How to Maintain the Yomim Tovim Throughout the Year
We discussed the counsel of making a kabbalah tovah. That draws the holiness of the yomim tovim for the entire year. There are some other counsels to hold onto the light and influence of the yomim tovim, which we will discuss here:
The Arugas HaBosem zt'l (Brachah וישכון ה"ד) writes, "On Rosh Hashanah, Hashem shines to people the attribute of fear. A person can draw yiras Shamayim from this day for the entire year. During Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, a light of teshuvah shines, and especially on the holy day [of Yom Kippur]. Then it is Succos, the time of our happiness (שמחתנו זמן) and Hashem shines to the hearts of His nation to be happy when they serve Hashem, and when they study Torah and perform good deeds, and this influence can remain for the entire year.
"However, Hashem looked at the final generation, the poor and weak generation, and he saw that these holy days will come and no one considers, in a sincere manner, to be aroused. When it is החג נעילת, the holiday passes, the person makes a cheshbon hanefesh, and he thinks about how the holy days passed, and he didn't attain anything. What should he do now, that these days have already passed? It is impossible to bring the days back... But [Yaakov Avinu] established for generations that even after the days pass, when a person thinks that he wants to come back to these days, he receives the light of those days in his thoughts."
This is what happened to Yaakov Avinu. He passed Har HaMoriah, and then he asked himself, "How did I pass the place where my parents prayed, and I didn't pray there?" He turned to go back, and the place of Har HaMoriah came to him, as Chazal (Sanhedrin 95b) tell us. So, too, when a person desires the days that passed, they come to him. This can happen any day, throughout the year.
This can explain the minhag of several communities to continue the customs of Tishrei until Shabbos Berieshis. On this Shabbos, they still dip challah in honey, and they keep the white parochos hanging over the aron kodesh. This is to show that we can still draw back the holidays, even after the yomim tovim passed.
Rebbe Menachem Mendel of Riminov zt'l had another counsel to connect the spirituality of the yomim tovim to the entire year, and he would often say it to his chasidim: During the yomim tovim, Hakadosh Baruch Hu shines a great light on all Yidden. This light sharpens their minds to understand Torah and to succeed in avodas Hashem. But when the yom tov passes, the light leaves them. But if the person is wise, he will learn a lot of Torah the moment the yom tov passes. This will help that the great light will remain with him, and he can benefit from it the entire year to come close to Hashem (Kol Yaakov, Emor).
If he didn't benefit from this counsel at the moment the yom tov passed, it still isn't too late. Reb Chaim Palagi (sefer Chaim 36) writes, "We have a kabbalah that the way you serve Hashem on the twelve days after yom tov, that is how it will be always throughout the year. Therefore, there is an old custom to be holy on these days. People gather in their homes on these twelve days to review what they learned – each person, according to what he studies – and this is a wonderful segulah that Hashem will help him the entire year. Wherever he turns, in Torah, in chassidus, and also in business, he will succeed."
The Chida (Moreh b'Ezba 298) writes, "After the yom tov, and it is Cheshvon, one should be strong with yiras Shamayim and with learning Torah l'shmah, because it is the beginning of the year. This is a good sign for the entire year. Now, it is close to the Aseres Yemei teshuvah, and a person has to show that his teshuvah was sincere, and it wasn't just a show, chas ve'shalom. If he will throw off the yoke of heaven now, and be lax in avodas Hashem, it won't be good, chas v'shalom. Therefore, do the opposite and make a good sign for the entire year."
