Rosh Hashana - Reveal Your Glory
The Baalei Mussar teach that the main avoda of Rosh Hashanah is for each individual yid to accept Hashem as King over himself. What does it mean in practical terms—to accept Hashem as King?
In Elul 5745 the Mashgiach of the Ponevezh Yeshiva of B'nei Brak, Rav Chaim Friedlander, was confined to his bed in the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City where he was undergoing treatment, and he could not deliver his customary pre-Rosh Hashanah shmuess to his students in Eretz Yisroel. He decided to send the students a letter instead. His message begins by citing a Gemara in Maseches Rosh Hashanah (16b): Rabbi Yitzchak said that any year that begins with poverty will ultimately be enriched, and end prosperously. Rashi explains that a "poor" beginning to the year refers to a Rosh Hashanah in which a person envisions themselves as needing to beg and plead for even their basic needs. Rav Chaim Friedlander writes that the Gemara is giving us invaluable advice for receiving a judgment for a good year.
Practically speaking, how does one accomplish this? According to Rav Friedlander, it is not sufficient for one merely to view oneself "as if" one is poor for the day. A person must honestly believe and internalize that their entire lot for the upcoming year – health, happiness, wealth, and family situation – will be determined on this day. In other words, at the present moment, he has absolutely nothing. This may be difficult for a person who is fortunate enough to have a good source of income, a large number of friends, a beautiful house and family, and no history of major medical problems. How can such a person honestly stand before Hashem and view himself as a poor person with nothing to his name?
Rav Friedlander explains that this is possible only if one contemplates the fact that all that they have is only because Hashem has gifted it to them until this point. Then, one will naturally recognize that if Hashem wishes to alter the situation, it will immediately change.
Rav Chaim Friedlander ends his letter on a personal note: "I had the opportunity to feel the compassion of Hashem who saved me from death and gave me new life [this year]. I am a living example of what it means to feel destitute on the Day of Judgment. A person can think that they are healthy and all is well and be unaware that their health is really hanging in the balance… every second is a gift from Hashem."
A person who honestly feels this way cannot help but beg and plead for Divine mercy most genuinely, which the Gemara promises will lead to a decree of a wonderful year, something we will hopefully all merit in the coming year.
But I believe that Rabbi Yitzchak, cited in the Gemara Rosh Hashana, is not just teaching us a strategy to help us beg for mercy and merit a good year. I believe he is guiding us regarding the main avodas hayom. Indeed, it is that very feeling—the realization that everything one has is the result of Hashem's benevolence, and that we are totally dependent on Hashem for everything we have, which is a true acceptance of Malchus Hashem.
Rav Ephraim Wachsman tells a mashal of a king that had two sons whom he loved dearly. Despite his desire and efforts to raise them properly, they didn't behave properly and were constantly getting into trouble. The king, being their loving father, would turn a blind eye to their misdeeds and treat them with compassion. Until one time, his sons committed a terrible crime that could not be overlooked. There was no way out this time; the king had to punish them.
And so, the king ordered his sons to be placed in prison. However, this gave the king no rest. His only joy was having his sons nearby. What could he do? If he simply allows them to return to the palace, that would be an insult to the king's honor. If he lowers himself to go be with his sons in prison, he would have to transform the prison into a palace. Then the prison won't be a prison anymore and then his sons won't get the punishment they deserve. The king contemplated his options, until he came up with a brilliant plan. In middle of the night, the king slipped away, dressed like a beggar. He took a small stone and threw it towards the palace, shattering a window. The guards grabbed the naughty beggar, gave him a beating, and threw him into prison. When the princes saw the new "prisoner", they realized right away that it was their father. They tried talking to him but he pushed them off and begged them not to reveal to anyone that he is the king. He told them, "I had no reason to live without you; that's why I came to prison to be with you. But if you tell anyone that I am the king, they would take me out here. Please don't reveal to anyone that I am the king". The children couldn't take it that their honorable father was together with all the low-class criminals. It was very hard for them to be quiet.
The days passed and the day of the king's annual coronation approached. The custom of that town was that each year on the anniversary of when the king was crowned, everyone was invited to the palace and there was a whole parade with music. It was a grand event where the king stood majestically with his sons at his side. Remembering the grandeur of their past, and seeing the pain of their father in prison on their account, the sons were filled with unbearable agony. They couldn't contain themselves and screamed, "You are the king! You must reveal who you are and leave prison! You must return to the throne!"
The nimshal is obvious; the king of course is Hashem and we are His precious children who once lived in the royal palace. This was when the Bais Hamikdash was standing and the glory of Hashem was revealed. But due to our sins, we were banished from the palace to this bitter galus. However, Hashem couldn't bear the separation, and so the Shechinah came along with us to galus. This results in a terrible hester panim where the honor of Hashem is so low. Every yid can feel the pain of His Father, the King, who lowers Himself to enter the lowly prison to be with His children. Rosh Hashana is the anniversary of the coronation of Hashem, the day when we can't bear it anymore. And so, we scream out, "Avinu Malkeinu galei kevod malchuscha aleinu…" – Reveal Your Glory! Show the world that You are the King! Even if during the year we are far from Hashem, now on Rosh Hashana we reach this realization. Our very being must scream out to Hashem to reveal His Glory to the world and end the galus.
May our screams of "galei kevod malchuscha" penetrate to the kisei hakavod, and may we all indeed merit to see the fulfillment of these words speedily. Kesiva V'chasima Tova!
