill us with your warmth, with your will, your presence. Send us our melech that we can crown him king that he will build the Beis Hamikdosh. By telling Hashem that we are ready for His complete Kingship to reign, the ultimate way that we can serve and do all of His mitzvos with Moshiach. May we have him now!
The shofar of Moshiach is blown from the right horn of the ram that was used instead of Yitzchok being brought up to Hashem. Signifying the importance of humility and self sacrifice in serving Him. The left horn was blown by har sinai and the right which is larger will be blown when Moshiach comes. If the ram was fully burnt how can it be blown the Ramban explains perhaps Hashem will put it back together from its dust and it will be blown.
As it says in the possuk from Yeshayahu describing the future Geulah “It will happen on that day, that the great shofar will be sounded and those who are lost in the land of Ashur and those banished in the land of Mitzrayim will come and bow down before Hashem on the holy mountain in Yerushalayim.”
Ashur is the Hebrew word for pleasure, referring to all material pleasures in the world which we indulge. Prosperity and success used for Hashem is a beautiful thing, however overindulgence and being used just for personal interest will make us lost and insensitive to the will of Hashem. The great shofar will wake us up from feeling lost and insensitive to Hashem’s will.
Mitzrayim - comes from the word meitzar, meaning limitations or boundaries. The overwhelming forces that make us feel trapped from doing what we know is right - from getting beyond our comfort zone - from being lost in our pain where we can’t accept G-d in our life and do His will.
The great Shofar will wake us up from those limitations & allow us to have a real relationship with Hashem where Hashem is real. Hashem is everything and all we will want to do is make Him our Melech.
Hashem designed a human king to help us get there to know His will, to teach us His Torah and guide us and by us doing the Will of the king that is the ultimate way of making Hashem our Melech. Since with Moshiach we can have the Beis Hamikdosh & fulfill Hashem’s Torah fully.
May we hear the great shofar of Moshiach arousing our Neshama to serve Hashem with the highest part of our soul the Yechidah. To have our king and be given over to him, allowing Hashem’s presence to fill the world and return our complete self to Him right now. On Rosh Hashanah we hear the shofar in different forms the long blasts and short ones, representing different parts of the neshama, the three lower levels, nefesh, ruach and neshama. As well as corresponding to different names of Hashem. However the shofar of Moshiach will wake up our Yechidah, the highest level of our soul, and is beyond any names of Hashem, from such a high level from His essence to our essence. When touching our essence we have no choice but to completely and willingly want to give ourselves over with self sacrifice and every part of ourselves to do His will!
Hashem please send us our Moshiach now that we can fully serve you with the third Beis Hamikdosh and fulfill all your mitzvos, may we hear the shofar Gadol now!
Rabbi Yosef Caro says, “Anyone who does not mention the “Kingdom of the House of David in the brocha of “He who rebuilds Yerushalayim does not fulfill his obligation of prayer. Therefore, we must make reference to the Kingdom of Heaven, the House of David and the Holy Beis Hamikdash. Indeed the Jewish Nation will not be redeemed from Galus until we demand all three. (Beis Yosef - Rabbi Yoseph Caro o.b.m. - Tur Orech Chayim Ch. 188)
Let’s demand as we daven in Rosh Hashanah - maariv uvchein…”And thus Hashem our Hashem, shall Your Name be sanctified upon Your people Israel, upon Yerushalayim Your city, upon Zion, the abode of Your glory, upon the kingship of the House of David Your anointed, and upon Your dwelling-place and Your sanctuary.”
Let’s have in mind as we hear this shofar - we are ready to give ourselves over to Moshiach, our king we are ready to greet him and we are blowing the shofar as trumpets blasts in a coronation ceremony. As says in Shmuel “And the Children of Israel returned and sought Hashem their G-d and David their King.”
May we hear the Great Shofar now!