Why was Sisera's mother so worried? Sisera was a mighty warrior, and he won every war he fought. She should have assumed he would certainly win this war, too. Apparently, she thought, "True, he won every war until now, but maybe this time will be different." Indeed, the past doesn’t guarantee the future. And this is the fear of Rosh Hashanah. Nevertheless, together with our fear, we have bitachon that Hashem, Who loves us, will grant us a good year.
Positive Thoughts on Rosh Hashanah
It is important to think positively on Rosh Hashanah. Trust in Hashem and believe that Hashem has written very good decrees for you and for klal Yisrael, which we will witness throughout the year.
We don't know what is being decreed in heaven, but it is definitely possible that it is being decreed that all poverty, illness, and suffering of the past should disappear and that better times are imminent. Trust in Hashem and think such positive thoughts, as this is a segulah for good things to occur.
We read the tochachah of parashas Ki Savo two weeks before Rosh Hashanah. Chazal explain that this is because we want the year with its curses to end (וקללותיה שנה תכלה) and a new year with its blessings to begin. Also, before Maariv of Rosh Hashanah, we say the short prayer קטנה אחות. Its theme is once again that the curses of last year should end, and a new year with its blessings should begin (וברכותיה שנה תחל). That should be our aspiration, that should be our hope and positive thoughts on Rosh Hashanah.
It is a new year, and everything can turn around for the better. The Gemara (Pesachim 54:) says that seven things are concealed from all people, and one of them is הנחמה יום, the day when all one's tzaros and worries will go away. Perhaps it will happen this year?
In the yotzros of Rosh Hashanah, we say אחות בבטן להמיר עובר מערכות יושב לה זכר, "The One Who sits in heaven remembered her; a fetus to exchange in the womb of the sister." This refers to when Leah davened that the child in her womb should become a female, and Hashem accepted her tefillos, and she gave birth to Dinah (see Brachos 60a; Rashi Bereishis 30:21). However, we wonder why we say this on Rosh Hashanah.
Perhaps it is because it is a story of a miraculous turnaround. A son in the womb miraculously became a daughter. This is the story of Rosh Hashanah. It is a new year, and brand-new things can occur. The reality of the past can turn around and everything can become good.
The Imrei Emes of Gur zt'l said, "Yosef left prison on Rosh Hashanah. Similarly, everyone can be freed from his own imprisonment, whatever it may be, on Rosh Hashanah."
Reb Yonason Eibshitz zt’l (Yaaras Dvash vol.2 drush 5) writes, "We say עולם הרת היום, 'The world is created today.' We don't say הרת היה היום עולם, 'The world was created today.' Similarly, we say מעשיך תחילת היום זה, 'This is the day, the beginning of creation,' and we don't say היה מעשיך תחילת, 'it was the beginning of creation.' Because every Rosh Hashanah, the world is created again. The Arizal elaborates on this. And since it is a new world, we can hope for a better world where the troubles of the past are gone."
