One day we’ll talk about that too. Skunks too. Skunks are בוֹטו. Only that it takes time to explain everything.
Study Required
That’s why, in the Sha’ar HaBechina, the Chovos Halevavos commands us to take time to study all phenomena of the world. Just to look at the world like a cow looks, you won’t get too far. It takes a mind to discover not only the element of Hashem’s wisdom, His purposefulness, but also בוֹטו, His kindliness. And even if there are some times where we are not able to explain it right now, as we get older and wiser, as we become more thoughtful and perceptive, we’ll discover.
But at least the principle we should get into our heads. That’s what Rosh Hashanah is for, for creating a principled mind. And this is an important principle – in addition to Him being the King of Wisdom, He’s also the King of Kindliness.
Because the apple on the table is not only there to testify that there is a Designer Who makes apples. It’s testifying also that included in the Grand Design of the world is that apples are good to eat! That’s why apples when they become ripe they let go and fall down. Why don’t they remain on the tree? Birds could fly up and eat them. No! The apples fall down because people can’t fly. And so you see from the apple tree the purpose is they should fall down for us to eat. The King of Creation wants us not only to admire the apple but to enjoy it also, and so He made it fall down.
Newton Misses the Point
They tell about Newton that when he was sitting under the apple tree, an apple fell down on his head. So Newton started thinking, “Oh! Why did it fall down? Why didn’t it fall up?” A wise goy; he’s thinking why didn’t it fall up? So he discovered the law of gravity. The earth is bigger than the apple, so the earth attracts the apple to itself. Oh! A very great chochmah!
But Newton didn’t go far enough! He should have discovered the law of Tuvo! He should have asked, “Why did it fall at all? It should remain on the tree! Why don’t the branches fall off? The leaves don’t fall off until autumn. Why should the apple fall off when it gets ripe?
“Why didn’t it fall off when it was still green, when it was unripe? It waited until it was ripe and sweet and soft and then it fell off by itself. Oh! Because Hashem made this world for us to see His kindness, to taste His kindness and become more and more aware of the King Who created everything for us.”
The Onion Speaks Up
That discovery would have made Newton a great man. But he wasn’t big enough to do that. The law of gravity, yes, but the law of חֶ סֶ ד ה' מָ לְ אָ ה הָ אָ רֶ ץ, that Hashem’s kindliness fills the world (Tehillim 33:5), that he didn’t discover.
But we do have to discover it! And not only apples. Potatoes too! Onions! A man asks me – I had to laugh when I heard that question – but it’s an important question. “Why did Hashem create onions?” he said. “Who needs them?”
And the answer is because they taste good. You know, when I walk in the street and I pass a fruit store, sometimes I see outside the store a big sack full of onions. I get excited! Ah! Onions! They add so much to so many cooked foods. And to other foods as well. What would this world be without onions?! It’s not a world!
And so why do we need onions? So that we should have another thing to help us proclaim Hashem King! You never heard such a thing before? It’s good you came here tonight. Onions are for Hashem Melech!
Tashlich Tidbits
Fish too. We don’t only look at fish in the water or in the fish tanks and admire them. We eat them too. That’s why when it comes to tashlich I’m excited. You want to know why? I’m thinking, “Look at what Hashem is doing for us! In the ocean the fish come together without shadchanim. They’re parim veravim bayam. They get married in the ocean and they produce offspring. And it’s for one purpose, to give us more fish to eat.” That’s what I’m thinking by tashlich. “It’s a neis how fish meet each other in the depths of the ocean and produce more fish. It’s a niflaos haBorei for chessed Hashem.” We have to marvel at that.
And you shouldn’t wait for tashlich. When you pass a fish store and see the fish in the window, that’s a good time to stop and look. The fish in the window, they weren’t made in the store; they come from the ocean. And so when you pass a fish store erev Shabbos and you see big juicy fish lying there, a big carp, a big salmon, a big trout, stop a half second and take a look at them. Ahh! What a wonder it is that it happened in the middle of the ocean that they came together and produced such tasty tidbits for the people to enjoy and to appreciate the chessed of Hashem.
Ah! That’s what Shabbos is for! That’s why all Jews eat fish on Shabbos. Fish are a taanug. It’s part of the happiness of Shabbos in order to learn the chessed of Hashem.
A Fortuitous Calendar
And that brings us to this year’s calendar. It’s a special opportunity when Rosh Hashanah falls out right before Shabbos. Now some people, they complain about that. A man calls me on the phone; he says “What am I going to do three days straight?” He says he has a feeling of cabin fever, like he’s locked up for a three day siege.
Oh no! It’s exactly the opposite. It’s a fortunate calendar when it happens. We’re especially blessed with the opportunity to take the lessons of Rosh Hashanah and go immediately into kedushas Shabbos. We can take all of the work we put in on Rosh Hashanah – that’s what we’re studying tonight, that’s it’s an avodah – all the work of changing our mind and we can get to work right away.
The First Shabbos
We can get busy right away because Shabbos is also for remembering: ְרֵ אשִׁ ית זֵכֶר לְמַעֲ שֵׂ ה ב – Shabbos is for the purpose of remembering briyas haolam yesh me’ayin. Just like we say on Rosh Hashanah, hayom haras olam, that today is the birthday of the world – on Rosh Hashanah He made the world and became King – Shabbos also celebrates Creation. Shabbos is a special day, once a week, for taking the new mind that we achieved on Rosh Hashanah and making it stick; on Shabbos we get busy cementing it in.
On Shabbos we remind ourselves that before Creation there was nothing at all: Ayin. Only Hakadosh Baruch Hu existed alone, and when He said “Yehi” He caused everything to come into existence. That’s when He became King because it is Creation, the קֵ ץָהָ ה שֶׁ אֵ ין בּ חָ כְמָ ה עֲ מֻ ק, that proclaims the King. So Shabbos is a time for malchus Hashem.
Success With Pleasure
You're sitting at the table on Shabbos, and you're enjoying the chulent. You're smacking your lips. It's delightful. It's delicious. But don't think it's gashmiyus. It's kulo ruchniyus. טוֹעֲ מֶ יהָ – You’re tasting it and enjoying it, חַ יִים זָ כ וּ – and you're zocheh to chaim. It means chayei Olam Haba.
It's a remarkable statement. Here is a person who is not fasting. He's not praying. He’s not saying Tehillim or studying Gemara. He's sitting and eating the good machalim of Shabbos. He’s enjoying this world, tasting all of the delicious dishes his wife prepared. And he’s gaining Olam Haba! How is that? Because he’s fulfilling his function; he’s studying the lesson of בוֹטו וְ טוּבוֹ מָ לֵ א עוֹ לָ ם, of recognizing Hashem’s Kingship, by means of His creations.
But not only by seeing. They’re so beautiful the challos; such an exquisite display of the chochmas Hashem – it’s a shame we have to eat them. But actually it’s not a shame at all because it’s by means of eating that the lesson will go down; the lesson of בוֹטו goes down best with tasty food.
After Seudah Success
Not only the cholent and challah. When you take a nap too. I’m not recommending that you should climb into your pajamas and remain there all Shabbos. But ג עֲ נ וּ ת תְ שׁ ַ ב שׁ ֵ נ ָ ה ב; a nap for a half hour on Shabbos afternoon is a pleasure. A geshmakeh sleep is better than eating the most delicious things. You get up, you’re refreshed, a new person. And Who makes it a pleasure? Your Creator.
And so, like Rosh Hashanah, Shabbos tells us both things: The world was created by the Great Designer. ל אֲ שֶׁ ר עָשָׂ ה קִים אֶת כַֹרְ א אֱל וַי – Hashem saw everything that He made; He made everything with His Wisdom. Yes, number one is ל אֲ שֶׁ ר עָשָׂ ה אֶת כ. But right after that, right on its heels, is וְהִנֵּה טוֹב מְאֹד – and behold it’s all very good (Bereishis 1:31). Not just ‘good’. “Very good!” If Hashem said that, you could believe Him.
It’s a very good world! And when we think that, that's a Shabbosdike machshavah; it’s an excellent beginning to the New Year. It’s a kiyum of the commitment you made on Rosh Hashanah.
A Fortunate New Year
And so, to sum it up, Rosh Hashanah is a day when we prepare our mental attitudes in order to be ready to face the new year. Of course, everyone is busy also with his own thoughts. Each one is thinking about asking for a good year. He wants parnassa. He wants good health. He wants good shidduchim for his children. No harm. No harm in thinking about all these things.
But the primary purpose of Rosh Hashanah is the teshuvah we make in our minds; to go back to the truths. To go back to all of the fundamental Torah principles that we’ll need to use all year long. We have to come back to that. And therefore, the building up of the mind on Rosh Hashanah is the biggest of all functions. And when we have the opportunity, already on the day right after Rosh Hashanah to bring that function to life, that’s the most fortunate beginning of the year.
Now, our time is up for tonight,
so I say to you all:
לְשָׁ לוֹםִים וָ ר לְחַ יְכֶם לְאַלְתֻל וְתֵ חָ תְ מוָּתְ בוִּ כְת רִ יםְמוִּ יקִ ים גְסִ פְרָ ן שֶׁ ל צַד בּ
This week’s booklet is based on tapes: 522 - Rosh Hashanah: Hashem in Nature | 892 - Aspects of Rosh Hashanah | 978 - Preparing for Yom Hadin | E-27 - Birthday of the Universe | E-157 - Birthday of the World
