Reasons for the Customs of Rosh Hashanah - Rabbi Shmuel Mekamel shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the Lema’an Yishme’u podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 As Rosh Hashanah approaches, today we’ll discuss the meaning of several Rosh Hashanah customs. Rosh Hashanah has a number of names, found in the words of our Sages, in the prayers, and in the Torah. In the Torah it is called “a day of sounding the shofar” or “a remembrance of the sounding of the shofar.” Our Sages also use the term keseh, as in “between keseh and the tenth”—the days between Rosh Hashanah and the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is called keseh because it is the only festival when the moon is concealed. The festivals generally fall when the moon is visible, whereas on Rosh Hashanah it is not. Of course, each of Rosh Hashanah’s names has its own meaning. The best-known name is Rosh Hashanah, as reflected in the words, “This day is the beginning of Your works, a remembrance of the first day.” We know that the world was created on 25 Elul. There is a disagreement between the Tannaim Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua over whether the world was created on 25 Adar or 25 Elul, but according to both, those dates relate to the creation of the world: one to the thought of creating the world, and the other to its actual creation. Everyone agrees that 25 Elul is connected with the creation of the world. So the sixth day of creation, when Adam was created, was 1 Tishrei. That is why the day is called Rosh Hashanah: “This day is the beginning of Your works, a remembrance of the first day.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world for man’s service, for the Jewish people to crown Him as their King. That is the purpose of this festival, Rosh Hashanah: a day

02:13 Speaker 2 of accepting the King’s sovereignty, a day of crowning the King. That is the great significance of the name Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is also called the Day of Judgment, when all the world’s inhabitants pass before Hakadosh Boruch Hu like sheep, and He judges them. We know that this day of judgment concerns the entire world; the whole world is judged on this day. Yet the Jewish people rejoice because of the preciousness of the Day of Judgment. The Midrash says that when a person comes to be judged, he is usually very tense and feels the dread of judgment. But when Rosh Hashanah arrives, the Jewish people know that the King is Hakadosh Boruch Hu—Avinu Malkeinu, our Father and our King. He is also our Father. So we dress in white, wrap ourselves in white, rejoice, get haircuts, and come to the festival as we should, with joy. We know with certainty that we will be vindicated in judgment and that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will grant us a good, sweet year. That is the meaning of Rosh Hashanah and all its distinctive names. Alongside what we have said about Rosh Hashanah being the Day of Judgment, we know this also has halachic implications. On Rosh Hashanah we do not call it “the season of our rejoicing,” nor do we refer to joy as we do on other festivals. The laws of rejoicing that apply to festivals—eating meat, drinking wine, and the other laws of rejoicing set out in the Shulchan Aruch—were not stated regarding Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah was not designated as a day of rejoicing; it is the Day of Judgment. That is also why we do not say Hallel on Rosh Hashanah. The books of life and the books of death are open, and with the awe of judgment upon us, it is not the time to recite Hallel

04:08 Speaker 2 and songs of praise to Hashem, because this is a day of judgment, not a day of rejoicing. But of course, we know that all service of Hashem must be done with joy. Crowning the King must certainly be done with joy, and that is how we should approach Rosh Hashanah: with joy and confidence that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will indeed inscribe and seal us for a good, sweet year. In fact, all the work of the month of Elul—and even earlier, from 15 Menachem Av—is preparation for Rosh Hashanah. From then on, we begin wishing one another to be inscribed and sealed for a good, sweet year. As Rosh Hashanah draws closer, there are the forty days before it, beginning on 20 Menachem Av. And especially when Rosh Chodesh Elul arrives, the preparation for the service of Rosh Hashanah truly begins. A special service begins then, expressed in the words “I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” “I am my beloved’s” is the work of Elul, the effort we make on our own initiative. We devote ourselves to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, reaching toward Him from below. Then Hakadosh Boruch Hu draws close to us on Rosh Hashanah, and “my beloved is mine” is the special drawing down from above that Hakadosh Boruch Hu reveals to each of us during the Ten Days of Teshuvah, which begin on Rosh Hashanah. During the days of Selichos in particular, we prepare for Rosh Hashanah. Then comes Erev Rosh Hashanah, when we spend especially long reciting Selichos. Although we do not say Tachanun that day, and for us it is a day of joy because we know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will surely vindicate us in judgment, we still spend a long time saying Selichos on Erev Rosh Hashanah. It is also written that the Mincha prayer on Erev Rosh Hashanah is the year’s final prayer. We need to say it with a special awakening, with an awakening of

06:09 Speaker 2 teshuvah. It is also written that, in connection with Mincha, we begin diligently reciting Tehillim an hour before Mincha. The whole focus of Rosh Hashanah is reciting Tehillim and crowning Hakadosh Boruch Hu as King. It is kabbolas ol malchus Shamayim, accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why we are constantly saying words of Torah and prayer, constantly reciting verses of Tehillim. This is the service of Rosh Hashanah, and it begins already on Erev Rosh Hashanah. Beyond that, we know that our Sages spoke of how careful we must be with vows. When we make a vow, we must fulfill it. Sometimes we take various things upon ourselves without saying “bli neder”—without making a vow—and that can become an obstacle. We want to make sure that before entering the new year, we are clear of all this. That is why we perform hataras nedarim, the annulment of vows, already on Erev Rosh Hashanah. We perform it specifically then. There is a hint to this: although we also say Kol Nidrei on Yom Kippur, which is another form of annulment of vows, there is a hint that hataras nedarim should be done specifically at the end of Elul. The verse about vows says, “He shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that comes from his mouth.” The final letters of the words “lo yachel devaro kechol” spell Elul. From this we learn that the annulment of vows should take place in Elul, before Rosh Hashanah. On the night of Rosh Hashanah, too, we know that the Gemara says to eat good foods, foods that are favorable signs, whose names or meanings call good things to mind. This has significance. Because Rosh Hashanah is the head of the year, everything we do on that day has an effect on the entire year. It is an all-encompassing day that includes

08:10 Speaker 2 within it the entire year. That is why it is called Rosh Hashanah, the “head of the year,” and not the “beginning of the year.” Just as the head encompasses all the limbs, is responsible for their functioning, and everything flows from it, so Rosh Hashanah is the head of the entire year. Everything we do on Rosh Hashanah has significance. That is why we eat foods that are good signs. There are things we avoid eating, too. For example, it says not to eat fish cooked in vinegar. Fish are a good sign: they represent fertility. But cooking them in vinegar makes them sour, and that is not a good sign, so we avoid eating them. Some people avoid a few other things as well. The Shulchan Aruch says not to eat nuts. The word for “nut” has the same numerical value as “sin,” and we want to avoid that altogether. We do not mention sins on Rosh Hashanah. Even in the Avinu Malkeinu prayer, we omit “Our Father, our King, we have sinned before You” on Rosh Hashanah, while saying the rest of the text, because we are very careful not to mention sins. But there is another, very practical reason for not eating nuts on Rosh Hashanah. We have the prayers and the shofar blasts, and it says that nuts increase phlegm. Eating them might make a person clear their throat, disturbing the prayers and interfering with hearing the shofar blasts. That is why they should be avoided. In general, we need to know that everything we do on Rosh Hashanah has significance for the entire year. Therefore, it says to minimize idle talk and trivial matters as much as possible.

09:59 Speaker 2 We should minimize those things in general, but especially on Rosh Hashanah, when every word has significance. So we really need to make the most of the time. We should use Rosh Hashanah to the fullest for Tehillim and for things connected with crowning the King, which is the service of the day. The great mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah is blowing the shofar. As we said, the Torah calls Rosh Hashanah “a day of sounding the shofar.” What does that mean? Our Sages say: Hakadosh Boruch Hu said, “Recite before Me verses of kingship, remembrance, and shofar. Verses of kingship, so that you will crown Me as King over you; verses of remembrance, so that your memory will rise before Me for good. And through what? Through the shofar.” Thus, blowing the shofar is the crowning of the King. The Baal Shem Tov explains this crowning through a parable. A king sent his son to another country to spread word of the kingdom and tell its people about his father, the great king, since they had not accepted the king’s rule. After the king sent him, the son did arrive, and at first he had a great deal of strength. But little by little he grew weaker, until eventually he became like one of the people of that country. He completely forgot how a prince should behave. His father must have heard what had become of him—or, one day, the king’s carriage passed near the son. The son immediately recognized his father, but he had even forgotten how to speak to the king. He had forgotten his native language, the language in which he should speak to his father, the king. A cry simply burst from his mouth: “Father, Father, save me!” The king heard that cry. And then, of course, the king took his son and drew

12:12 Speaker 2 him close. That is what happens through blowing the shofar. That is the meaning of the shofar blast: the cry of “Father!” Our cry is a call, a simple cry in which there is no difference between one Jew and another. Everyone cries out with the same blast, the same simple cry that comes from the essence of the soul, and it rises straight to our great Father. Hakadosh Boruch Hu immediately hears and listens to the sound of our shofar blast. There is another parable from Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev. Just mentioning him on Rosh Hashanah arouses an advocate for every single Jew, as we know from the stories of how he would speak in defense of each and every Jew. He tells another parable: A king lost his way and looked for a place to stay. A simple man welcomed him and, with the little he had, gave the king everything he needed to get back on the road. When the king returned to his palace, he naturally summoned the man and drew him close. Out of gratitude, he raised him to a very high position. In time, though, this man, now close to the king, sinned against him. Since he had betrayed the king, his punishment for rebelling against the kingdom was death. But the king allowed him to make one request before his sentence was carried out, before the sentence was announced. The man asked that he and the king put on the same clothes they had worn when they were in the forest and the man had saved the king. When they put on those clothes, the king immediately remembered the great kindness the man had done for him. Feelings of gratitude flooded back, and the king pardoned him and annulled

14:17 Speaker 2 the harsh decree against him. In the same way, blowing the shofar recalls the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, when we “followed You into the wilderness.” The Jewish people were together with the King, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu drew us close to His service. We accepted the Torah and said, “We will do and we will hear.” There were sounds and lightning, and the sound of a very powerful shofar. When we sound that shofar, it reminds Hakadosh Boruch Hu of the Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, and that arouses His desire to give us a good year and decree a favorable judgment for us. The mitzvah of blowing the shofar must be performed specifically with a shofar. Why? Because the Torah tells us to blow a shofar, not a horn. The word “shofar” also carries the sense of a tube: it must be hollow. There is another reason we specifically use a shofar, and some are particular that it be made from a ram’s horn. Why? Because we want to recall the Binding of Yitzchak. The shofar should be curved so that the people will bend their hearts to Hashem in prayer. The time for blowing the shofar is during the day, as it says, “It shall be a day of sounding the shofar for you.” Therefore, one may blow the shofar from dawn. In practice, we blow it after sunrise, but not before dawn. One may blow the shofar until sunset. The Alter Rebbe’s Siddur says that after the Torah reading, a person should prepare himself for blowing the shofar. We say the psalm “For the Conductor,” Psalm 47 in Tehillim. Some understand the preparation the Alter Rebbe mentions in the Siddur to mean saying that psalm. We say “For the Conductor” seven times, and that serves as preparation for blowing the shofar. But the Rebbe says that the Alter Rebbe is precise in saying that a person should prepare himself and say this psalm seven times. In other words

16:33 Speaker 2 That preparation is in addition to reciting Psalm 47 seven times. In other words, that recitation is not the preparation. So what is the preparation? The Alter Rebbe does not write what preparation is needed before the shofar blowing. But the Rebbe says that the preparation is a person’s inner devotion: giving himself over entirely to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is the proper preparation. A person truly needs to set himself aside and give his whole being to Hashem, with kabbolas ol malchus Shamayim—accepting the yoke of Heaven. That is the preparation for the shofar blowing. After reciting the psalm “Lamnatzeiach,” and saying the verses there, which have special intentions associated with them, we proceed straight to the blessings. It is also written that the shofar should be covered during the blessings. There are several reasons for covering the shofar then. One reason is similar to what we know from the laws of Shabbos: we cover the bread before Kiddush. In principle, we should first make a blessing over the bread and then over the wine. But since the Sages instituted making Kiddush over a cup of wine, we cover the challahs so that the bread will not be shamed. Similarly, the wording of the blessing is “Who has sanctified us and commanded us to hear the sound of the shofar.” That is the mitzvah: to hear the sound of the shofar, not to blow it. So the shofar itself is not the mitzvah. Since this could be seen as a slight to the shofar, the halachic authorities wrote that we cover it during the blessing so that it will not be shamed. But there is another explanation that fits very well with the idea that Rosh Hashanah should remind us of the Akeidah, the binding of Yitzchak. We do many things connected with the Akeidah, and one of them is covering

18:37 Speaker 2 the shofar. The Midrash relates that before Avraham Avinu bound his son Yitzchak on the altar, he was deeply concerned that Yitzchak might develop a blemish. Since he understood that he had to offer his son as a burnt offering, he was careful about all the laws concerning the inspection for blemishes. He wanted his son to be a perfect offering, without any blemish or disqualification, so he kept him sheltered. He guarded him with the utmost care so that he would not develop a blemish. In remembrance of this, we also cover the shofar before the mitzvah of blowing it, to recall the Akeidah. We hold the shofar at the right side of the mouth, because it says, “And the Satan stood at his right side,” and the blowing is meant to confuse the Satan. The opening of the shofar should point upward, not to the sides, as it says, “G-d ascends with the sound of the shofar.” We blow it with the narrow end in the mouth and the wide end, from which the sound emerges, facing outward. The reason is the verse, “From the narrow place I called to Hashem; He answered me with expansiveness.” Before the shofar blowing, we have the blessings and the intention with which we say them. And, of course, there is the mitzvah of the day: to hear all the shofar blasts from beginning to end. We should have the simple intention to fulfill the mitzvah because the Torah commands it. The Torah tells us to blow the shofar, so we blow the shofar. Beyond that, many reasons have been given for the shofar blowing: to remember the prophets, to remember the Beis Hamikdash, and to remember the redemption of the Jewish people from exile. All of this is learned, of course, from the many verses that our Sages apply to the shofar blowing—its meaning,

20:42 Speaker 2 what it should remind us of, and what we should have in mind when the shofar is blown. But, of course, the basic intention should be simple. First and foremost, the Torah said to blow the shofar. We accept upon ourselves the yoke of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kingship and listen to the blasts in order to fulfill the mitzvah. On the night of Rosh Hashanah, we begin the Ten Days of Teshuvah with their special prayers and the special additions to the prayers. Throughout the year we say, “Blessed are You, Hashem, the holy G-d”; during the Ten Days of Teshuvah we say, “the holy King,” because then Hakadosh Boruch Hu reveals His kingship over us. On the other weekdays of the Ten Days of Teshuvah, too, we say “the holy King,” and we also say “the King of judgment.” There are also several additions instituted by the Geonim that we include in Shemoneh Esrei. We add Shir Hamaalos and Avinu Malkeinu as well. These are special prayers for the Ten Days of Teshuvah, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu is close to every Jew. These additions begin with the very first prayer of the year, the prayer on the night of Rosh Hashanah. Incidentally, the Rebbe relates that our Rebbeim would spend a very long time in the Rosh Hashanah night prayer. It is, after all, the first prayer of the year. The Rebbe says that although who among us could approach the level of our Rebbeim, nevertheless, since we were told about this, each of us should have at least a trace of it. We should aspire to spend longer in that prayer and concentrate on it a little more than on other prayers during the year, because it is so special. At the end of the Rosh Hashanah night prayer, on both the first and second nights, we say, “A psalm of Dovid: The earth and all it contains belong to Hashem, the world and those who dwell in it,” expressing Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kingship over the world,

22:40 Speaker 2 how Hakadosh Boruch Hu guides the world, and how He sustains and provides for everyone. It is known that when this psalm is said with concentration, it has a special power: it is the channel that opens all the gates of abundance and blessing for the entire year. After Maariv on the night of Rosh Hashanah, people wish one another, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” It brings tremendous pleasure Above when Jews bless one another this way, and it truly hastens each person’s inscription and sealing for a good, sweet year. We should remember, though, that on Rosh Hashanah night it is still appropriate to say, “May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year.” But the Shulchan Aruch says that after midday we no longer use that wording, since the sealing has already taken place. What remains is to wish one another, “May you have a good final sealing.” That is why this greeting was designated specifically for the first night of Rosh Hashanah. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Torah reading tells of how Sarah Imeinu was remembered, and the haftarah likewise tells of how Chanah, the mother of Shmuel HaNavi, was remembered, since they were remembered on Rosh Hashanah. On the second day of Rosh Hashanah, we read about the Akeidah so that we will remember it and invoke its merit on our behalf. Mentioning the merit of Yitzchak Avinu, who was bound on the altar, arouses favor for the Jewish people. It advocates for every Jew. That is why we do a number of things whose purpose is to recall the Akeidah. In the haftarah, in the haftarah we

24:40 Speaker 2 We read the haftarah of Zichronos, which says, “Is Ephraim a precious son to Me? I will surely remember him.” In this way, we bring the memory of the Jewish people before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The Musaf prayer of Rosh Hashanah is unique among the prayers. Every prayer is made up of three opening blessings, three concluding blessings, and blessings in the middle. On weekdays, we pray Shemoneh Esrei, the “Eighteen Blessings.” In fact, it has nineteen blessings. But the prayers of Shabbos and Yom Tov, and the Musaf prayers of Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Chodesh, and Chol Hamoed, do not have nineteen blessings; they have seven: three opening blessings, three concluding blessings, and one middle blessing for the sanctity of the day. The Musaf prayer of Rosh Hashanah is special, though. In addition to those seven blessings, it has two more, for Zichronos and Shofros. Actually, there are three sections: Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofros. The verses of Malchiyos conclude with the blessing for the sanctity of the day: “King over all the earth, Who sanctifies Israel and the Day of Remembrance.” Then we add two more blessings, one for Zichronos and one for Shofros. Of course, each blessing follows the introductory verses, and at the end of each section we blow ten shofar sounds: tashrat, tashat, tarat. After the Musaf prayer of Rosh Hashanah, we blow another thirty sounds. Although we have already fulfilled the mitzvah of hearing the shofar—we have heard the blasts blown while seated and completed the order of blasts blown while standing—nevertheless, we finish the prayer and blow

26:39 Speaker 2 another thirty sounds. The reason we do this is to confound the Satan, so that he will not see us going straight home to eat as soon as we have fulfilled the obligation of the day. Strictly speaking, we could already go home to eat and drink with joy and gladness of heart. But we stay a little longer in shul to confound the Satan. On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, if it falls on a weekday—or on the second day if the first falls on Shabbos—we perform Tashlich. The practice of Tashlich, in one form or another, goes back a very long way; it has a source. In practice, the custom as we know it today is to go to a body of flowing water, preferably one with fish that we can see. A fish’s eyes are always open, alluding to the fact that Hakadosh Boruch Hu keeps His eyes upon us at all times. Also, fish symbolize being beyond the power of the evil eye. So we try to stand somewhere we can see the fish. Tashlich is also said to commemorate the Binding of Yitzchak. As we know, the Midrash tells us that when Avraham Avinu set out with his son for the Akeidah, the Satan came and tried to obstruct him. He appeared in the form of a river, and Avraham Avinu went through it with Yitzchak. The water rose so high that it reached his nose, but he was undeterred and continued on. So we go to a river to recall the mesirus nefesh of Avraham Avinu and Yitzchak Avinu

28:44 Speaker 2 at the Akeidah, and may that serve as an advocate for every single Jew. He went through the river until the water rose so high that it reached his nose, but he was undeterred and continued on. So we go to a river to recall the mesirus nefesh of Avraham Avinu and Yitzchak Avinu at the Akeidah, and may that serve as an advocate for every single Jew. Rosh Hashanah is actually the only festival that lasts two days. Of course, outside Israel every Yom Tov lasts two days, except Yom Kippur. But Rosh Hashanah is the only festival that lasts two days even in Eretz Yisroel. The reason Rosh Hashanah differs from the other festivals goes back to the time when the new month was sanctified based on eyewitness testimony. Witnesses would come before the beis din and testify that they had seen the new moon. The beis din’s messengers would then go out and announce everywhere that the new month had been sanctified. That told people on which day Pesach, Shavuos, and so on would fall. Outside Israel, it took longer for the news to arrive, so because of the uncertainty, they observed each festival for two days. But in Eretz Yisroel, the announcement could reach everyone in time. They knew exactly which day it was, and the festival lasted only one day. Rosh Hashanah, however, is the only festival that falls on Rosh Chodesh itself. That means witnesses could still arrive at the beis din on Rosh Hashanah and report that they had seen the new moon. In other words,

30:47 Speaker 2 the day would be sanctified as Rosh Hashanah while it was already underway. To avoid difficulties—and difficulties had already arisen over this—the Sages established that Rosh Hashanah would always be a two-day festival. Today, after Hillel the Nasi established the calendar, we no longer have that problem, because the new month is no longer sanctified based on eyewitness testimony. But what was established then remains in force today. We must preserve the custom. That is why, to this day, every Yom Tov is observed for two days outside Israel, while in Eretz Yisroel each Yom Tov is observed for one day—except Rosh Hashanah, which was observed for two days even when the new month was sanctified by eyewitness testimony. There is a major question about the second day of Rosh Hashanah: Is it a Yom Tov in its own right, or a continuation of the first day? In fact, an entire section of the Shulchan Aruch, section 600, discusses the laws of an egg laid on Rosh Hashanah. How should we regard the day? Is it one long day, a yoma arichta, or is it a new Yom Tov? In practice, we say Shehecheyanu on both days, the first and the second. But because there is some doubt, we make sure to have a new fruit for the Shehecheyanu blessing at Kiddush. Women who have the custom of lighting candles and saying Shehecheyanu when they do so should likewise light them close to Kiddush, when the new fruit is on the table and visible, and have it in mind when saying Shehecheyanu. Then, immediately after Kiddush, we sit down and eat the new fruit. Incidentally, this differs from the custom

32:51 Speaker 2 of eating apple dipped in honey at the beginning of the meal on the first night. As we said at the start of the class, there are foods we eat as good omens on the first night of Rosh Hashanah. We eat those foods at the beginning of the meal—that is, after saying Hamotzi and dipping the challah in honey. But on the second night, we eat the new fruit immediately after Kiddush, before washing our hands, and say an after-blessing over it. The reason we say Shehecheyanu and make sure to have a new fruit is the uncertainty over whether the second day of Rosh Hashanah is a Yom Tov in its own right, requiring Shehecheyanu, or a continuation of the first day, in which case Shehecheyanu would not be needed. As an aside, we are not going into practical halachah in detail here; this class is meant only to provide general background on the reasons for the customs. But we should mention that the practical halachic ruling is that even someone who does not have a new fruit should nevertheless say Shehecheyanu. In practice, it was established that Shehecheyanu is said on the second day; we simply make sure, as an added measure, to have a new fruit in mind when saying Shehecheyanu at candle lighting, at Kiddush, and at the shofar blowing on the second day.