The Meshech Chochma explains why Rosh Hashanah – the Day of Judgment – is held in Tishrei, during harvest time, rather than at Pesach when Jews are filled with Mitzvot and the nations with sins. The answer is middah k’neged middah. A Jew, after laboring in the field, is commanded to leave behind pe’ah, leket, and shichecha for the poor, regardless of whether they deserve it. Thus, he grants life even to those he did not choose. In turn, when Hakadosh Baruch Hu judges him, his own worthiness is not scrutinized so strictly, and he too is granted life. A non-Jew, however, consumes his field entirely, hoards his produce, and turns away the needy. Since he gives no life to others, how can life be granted to him? Therefore, Rosh Hashanah is specifically in the seventh month – the time of harvest – when this merit of giving life beyond one’s will is present, and the Jew is judged favorably.
The Gemara (Berachot 18b) tells a story about a pious man who gave a dinar to a poor person on Erev Rosh Hashanah during a year of drought, and his wife mocked him. He went and slept in a cemetery and heard two spirits conversing. One said to the other, "My friend, let's roam the world and hear from behind the curtain what calamity is coming to the world." The other replied, "I can't, as I am buried in a mat of reeds. You go, and whatever you hear, tell me." The spirit went, roamed, and returned. The friend asked, "What did you hear from behind the curtain?" The spirit replied, "I heard that anyone who sows in the first rainfall will be struck by hail." Hearing this, the pious man went and sowed in the second rainfall, and while the entire world was struck, his crops were saved. The following year, he again slept in the cemetery and heard the spirits conversing once more. The first spirit suggested they roam again to hear what calamity was coming. The second spirit repeated its inability to join and sent the first one alone. Upon returning, it reported, "I heard that anyone who sows in the second rainfall will be struck by blight." The pious man once again took heed and sowed in the first rainfall, and while the entire world was blighted, his crops were not.
Rav Matityahu Saloman asks, why was the entire world struck while this one pious man was spared for two years?! He answers simply: In the measure that a person metes out for others, so it is measured to him. If this pious man gave his last dinar despite not being a wealthy person able to easily replace it, Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, "I have one portion of rain to give – to whom shall I give it? To the one who gave his last portion at home. To him, I give the last portion of rain!" Because the way a person behaves with others, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu behaves with him.
If this is the case, we understand the great virtue of the Mitzvah of Tzedakah and how much we need the merits of this Mitzvah, especially during the days we’re in.
Let's now return to the words of Rabbi Meir Arik. We can understand that in the Shemitah year, there is no Mitzvah of Tzedakah, and therefore Hakadosh Baruch Hu commands, "Bring the children at the end of the Shemitah year," so you will have the merits of the children to protect you in place of the Mitzvah of Tzedakah.
The Ben Yehoyada offers another famous explanation, echoed by many commentators. The Gemara (Chagigah 3a) tells of Rabbi Yochanan ben Broka and Rabbi Elazar ben Chasma who went to greet Rabbi Yehoshua in Peki’in. Rabbi Yehoshua asked them, "What new chidush was there in the Beit Midrash today?" They replied, "We are your students and drink from your waters," meaning, "You are the one who teaches us Torah, and it is not appropriate for us to speak before you." Rabbi Yehoshua insisted, "Even so, it is impossible for the sages of the Beit Midrash to discuss Torah without something new emerging, and I wish to attain that insight above all else." He continued to inquire, "Whose turn was it to expound this Shabbat?" They answered, "It was Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria's turn." Rabbi Yehoshua asked further, "And what was the topic of the shiur today?" They said, "On the parsha of Hakhel." Rabbi Yehoshua persisted, "And what did he expound on it?" They replied, "Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria explained how it is understandable why men come to Hakhel to learn, and women come to listen, but unclear why the children need to come. After all, they are not of age to learn or even to listen! Rather, they come to give reward to those who bring them." Rabbi Yehoshua exclaimed, "A precious pearl was in your hands, and you sought to deprive me of it?!"
The Ben Yehoyada writes, women come to listen; why do they come? The connection is clear: if women understand the shiur, they are included among those who come to learn, and if they do not understand, then the question arises why they come, as listening without understanding seems pointless. However, it appears that listening for women, even without understanding, is beneficial. The Zohar (Shelach) states that the righteous saw palaces in Gan Eden where women specifically engage in the Mitzvot of the Torah and their reasons. We investigated there how women in Gan Eden attain understanding in Torah matters, given that in this world they do not engage in Torah study. We explained there that when they are in this world, hearing words of Torah from men who learn or from a sage who expounds publicly, even if they do not understand, their souls absorb those words of Torah. Then, with the power of that absorption, when they go to Gan Eden, where their souls are clothed in a spiritual body resembling their form in this world, that absorption in words of Torah in their souls is awakened, and they engage in Torah study in Gan Eden. Thus, hearing words of Torah in this world, even without understanding, has a benefit, as the soul absorbs those words of Torah, and in Gan Eden, those words emerge from potential to actual. All this benefit is for women who incline their ears to words of Torah they hear in this world, but the children who come to the lesson do not even listen to the words of Torah, as their minds and hearts are turned elsewhere to whatever they see around them, and thus their souls do not absorb any words of Torah. Therefore, the question arises why they come, and it is said to give reward to their bringers.
This explains another element Rabbi Yehoshua’s statement of “A precious pearl was in your hands,” implying there is something in this shiur that pertains to him. Yet, this is puzzling because what connection does Rabbi Yehoshua have to that shiur? The language implies that he saw in the lesson something novel that was precious to him – what was it that brought him that satisfaction and joy? According to what we learned, it is understandable, as it is stated in the Mishnah in Avot in praise of the students of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, who said about Rabbi Yehoshua, “Blessed is the one who gave birth to him,” and Rabbi Ovadia explains that from the day he was born, his mother did not take him out of the Beit Midrash, so that only words of Torah would enter his ears. It is difficult to understand what benefit Rabbi Yehoshua derived from those words of Torah that entered his ears after he was born, as he was still very young and felt nothing, and it seems his mother brought his cradle to the Beit Midrash for no reason. However, it can be understood according to this lesson brought by Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria – namely, that women come to listen and have a benefit, even if they do not understand the words, since words of Torah enter their ears, and their souls absorb the holy words. It follows that even Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, when he was in the Beit Midrash after he was born, had a benefit from those words of Torah that entered his ears, as his soul absorbed them, since at that time he had no sensation of external matters, as his body had no sensation of anything, and therefore his soul certainly absorbed, as he was not like the children who have a mind that turns their hearts here and there according to what they see. Therefore, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said to them, “A precious pearl was in your hands,” as this shiur of Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria pertains to him. These are the words of the Ben Yehoyada.
I want to focus on one more point before we shift focus to Yom Kippur. I found something astonishing in the writings of the Sefat Emet – Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria provided an answer to people who, chas v’shalom, bury their children. The Shach writes in Parshat Ki Teitzei:
I found it written that the days on which a person commits a sin are not counted as part of their life, and they must return in a reincarnation (gilgul) to complete them, as it is said, 'I will fulfill the number of your days' — it does not say 'I will fulfill your days,' but rather 'the number of your days.' This is why some children die after twenty days of birth, or after thirty, etc. Hakadosh Baruch Hu accomplishes many missions with one mission. This child comes to complete their days, as we said, and also to atone for the sin of their father, and also to give their father a reward. As it is taught in the first chapter of Chagigah: An incident involving Rabbi Yochanan ben Beroka and Rabbi Elazar ben Chasma, who went to greet Rabbi Yehoshua in Peki’in, etc. Why do the children come? To give reward to those who bring them, etc.' When he said, 'Why do the children come?' since they have no life and are destined to die young, he said it is to give reward to those who bring them – to their fathers and mothers so that they merit in their circumcision. Therefore, he said, “A precious pearl was in your hands,” as I was puzzled why they come since they are destined to die, and now my mind is at ease, and you sought to hold it from me."
I once saw in the name of Rav Moshe Akiva Tikuchinski who said this is what Chazal said: In the merit of righteous women, Bnei Yisrael were redeemed from Egypt. The women continued to fulfill the Mitzvah of procreation, even though they knew that after giving birth, the child would be thrown into the Nile. Why? Because they knew that by doing so, they would merit those souls a seat in Gan Eden!
