The High Holiday services are once again upon us. I remember when I was a teenager, long before I became observant, a non-Jewish friend of mine expressed the opinion that she wished she was Jewish so she could also take the High Holidays off from school. I laughed and told her that was silly, after all, it wasn’t like I was sitting home watching TV; I had to spend the entire day in shul - BOOOOOORING!
As I said, that was many years ago and now I look forward to the services. In fact, my favorite places to daven on Yom Kippur are those that break between Mussaf and Mincha for only about half an hour, no more than that. And yet I can honestly admit that even on Rosh Hashana, as I enter into the Mussaf davening, my feet slightly cranky (because inevitably, I choose the wrong shoes to wear!) And my brain slightly drained, I find myself spaced out. There are parts of the Rosh Hashana service that take me by surprise every year - “Oh yeah, we say that here? Huh? Who knew?”
And then the blasts of the shofar wake me from my reverie. “Concentrate now,” I say to myself, “Those shofar notes must go through you like an arrow of sound! G-d is King, G-d is King!” I try with all my might to focus, and then it is over. The blasts dissolve from the air, and the people around me are rushing into the next prayer.
Today is the birth of the world, today all the creations of the world stand in judgement, if as children or if as servants. If as children, be merciful on us with the mercy of a father on his sons, and if as servants, our eyes are turned to You until You give us grace and issue our judgement like light, Awesome and Holy One.
I must admit, while I do rush saying the prayers n order to keep up with everyone, this is actually one of my favorite prayers; it speaks to me. Perhaps because it is such a simple use of language. I can relate to being a child, and I can relate to being submissive to someone (maybe not as a servant, but at least as an employee).
“Hayom Harat Olam.” Today is the birthday of the world. Excellent. So 5,763 years ago, G-d created the earth - not exactly. Actually, the beginning of creation was 5,763 years and 6 days ago. Rosh Hashana is the anniversary of the sixth day of creation - the day on which Adam was created, and therein lies the critical information.
These are the ‘generations’ (products) of the heavens and the earth in creating them, in the day Hashem G-d made earth and heaven. And all the trees of the field were not yet on the ground, and all the herbs of the field had not yet sprouted because Hashem G-d did not send rain on the ground, and there was no man to work the ground (Genesis 2:4-5).
Okay, I know, this is not a great big chidush - we’ve all heard this drash. Before Adam was created, the world was in a state of pure potential. G-d created the potential for everything in the word - the potential, but not the actual. The seeds were planted for grass and eggs were laid for little chicks. But it was not until Hashem had created Adam, the first man, that the latent potential int eh world came to fruition. Why the delay? G-d wanted Adam to ask, to pray, for the world to blossom and grow. Once Adam prayed for rain, the grass sprouted out of the earth, the little chicks hatched from their eggs, and G-d’s true splendor and glory were revealed on earth.
Why did G-d want Adam to pray? G-d wanted Adam to look into himself and recognize the need to seek His help in bringing the world to its full potential. Additionally, G-d wanted Adam to recognize his own powerful role in creation and the amazing potential within himself. There is no greater vehicle for finding one’s true potential then prayer. While we translate the Hebrew word “l’hitpallel” as to pray, the word is actually a reflexive verb meaning “to judge one’s self” or “to self-reflect.”
Chazal tell us that if someone kills another person, then they have destroyed an entire world. On Rosh Hashana, we are each the original Adam reflecting the entire world. That world is us, and that self is the potential we hold inside.
It’s hard, we all know that. Discovering how to bring our latent potential forward is one of the greatest challenges of mankind. Even harder than that is being able to look at one’s self with a critical eye (both for positive and negative traits). But think of Adam. He awoke into the world, looked around, scratched his head and thought, “Huh? What am supposed to do with this place? Kind of empty, no?” And he went to the only source available for the answers, the King of Kings.
And so do we. In the prayer Hayom Harat Olam we say: “Today all the creations of the world stand in judgement, if as children or if as servants. If as children, be merciful on us with the mercy of a father on his sons, and if as servants, our eyes are turned to You until You give us grace and issue our judgement like light, Awesome and Holy One.” No matter how G-d sees us, as children or as servants, we are appealing to Him to help us discover that potential within. We are appealing to Hi rachamim, his mercy. The word rachamim, interestingly enough, shares the same root as the word rechem womb. From whence comes life? From the womb. From when comes life? From the mercy of Hashem.
We all know our basic earth science...rain (water) is necessary for life to flourish. When Adam prayed for rain, he was praying to Hashem, the G-d of rachamim, to let life flow forth freely on the planet. Rain is a beracha (something we all understand so well after this summer’s drought). The word beracha is related to the word b’reycha, a well spring or source - thus strengthening its connection with rachamimi (both are sources of life). Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch (Deuteronomy 11:26) also relates it to the word berech, or knee. The knee is a unique joint because it is responsible for helping pull one forward. (Think of how difficult it is to walk without bending one’s knees.) R’ Hirsch thus concludes that a beracha is more than a source of blessing; it is “the condition of unhindered progressive movement forward.” Life can only be truly lived if we continue to move forward.
Hayom Harat Olam, Today is the birth of the world. Today, Rosh Hashana, we pray to G-d to give us life by answering our prayers, as he answered Adam HaRishon’s prayer - with a beracha. And that beracha is the ability to continue moving forward toward our potential. When we think of our prayer on the Day of Judgement in this light, we are already taking a step forward and becoming a newer, better person who is one step closer to fulfilling his/her tafkid. At the same time, we can begin to understand what t means when our Rabbis say that on Rosh Hashana G-d judges us for who we are at that very moment. We have taken a step forward and are no longer the same person we were just a moment before. We have been transformed, just as the earth was transformed by the flow of rain.
May we all find the strength this Rosh Hashana to make the most of our tefillah and to bring upon ourselves a blessing of great spiritual growth and ktiva v’chatima tova.
