38. The Chasam Sofer zt'l said in the last year of his life, "I passed the judgment of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But I didn't pass the judgment of Hoshana Rabbah."
The Divrei Yoel of Satmar zt'l would daven very long on Hashana Rabbah. One year, Hashana Rabbah was on Friday, and the gabbaim announced that the women should go home to light Shabbos lecht because it was almost Shabbos, and the tefillos weren't over yet. At that time, the Satmar Rebbe shared the following mashal:
The people of a certain city committed a grave offense against the king, and they were all sentenced to death. Every year, on a certain date, the king visited a garden in this city. The elders of the city decided that they should go to the garden on the designated day, meet with the king, and plead for mercy and forgiveness.
The elders assembled in the garden on the appointed day. They waited for the king, but the king wasn't there! As the day was ending, many wanted to go home. They realized that their plan had failed. One wise elder proposed a different perspective. "The king's custom is to visit this garden on this day," he reasoned, "so he must be here, only he came disguised as a common citizen. Let's call out to the king and implore him to save us. He will surely hear us and forgive us."
The Satmar Rebbe cried, "We think the King is not here, but He is certainly present. If we cry out to Him, He will listen to our tefillos. Let's raise our voices together and cry out, 'אתה אבינו נא והושיעה נא הושע!'"
The Awesome Judgment
Everyone knows that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days of judgment; therefore, we do teshuvah and daven a lot on them. The Kabbalah sefarim reveal that Hoshana Rabbah is also a day of judgment.
But since Shas and poskim hardly mention the judgment on Hoshana Rabbah, most people weren't aware of this aspect of the day.
Reb Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt'l explained that in the early generations, the fear of judgment was so great that if people knew that Hoshana Rabbah was a day of judgment, it would ruin their simchas yom tov. Therefore, the judgment was concealed from them so they could perform the mitzvah of בחגיך ושמחת, and it was only discussed in kabbalah sefarim. In later generations, the fear isn't as intense in people's hearts as it used to be, and therefore, more sefarim revealed that a tremendous judgment transpires on Hoshana Rabbah. What will happen in the year is largely dependent on this day.
Reb Shlomo Zalman explains that one aspect of the awesome judgment of Hoshana Rabbah was revealed to the average man. The Mishnah states, המים על נידונים בחג, "Succos we are judged for rain," and the Levush writes, "Therefore, people light more candles in the beis medresh on Hoshana Rabbah, similar to Yom Kippur because it is the final day of judgment for rain." It was always known that Hoshana Rabbah was a day of judgment for rain. In later generations, it became known that it is also a day of judgment for all areas of life.
Reb Shlomo Zalman adds that in the past, rain meant life. If it didn’t rain, people would die from thirst. Today, things have changed because governments maintain water reservoirs, and water can be transported if needed. [The Chazon Ish ruled that we don't fast for rain anymore because a lack of rain isn't as tragic as it used to be.] Therefore, years ago, it was sufficient for people to know that they were being judged for rain, and this would arouse them to teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah. Today, that isn’t enough. Therefore, the sefarim revealed more details of the awesome judgment of this day.
The Halichos Shlomo (Succos, p.241) brings down Reb Shlomo Zalman Auerbach’s customs on this day. "From the beginning of the night, Reb Shlomo Zalman had immense fear, similar to the fear of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. From nightfall, he spent most hours of the night saying Tehillim with a lot of kavanah. Also in his elder years, he would get out of bed several times on this night to say Tehillim. He didn't appreciate it when people visited him on that night. When someone came, he would speak with him very briefly, and as soon as the conversation was over, he returned to his Tehillim."
Two yungerleit were schmoozing on Hoshana Rabbah night in the beis medresh of Reb Avraham Elimelech of Karlin zt'l. The rebbe rebuked them, "I am certain you have something very important to discuss because otherwise you wouldn't discuss it tonight. However, you would have been better off had you discussed these matters during Kol Nidrei than to speak on this holy night."
