Rosh Hashanah in the Era of Geulah - Rabbi Menachem Cohen shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to “Lema’an Yishme’u,” a podcast of Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Shanah tovah, may you be written and sealed for a good year—a good, sweet year for each and every one of you. With Hashem’s help, may it be a year of blessing, success, and complete Geulah. May we merit the revelation of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, immediately, right now, amen. With Hashem’s help, we’re now going to begin a very special series of classes about the two most central things that we, the entire Jewish people, have lived by for thousands of years. We know that we have the Torah. This Torah will never be replaced. We need to do everything according to halacha, as the Torah requires. And that, thank G-d, is what Machon Halacha has taken upon itself and, thank G-d, continues to pursue with even greater strength and vigor: that every single thing should truly be done according to halacha, as the Torah requires, in keeping with the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu in every matter. To truly do things as the Torah requires. That’s one thing. The second thing the entire Jewish people have lived with for thousands of years is the anticipation of the true and complete Geulah. Throughout every generation, throughout all the years: “I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshiach, and even though he may delay, I will nevertheless await him every day, that he should come.” To anticipate, believe in, and await the true and complete Geulah, which is at our doorstep at every moment. In recent years, the Lubavitcher Rebbe shlita, Melech HaMoshiach, has raised the level of anticipation for the Geulah very, very powerfully. Today, all the great Torah leaders agree that we need not only to believe and anticipate, but also to sit down and absorb the subjects of Geulah, to live with Moshiach, to live with Geulah—because the Geulah is here; Moshiach is about to come. The Geulah is already here, and it will arrive any moment. So just as we sit and study the laws of Shabbos before Shabbos, the laws of Rosh Hashanah before Rosh Hashanah, and the laws of Yom Kippur before Yom Kippur,

02:20 Speaker 2 so too, before the Geulah, we study the subjects of Geulah and Moshiach. And studying these subjects shouldn’t be something separate from what we’re always involved in. It should be part of everything we do. As an example, the Rebbe spoke about a Jew sitting and listening during Chanukah. He listens to the Torah reading and hears the reader say, “And it came to pass at the end of two years.” He hears the word “end” and remembers, “Ah! This is the end of the exile, the end of days. The Geulah is about to arrive!” Then he sees the menorah being lit in the shul on Motzaei Shabbos and says, “This lighting reminds me of the lighting that the Kohen Gadol will perform in the Third Beis Hamikdash,” and so on. So in this class we’re bringing these two ends together. With Hashem’s help, we’ll take the subject of Rosh Hashanah today and talk about what it means for us now in connection with the Geulah, and how we’ll celebrate Rosh Hashanah in the true and complete Geulah, very soon. So let’s look at Rosh Hashanah in general. What is its connection to the Geulah? We know that Rosh Hashanah is, well, very closely connected to the true and complete Geulah. The central feature of Rosh Hashanah, the central mitzvah we live with on Rosh Hashanah, is the sounding of the shofar. On Rosh Hashanah, thirty blasts are sounded, and we make a point of hearing a hundred or more, making it possible for many others to hear them as well. So the shofar is sounded in additional places too. As the Mishnah says in Tractate Rosh Hashanah, the mitzvah of the day is the shofar. We do this every Rosh Hashanah, including today. In the true

04:24 Speaker 2 and complete Geulah, we know that the sounding of the shofar is profoundly connected with the Geulah. Every day in our prayers we ask, “Sound the great shofar for our freedom; raise a banner to gather our exiles, and gather us together from the four corners of the earth to our land.” That is what we ask for in our prayers—the request for Geulah. “Sound the great shofar.” What could be more closely connected with Geulah than the sounding of the shofar? Interestingly, this sounding is mentioned in the Book of Yeshayahu: “And on that day a great shofar will be sounded, and those lost in the land of Ashur and those banished to the land of Egypt will come and bow before Hashem on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu will sound a great shofar to gather the Jewish people from their various places of exile throughout the world. The sounding of the shofar is also mentioned in another connection with the true and complete Geulah, one that we mention in the Rosh Hashanah prayers as well: “And Hashem Elokim will sound the shofar and advance in the storms of the south.” In other words, this is a shofar blast that will cause upheaval in the world—“advance in the storms of the south.” According to many commentators, neither passage is talking about a physical shofar blast. No, Hakadosh Boruch Hu will not take a physical shofar. Rather, there will be an awakening, a great awakening to teshuvah, a Divine call. It will be a spiritual Divine call. One call is the one described by the words, “A great shofar will be sounded, and those lost in the land of Ashur will come.” As we said, that’s from Yeshayahu, and it is about gathering the scattered Jewish people. The purpose of this call and awakening is to gather the scattered Jewish people to serve Hashem, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, in Jerusalem. The second sounding, which we said is mentioned in the Book of Zechariah and which we recite—“And Hashem Elokim will sound the shofar and advance in the storms of the south”—is an earlier sounding, an earlier spiritual awakening. It brings about conflicts and upheavals among the nations to prepare the world for the true and complete Geulah. In other words, as long as the nations of the world are governed in the ordinary, familiar way

06:52 Speaker 2 the world remains as it appears during the time of exile. Before the reign of Melech HaMoshiach, which will bring the complete revelation of the sovereignty of Hakadosh Boruch Hu throughout the world, there will be upheavals among the nations, wars among the nations, to prepare the entire world for the true and complete Geulah. The Lubavitcher Rebbe shlita, Melech HaMoshiach, says that these shofar blasts have, in fact, already been heard. This has already happened. The First and Second World Wars were a result of that sounding, that Divine call: “And Hashem Elokim will sound the shofar and advance in the storms of the south.” As the Rebbe says, these were things that made no sense. One person started a quarrel with another, and it turned into a worldwide war. Some foolish person began stirring up all kinds of trouble; someone who was good for nothing, the Rebbe says, managed to set off wars throughout the entire world. It wasn’t because of one person or another. It was because “Hashem Elokim will sound the shofar and advance in the storms of the south.” Those wars brought about a change throughout the world, a change in which the entire world says: We don’t want wars anymore. We want peace and a good situation—the sovereignty of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, as it will be fully revealed in the reign of Melech HaMoshiach, very soon. That was “Hashem Elokim will sound the shofar and advance in the storms of the south.” But there is another sounding too, the one we mentioned: “And on that day a great shofar will be sounded.” That’s what we ask for when we say, “Sound the great shofar for our freedom.” The Rebbe says that this, too, has already begun; this sounding has already begun. It happened during the Six-Day War. The miracles of the Six-Day War stirred a tremendous awakening among the Jewish people. Many of those who had been lost in the land of Ashur, immersed in the imagined wealth of worldly matters, and that

09:03 Speaker 2 Those banished in the land of Egypt were in all sorts of far-flung places, and they were awakened and bowed before Hashem on the holy moun—on the holy mountain in Jerusalem. Of course, this has begun, but it is still not complete. The Rebbe says it is still not complete. We need to increase this awakening and do more to inspire Jews to awaken in matters of Torah and mitzvos and bow before Hashem on the holy mountain in Jerusalem, to be utterly devoted to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Through this, we will merit the true and complete Geulah immediately, right now. So we see how Rosh Hashanah is connected to the Geulah. The sounding of the shofar is connected to the Geulah. On a deeper level, it is explained that the central theme of Rosh Hashanah is accepting Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kingship—coronating Hakadosh Boruch Hu as our King. And as we mentioned, this too reaches its completion when His kingship is fully revealed through Moshiach. So once again, on Rosh Hashanah we awaken with great anticipation for the true and complete Geulah, for the reign of Moshiach. That is really the idea of “Long live the King” and “Yechi Adoneinu”: through this, we bring about and establish the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu throughout the entire world in its fullness, as it will be fully realized during Moshiach’s reign. Now there is another way we see Rosh Hashanah’s connection to the true and complete Geulah: in the prayers. We pray for it in many prayers. And note that, generally, we do not add anything to the first blessings. The first three blessings remain the same all year. According to halachah, additions can be made only to the middle blessings. If someone wants to add something, they may, right? On fast days we add Aneinu. If someone has a personal request, they can add it to the prayers—to the middle blessings of Shemoneh Esrei. But on Rosh Hashanah, and likewise on Yom

11:05 Speaker 2 Kippur, we add a great deal to the first blessings. “And so the righteous will see and rejoice.” “And so, instill Your awe, Hashem our G-d, upon Israel Your people and upon Jerusalem Your city.” And so, yes, upon the entire world, upon all the inhabitants of Your earth. “Every being will know that You made it, and every creature will understand that You created it.” All these are requests for the Geulah. Why? Because Rosh Hashanah is truly an auspicious time, the time when we crown Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King. The time when we sound the great shofar is an auspicious time to ask for and awaken to the true and complete Geulah, when the full revelation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu will finally come about in the true and complete Geulah. Now let’s talk a little about what Rosh Hashanah will be like in the true and complete Geulah. First, one major change: during these years of exile, when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, we know that the halachah is not to sound the shofar. Why? Someone might mistakenly carry it from one place to another. When the Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, the shofar is not sounded; it is sounded only in the Beis Hamikdash. Today, we do not sound it. Even when there was a court of ordained judges, it was sounded at that court. Today that no longer exists either, and in fact we do not sound the shofar at all. Even when such courts existed, it was sounded only where there was a court, not throughout the world. By contrast, in the future, in the true and complete Geulah, there will be no concern that people will make a mistake and carry it in a public domain. That, after all, is why we do not sound it: lest someone carry it four cubits in a public domain. In the future, there will be no such concern. So it will be possible to sound the shofar everywhere in the world, even when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos. It is interesting to note, in this connection,

13:05 Speaker 2 that once, during a yechidus with Israel’s chief rabbis, Rabbi Shapira and Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, when they were with the Rebbe shlita, Melech HaMoshiach, one of them told the Rebbe about someone who, roughly a hundred years earlier, had wanted to reinstate the sounding of the shofar when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos. Everyone opposed it: no, in this time of exile, we do not sound the shofar when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos. Nevertheless, one of the rabbis at the time said they should find out whether that Jew really intended to sound the shofar. He was one of the rabbis who wanted to do so. If he really was going to sound it, they should let him know so that he could come and hear it too. After all, it is a positive commandment from the Torah. So that shows, how shall I put it, our anticipation that very soon we will indeed merit to hear the shofar even when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos. There is something else written: today we sound the shofar in connection with the blessings of Zichronos, Malchuyos and Shofaros. We have three blessings during which we sound it. After all, the Mussaf prayer of Rosh Hashanah differs from every other Mussaf prayer of the year. Every other Mussaf has one middle blessing, on Shabbos and on all the festivals. Shacharis, Minchah and Maariv on every festival and every Shabbos also have one middle blessing. The exception is Rosh Hashanah, whose Mussaf has three middle blessings: Malchuyos, Zichronos and Shofaros. That is today. But the Alter Rebbe writes that in the future, Malchuyos and Zichronos will be discontinued, leaving only Shofaros. Consequently, the shofar will be sounded only during the blessing of Shofaros. Another thing worth noting,

15:04 Speaker 2 something important to pay attention to, concerns the time of the Beis Hamikdash itself. As we said, the shofar was sounded in the Beis Hamikdash—even on Shabbos. By all accounts, it was sounded in the Beis Hamikdash when Rosh Hashanah fell on Shabbos, both during the First Beis Hamikdash and during the Second. But there was something distinctive about the Beis Hamikdash. Ordinarily, we sound a shofar; anyone who knows how sounds a shofar. We have only a shofar. In the Beis Hamikdash there was something special: trumpets were sounded too. Along with the shofar, they also sounded trumpets. This is what the Rambam writes: “In the Beis Hamikdash, on Rosh Hashanah, they sounded one shofar, with two trumpets at its sides.” In other words, two people stood on either side of the shofar blower and sounded trumpets. The shofar blast was prolonged. The main sounding was the shofar, because, as we said, the mitzvah of the day is the shofar. The trumpets’ blasts were shorter. This happened only in the Beis Hamikdash. Why were trumpets sounded? The Rambam explains that it says in Tehillim, “With trumpets and the sound of the shofar, sound out before the King, Hashem.” From this, our Sages learn that when one is before the King, Hashem, in the Beis Hamikdash, one sounds not only the shofar but also trumpets. Elsewhere, however, on Rosh Hashanah only the shofar is sounded. In addition, it is worth noting that there will be several other changes in the future. One thing is stated plainly. First, I want to point out that in the true and complete Geulah, people will surely sit and debate these matters and know every detail thoroughly—how shall I put it, inside and out. Today, unfortunately, we do not deal with these halachos very much, although we should. So some of the things I am saying will be practical halachah, while with others, it may be that people will say that, in practice, there will be certain changes and so on,

17:18 Speaker 2 But we need to learn and know these things, at least to the extent we can know them today—with the resources we have now—both to be ready for the Geulah, to live the Geulah, and to hasten the true and complete Geulah. We know that today we sound thirty shofar blasts. Why thirty? The Torah commanded a tekiah, a teruah, and a tekiah. Tekiah, teruah, tekiah; teruah, tekiah; shevarim, teruah, tekiah. The basic sequence is a tekiah, shevarim or teruah, and a tekiah. The Torah says “you shall sound” twice, and “you shall sound a teruah” once. From this we learn that there must be a tekiah, a teruah, and a tekiah at the end. That is the general sequence the Torah commanded. Strictly speaking, Torah law requires only nine blasts: tekiah, teruah, tekiah, three times. Today, though, we have a doubt. The Rambam says that over the long exile, uncertainty arose—and this is also the ruling in Shulchan Aruch—as to what the teruah in the middle is. Does it mean the teruah we sound today: tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu? Or does it mean shevarim: tu-tu-tu-tu-tu? Or does it mean shevarim followed by teruah, like someone who cries and then begins to wail? Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu—like someone crying and then beginning to wail. Because of this doubt, we sound three sets: one set of tekiah, shevarim, teruah, tekiah three times; one set of tekiah, shevarim, tekiah three times; and a third set of tekiah, teruah, tekiah three times. In the future, Eliyahu Hanavi will come and resolve

19:04 Speaker 2 all our doubts. Presumably, there will be no need for all three sets. Eliyahu Hanavi will resolve every doubt and tell us what the Torah actually meant. Accordingly, either they will sound just nine blasts—tekiah, teruah, tekiah three times, or tekiah, shevarim, tekiah three times—or they will sound twelve blasts: tekiah, shevarim, teruah, tekiah three times. Beyond that, there are other opinions. I’m not saying this is the practical halachah, but we should know that these opinions exist. One opinion says that in the future we will not need the teruah at all. The Ben Ish Chai, Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad, says that the tekiah signifies tranquility and joy, whereas the teruah symbolizes crying and wailing. They are two different things. Teruah is crying, as we said—a sob. The verse says “and she sobbed”; that word, “sob,” is the translation of teruah. And tekiah is a sign of joy: “On the day of your rejoicing and on your festivals, you shall sound the trumpets.” So tekiah represents joy. He says that today we have joy, on the one hand, over the miracles Hakadosh Boruch Hu performs for us; on the other hand, we also have shevarim and teruah, and we cry over our troubles. In the future there will be no more troubles, only things that bring joy. So he says there will be only tekiah. In the future, the yetzer hara will cease to exist; there will be no place for teruah and wailing, only tekiah—only peace and tranquility. There is another interesting opinion on this subject, about sounding the shofar in the true and complete Geulah, in the responsa of Shoel Umeishiv. He writes that the commandment to sound the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is intended, as the Rambam says, to awaken the Jewish people to teshuvah. The whole idea of sounding the shofar alludes to “improve your deeds.” It contains this message: “Awaken, sleepers, from your sleep, and you who slumber, rouse yourselves from your slumber, and return—

21:05 Speaker 2 remember your Creator and return in teshuvah.” He says that in the future all Jews will be righteous, so there will be no need for it. According to him, those shofar blasts will have no place. The yetzer hara will cease to exist, and so they will not be needed. But as we said, not everyone agrees. The Alter Rebbe explicitly writes that there will be shofar blasts in the future. These are simply the different opinions. What will actually happen? It would seem that the Torah will not change, as the Rambam says and as is brought in several places. So there will indeed be a tekiah and a teruah. The question is only what form they will take. If only one of the sequences is sounded, there may be just nine or twelve blasts, as we said. That is what would seem to be the case. One more thing: regarding these blasts, the question is asked, why do we sound the shofar while seated and then sound it while standing? Why do we sound it one way and then the other? The answer is brought in halachah. The Gemara says it is to confuse the Satan. What does it mean to confuse the Satan? The Semag—Sefer Mitzvos Gadol—says something very interesting. He writes that sounding the shofar confuses the Satan because it reminds him of the Geulah. He says it is connected to the Geulah. The Satan remembers that at the end of days, when the great shofar is sounded, his time will come to be swallowed up forever. So when he hears the shofar today, he is immediately reminded that at some point he is going to die. After all, the Satan and the Angel of Death will cease to exist in the future. So hearing the shofar today reminds him of the shofar blast that will bring about his end. The Semag says it is like a person who sees a dead person lying before him: he

22:57 Speaker 2 is reminded of the day of death, becomes shaken, frightened and confused, and cannot bring accusations. There is another interesting explanation for the Satan’s confusion in the book Lachmei Todah. It asks: Why does the Satan become confused? You know why? It gives a very interesting explanation. Our Sages say, “The son of David will come only in a generation that is entirely meritorious or a generation that is entirely guilty.” The Satan hears many shofar blasts sounded by so many Jews, and he becomes convinced: that’s it, the Jewish people have become an entirely meritorious generation. They have done so many mitzvos that everyone is meritorious. So he says, “If that’s the case, I’ll start arguing against them.” He begins bringing accusations. Then he hears them sounding the shofar again. He says, “Well, maybe now it’s because this is an entirely guilty generation. Perhaps my accusations have succeeded so well that they are entirely guilty.” But if they are an entirely guilty generation, then they, too, are due to receive the Geulah, because the son of David comes in a generation that is entirely guilty. So he starts arguing in their favor. He ends up confused: should he argue in their favor so they will not be an entirely guilty generation, or argue against them so they will not be an entirely meritorious generation? He does not know whether to accuse them or defend them. This, he says, is what we mean when we say in the Rosh Hashanah prayers, “Whether as children or as servants.” In other words, the Satan does not know whether the Geulah will come because of our merits—“as children”—or whether it is

24:36 Speaker 2 Because of our shortcomings, we may be like servants, and this is what we ask: “If we are like children, have mercy on us; if we are like servants, our eyes look to You until You bring our judgment to light.” Whether we are in a state of being entirely meritorious or entirely guilty, we ask for the true and complete Geulah. Another thing that will happen in the future, at least according to some opinions, concerns Rosh Hashanah. Halachah states that we do not say Hallel on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur. Notice that we say Hallel on all the festivals, except Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Why not? Because the books of the dead and the books of the living are open before Hashem, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu sits on the throne of judgment—so how can the Jewish people sing? That is the situation today. But in the book Lachmei Todah, Rabbi Tzvi Horowitz says this applies only today. During exile, death still exists, but in the true and complete Geulah, “He will swallow up death forever,” and then we will say Hallel on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as well. That, he says, is why we say in the prayers: “And so the righteous will see and rejoice, and the upright will exult, when You remove the rule of wickedness from the earth.” He says in Lachmei Todah: “That is to say, when the rule of the evil inclination, called ‘an old and foolish king,’ is nullified—and this evil inclination is the Angel of Death—‘He will swallow up death forever’ will be fulfilled. When You remove the rule of wickedness from the earth, the righteous will see and rejoice, the upright will exult, and they will sing.” One last point about Rosh Hashanah: Unlike all the other festivals, which will be observed for only one day, even outside Eretz Yisroel—because there will no longer be a need for a second day of Yom Tov in the Diaspora, since everyone will know exactly when the beis din sanctifies the new month—Rosh Hashanah will always remain two days. The Rebbe says it is reasonable to say so. In other words, there is one side

26:31 Speaker 2 that says it could be observed for just one day, even on Rosh Hashanah, since today it is possible to publicize in an instant when Rosh Hashanah falls. At least in Jerusalem, it would be possible to observe Rosh Hashanah for one day, since the beis din could go around Jerusalem and announce it. After all, the reason we observe two days is that once, the Levi’im’s song was disrupted: the witnesses arrived late, and they did not know exactly what to do. But in the future there will be no such disruption or problems. So that is one side. There is reason to say that, at least in Jerusalem, it could be observed for one day, because the beis din would be able to announce exactly when Rosh Hashanah falls. But there is another line of reasoning. The Rebbe says it seems more compelling that we will continue to celebrate Rosh Hashanah for two days, as we do today, because Rosh Hashanah has been accepted by the entire Jewish people as a two-day festival. So much so that it is considered one long day, and its sanctity does not depart. Accordingly, it will remain two days in the future as well, in the true and complete Geulah. To conclude, I’ll add another interesting point that will change our whole way of looking at the future a little. In the true and complete Geulah, there will no longer be a fixed calendar. That’s it. Right now, so much of life revolves around the calendar: what’s happening in a month or two. We write down exactly when every date will fall, on which day. That’s only during exile. In the true and complete Geulah, immediately, there will be no calendars, because we will be able to find out. Everything will be determined by when the witnesses come and testify before the beis din. The beis din will accept their testimony, and then we will know when Rosh Chodesh is—whether the preceding month will have one day of Rosh Chodesh or two.

28:12 Speaker 2 And most importantly, may we merit this immediately.