What do we want on Rosh Hashanah? What is our goal? What are we trying to do? What are we setting out to accomplish?
I think we all understand that Rosh Hashanah is not just about the special foods, the family meals, and the new suit. And I think we all understand that the Rosh Hashanah prayer service is not just for us to survive and manage through, but is meant to accomplish something.
Most people would probably answer that on Rosh Hashanah we’re trying to earn a good year. This is certainly true, but it begs the next question: what is a “good year”? What kind of year are we trying to earn?
Just Life???
At least from one part of our High Holidays prayers, it seems that all we’re asking for is life itself, nothing more.
Each and every time we recite the Amidah prayer from the first night of Rosh Hashanah through the end of Yom Kippur, we pray:
זכרנו לחיים מלך חפץ בחיים וכתבנו בספר החיים למענך אלוקים חיים.
Remember us for LIFE, O King who desires LIFE, and inscribe us in the Book of LIFE, for Your sake, O LIVING G-d.
In this brief sentence alone, the word חיים is said FOUR TIMES!!
A little later in the prayer, we say:
מי כמוך אב הרחמן זוכר יצוריו לחיים ברחמים.
Who is like You, O compassionate Father, who remembers His creatures FOR LIFE with compassion.
Life, life, life. We repeat this many times.
We must wonder, IS THAT ALL WE WANT??????
Is this all we ask for on these days of judgment – that we don’t die? Don’t we want so much more than that? What about peace, prosperity, health, success, children, and so on and so forth? We have dreams, aspirations, ambitions, hopes and fears. Is life the only thing we ask for?
Clearly, the answer is NO. Of course, we ask for far more than life.
Later in the Amidah, we add the request, וכתוב לחיים טובים כל בני בריתך – that we be inscribed for חיים טובים – “a GOOD life.” Here we ask not just for LIFE, but for a GOOD LIFE.
And at the very end of the Amidah, we ask to be inscribed in ספר חיים ברכה ושלום ופרנסה טובה וישועה ונחמה וגזרות טובות – “the book of life, blessing, peace, good livelihood, salvation, consolation and good decrees.”
Now we’re talking…
This is far more understandable. We don’t want to just live. We want all these things – peace, sustenance, happiness, and much more. So how do we explain the prayer, “Remember us for life”?? Why do we beg for חיים, and repeat this word so many times?
One more question needs to be asked about the essence of Rosh Hashanah before we can proceed to present the answer.
The Gemara tells us that when we are judged on Rosh Hashanah, there are three groups of people:
· The “completely righteous” are inscribed and sealed for life.
· The “completely wicked” are inscribed and sealed for death.
· Those in between are held in abeyance until Yom Kippur, when their judgment is sealed either for life or, Heaven forbid, the opposite.
This seems very difficult to understand. Do we not know very righteous people who die? How can this ever happen if every righteous person is judged for life on Rosh Hashanah? And do we not know very evil people who remain alive for years? Are there not violent, unrepentant criminals who are still alive, even after years of committing terrible crimes?
The Two Judgments
A number of Rabbis answered this question by explaining that when the Gemara speaks of the righteous and the wicked being sentenced to “life” or “death,” this does not refer to physical life. It refers to eternal, spiritual life.
A righteous person on Rosh Hashanah is sentenced to a year that leads him to eternal life, to the world to come. Hashem will give him a year in which he will be able to grow and elevate himself.
A wicked person is sentenced to a year that will lead him to eternal “death,” to Gehinam, to spiritual downfall. He will face difficult tests that will make it hard for him to change course and earn a share in the next world.
What this means is that there are two judgments happening simultaneously on Rosh Hashanah. We are judged in terms of both our SPIRITUAL SUCCESS, as well as our PHYSICAL AND MATERIAL WELLBEING.
This explains the different requests we make in the Amidah prayer. On the one hand, we certainly ask for חיים טובים – for a good life, for a life of health, happiness and prosperity. But when we pray זכרנו לחיים מלך חפץ בחיים, we are asking for something else – for spiritual “life,” for a life of meaning, of spirituality, of purpose, of devotion to mitzvot.
We do not ask only to be healthy and to have enough money to live comfortably and happily. We also ask to be uplifted, to be inspired, to be able to live meaningfully.
This is why we ask, למענך אלוקים חיים – “for Your sake, O living G-d.” We ask for a life that is למענך, lived not only for ourselves, but for Hashem.
Staying “Alive”
Shortly after World War II, an emaciated young man showed up at the famed Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnai-Brak, and asked to meet with the Rosh Yeshiva, the legendary Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman. He approached the Rosh Yeshiva and said he wanted to enroll in the yeshiva.
“Where do you come from?” the Rabbi asked.
The boy answered: “Auschwitz.”
The Rabbi asked some more questions, and learned that this boy’s entire family was killed in the death camps. He had nobody and nothing.
“Tell me,” the Rabbi asked, “did you ever learn in yeshiva before?”
The boy said that he had learned in yeshiva until he was sent to Auschwitz some four years earlier.
“Which Masechet were you learning?” the Rabbi asked.
“Masechet Hullin.”
“Where in the Masechet were you when you went sent to the concentration camp?”
The boy told him the page number, and noted the dispute between Rashi and Tosafot that he was studying in yeshiva at that time.
The Rosh Yeshiva was amazed. He grabbed the young man’s hand and rushed with him straight to the home of the Hazon Ish.
He presented the young man to the Rabbi and elatedly announced, “Dear Rabbi, I have great news. Torah is going to survive!”
He explained, “Even after what we’ve lost in the Holocaust, Torah is alive. It is alive because of this young man – who after four years of torment, losing his entire family, still remembers the dispute between Rashi and Tosafot that he was learning!”
This story is a dramatic example of what we mean when we pray זכרנו לחיים, when we beg Hashem for “life.”
That boy lost his entire family and was left all alone without anything – yet he was very much “alive.” He still managed to live a life of meaning, of purpose, of ambition, of growth and of inspiration, even after losing everything he had.
This is what we pray for when we ask, “Remember us for life.” Of course, we want health, money, happy families, and so much more. But we also pray for חיים, for meaningful life, for a life of growth.
Begging Hashem for Help
But if so, then, we are left with an important question: How can we pray for such a thing? Doesn’t living meaningfully depend on us? Isn’t that our job? Why do we ask Hashem to grant us an uplifted life – if that is OUR responsibility?
To answer this question, let us take a quick look at the event of Ma’amad Har Sinai, when G-d revealed Himself to the Jewish People and pronounced the Ten Commandments.
The Rabbis teach that the people heard from G-d only the first two commandments. When they heard Hashem speak, the experienced overwhelmed them, to the point where their souls actually departed, and Hashem then restored them. After this happened twice, the people approached Moshe and said they had enough. They couldn’t handle any more. They begged not to have to hear Hashem say the rest of the commandments. Instead, they wanted Hashem to communicate them to Moshe privately, and he would then relay the information to them.
The Gemara in Masechet Avodah Azarah teaches that G-d was disappointed with the Jewish People for making this request. They should have preferred to continue hearing the commandments directly from Hashem.
Yes, it was too much for them to handle. Yes, it was too difficult for them. But, the Gemara says, the people should have asked Hashem to help them so they could do it. It was too hard – but instead of just giving up, they should have prayed and pleaded for the ability to meet the challenge!
Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler wrote that one of the purposes of prayer is for us to show what our priorities are, what’s important to us, what it is that we really want. The things we pray for are the things we really care about. This is why prayer is referred to with the expression אשפוך את נפשי – literally, “pouring out the soul.” The word נפש, Rabbi Dessler explained, often means a person’s wishes and desires. When we pray, we express our wishes. We make it clear what our true concerns are.
This is why during the High Holidays we pray over and over again זכרנו לחיים, that we should be remembered for a life of spiritual meaning and spiritual growth – because this prayer shows that this is what’s important to us, this is our priority!
Let’s face it – religion isn’t easy. We are constantly challenged, constantly tempted, and constantly tested. There is no shame at all in feeling that Judaism sometimes feels too hard for us. But what’s expected of us is only that we try our best – and that we ask Hashem for help.
Just as our forefathers at Mount Sinai were expected to ask Hashem to help them hear the commandments, we are expected to ask Hashem to help us obey the commandments, and help us live the way we know we are supposed to live.
This is זכרנו לחיים – a prayer that shows what we really, really want as we look ahead to the new year, that what concerns us is not only our health and financial standing, but also, and mainly, our religious growth.
Getting on the Interstate
Let’s now return to our original question: What is our goal on Rosh Hashanah? What is this all about?
The answer is – to want חיים, a life of true meaning and purpose, a year when we grow and become better. Our goal on Rosh Hashanah is to reset our priorities, to focus on who we really want to be.
The Gemara teaches in Masechet Rosh Hashanah that there are four ways by which we can erase harsh decrees that were issued against us:
1) צדקה – charity;
2) תפילה – prayer;
3) שינוי מעשה – changing one’s conduct;
4) שינוי השם – changing one’s name.
Number 4 seems very hard to understand. Changing one’s name?!?! How does that help us? Why should we earn forgiveness just by changing our name?
The answer is that שינוי השם means changing our identity, rewiring ourselves to become something different.
There are some applications on a computer that can be removed, and will have no effect on the computer other than being unable to run that application. But some applications affect the way the computer functions. If we add such an application, or remove it, the computer operates much differently.
On Rosh Hashanah, we are to alter the way we operate, the way we think about ourselves and our lives. We are to reprogram ourselves, our goals and our aspirations.
Of course, we also pray for all the basic things we need – health, a comfortable livelihood, happy and successful children, and everything else. But we also ask זכרנו לחיים – that Hashem help us live a life of meaning and growth.
Let’s imagine somebody taking a long, six-hour road trip. If he gets on the interstate highway in the wrong direction – let’s say, north instead of south – he will end up nowhere near his destination. He is going totally out of the way, and his trip is ruined. But if, as he gets closer to his destination, and he’s already off the highway, he makes a right turn two blocks too soon, he’s still in the right neighborhood. He might be out of his way for a few minutes, and he might need some time to figure out where exactly he needs to go, but this won’t take too long.
As we plan for the new year, we don’t need to make a commitment to do everything we’re supposed to do on the second Monday next May. We don’t need to make a commitment that we will be in the synagogue on time on January 5th. We don’t need to make a commitment not to take any “wrong turns” along the way. This is not realistic.
But what we absolutely MUST do on Rosh Hashanah is get on the interstate in the right direction. This is what Rosh Hashanah is about.
Writing a Letter to G-d
The story is told of a nine-year-old orphan in Peru named Juan. Juan had no parents and no family. He lived in an orphanage with other kids, without the love and warmth of a father, mother and siblings.
One day he was looking out the window of the orphanage and saw a happy family walking along the sidewalk – a husband, a wife, a son and a daughter. They looked so happy, enjoying each other’s company and their time spent together.
Juan was consumed by jealousy. He wanted a family so badly. He wanted to have that happiness, that warmth.
He fell asleep and dreamt of having a beautiful, happy family…until he was rudely awakened by the warden of the orphanage, who ordered him to take a mop and clean the floor.
Juan felt determined to have a family. He had no idea how to go about it, what to do. So he decided he would send a letter…to G-d.
He sat down with a pen and paper and wrote the following: “Dear G-d, I’m Juan – I know you know that, because you know everything. I really want a family, so badly. You’re the only one who can help. Please give me a family.”
He put the letter in an envelope, and addressed the envelope simply to “G-d.” He did not include a return address. He then placed the envelope in a mailbox.
The mailman saw an envelope addressed to “G-d,” and had no idea what to do with it. He decided to open it up and see what was inside. When he read the letter, his heart sank. He felt he needed to do something.
The mailman brought the note to his supervisor, who then brought it to the person in charge of the postal service. It eventually reached the governor, and, finally, to the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister read the letter, and started crying. He told his people to do whatever it would take to find this boy and bring him to the Prime Minister’s residence. After an intensive investigation, the officials found Juan, and brought him to the Prime Minister – who adopted Juan as his own child.
Juan wanted something so desperately, and turned to G-d for help…and he was helped.
A certain maggid (lecturer) in Jerusalem told this story as an example of what Hashem expects of us.
He does not expect us to be perfect. But He does expect us to want to grow, to want to be close to Him. He wants us to write this letter – to want more than anything else to improve and uplift ourselves.
זכרנו לחיים. We ask for many things on Rosh Hashanah – let us not forget the most important thing of all: חיים, a life that is filled with not only material blessing, but also with meaning, purpose of real achievement.