Rosh Hashanah (ראש השנה) — The New Year

Core definition

Rosh Hashanah — the first two days of Tishrei — is at once the world's birthday and the Day of Judgment (יום הדין). "Today is the birth (conception) of the world; today He will set in judgment all the creatures of the worlds" — the liturgy's "Hayom haras olam" [65127/maamar_001 :: §1–7]. On this day the Almighty sets all creatures of all worlds to judgment [58839/maamar_001 :: §5–7], and its inner matter is the drawing-down and crowning of His kingship [66495/maamar_001 :: §37–39].

How the Rebbeim develop it

Children and servants. Jews stand before the Judge in a double role — "children" ("banim atem la'Hashem Elokeichem," Devarim 14:1) and "servants" ("they are My servants," Vayikra 25:55) [65127/maamar_001 :: §8]. The Gemara (Bava Basra) explains: when Jews do Hashem's will they are called children; when not, servants — and therefore the prayer "im k'vanim im ka'avadim" asks for mercy under either title: a father's mercy is greater, but a child's offense against a parent is also greater; failing that, a master's mercy, like servants whose eyes are fixed on their master's hand [65127/maamar_001 :: summary].

The heavenly court. On Rosh Hashanah the angels come to present themselves before the Creator — and the Satan comes among them, as in Iyov 2:1, which is read as Rosh Hashanah [65127/maamar_001 :: §43–44, §91–92]. Every deed creates an angel: good deeds create good angels that testify for the person, bad deeds bad angels that testify against him [65127/maamar_001 :: §43–44, §58–59]. The Satan is one with the evil inclination and the Angel of Death, whose craft is to lead a person down step by step — first into permitted indulgences, then into the forbidden, and finally into idolatry [58839/maamar_001 :: summary].

"Ayom kadosh." The liturgy's "awesome and holy" joins two words that seem far apart: awesomeness in the human sense judges strictly and ignores the lowly; the divine awesomeness is joined with kedushah — "holy, set apart, looking at everything with holiness, mercy, and compassion" — awesomeness expressed as merciful closeness, not domination [15643/maamar_001 :: summary].

The crowning of kingship. "It is known that Rosh Hashanah is the drawing-down of the attribute of His Kingship," as in "and He was King in Yeshurun, when the heads of the nation gathered" — "for then they draw down the level of kingship" [66495/maamar_001 :: §37–39]. The Mishnah: "say before Me malchiyos, so that you make Me King over you" [66495/maamar_001 :: §52]. The crowning works through kabbolas ol malchus Shamayim — the acceptance of the yoke of His kingship — which is in the inwardness and essence of the soul, where all Yisrael are unified (intellects and middos differ, but in kabbolas ol all are equal) [66495/maamar_001 :: §47–48]. This is the main matter of Rosh Hashanah [66495/maamar_001 :: §51]. The kesser of Malchus — the will for kingship — is drawn when all souls gather as one [58836/maamar_001 :: §29–37].

"Techilas maasecha." Why is Rosh Hashanah — the sixth day of creation — called "the beginning of Your works"? Though the world was created on the 25th of Elul, the world's being is from the will of "Ana Emloch" (I shall rule): on Rosh Hashanah the neshamas of Yisroel arouse that will anew from its first source in the Awtsmoos, through the ten verses of malchiyos [58842/maamar_003 :: §325–326, overview]. Kingship with will (meluchah) belongs only to the neshamas of Yisroel, who have bechirah and are rooted in the Awtsmoos — so they alone can arouse the will for kingship [58842/maamar_003 :: overview].

Shofar. "Sound the shofar at the new moon" (Tehillim 81:4) is asked after in the maamarim: why does the verse speak cryptically of "the covering" rather than naming the seventh month; why does the shofar need a stated reason ("for it is a chok"); and why is it called both chok (above reason) and mishpat (which intellect obligates) — "a chok for Yisroel, a mishpat for the Elokim of Yackov" [58836/maamar_001 :: summary].

Key distinctions

Related concepts

Sources