Today we will discuss two additional pesukim (8 and 9) from our Rosh Hashanah Musaf. Both are favorites from our daily tefillot as well, so it is quite worthwhile to understand them.
The first is
וְעָלוּ מוֹשִׁעִים בְּהַר צִיּוֹן
The saviors will go to Mount Zion
לִשְׁפֹּט אֶת הַר עֵשָׂו
To judge the Mount of Esav
וְהָיְתָה לַה׳ הַמְּלוּכָה
And the kingdom will be to God.
The Midrashim and commentaries all explain that this refers to the times of Mashiach . The final Galut/exile that we are in is called Galut Edom/the Exile of Edom (or Esav). This refers to Western civilization and culture, which is full of corruption, as we see today.
There will come a time when those ideals will fall, and God will bring true justice to the world. At that time, the world will recognize that God is the King and that His justice system is the way to go.
That’s why it says,
וְהָיְתָה לַה׳ הַמְּלוּכָה
And Hashem will have the kingdom.
As we have said in the past, the word מלך/Melech King implies that the king is willingly accepted.
This means that the whole world will recognize God. There will no longer be Republicans and Democrats, or candidates that we aren’t happy with. The world will realize that there is a Kingdom of God that is rightful and just, and accept this Kingdom upon themselves.
The previous governing system will finally be judged, with all of its inequities and detriments. Everything will become clear to the world.
We, the Jewish people, will survive in our approach, and justice will be accepted worldwide. We will be the teachers and leaders.
We are supposed to be thinking these thoughts every single day, when we say this pasuk, which comes after Az Yashir. The revelation of Az Yashir is the revelation of ה׳ מלך לעולם ועד
Hashem, Melech LeOlam Vaed, Hashem will be King, forever and ever, and following that statement, we invoke these pesukim, which refer to the time, when Hashem will be the King of the world.
There are actually four pesukim from Az Yashir that appear in our Musaf prayers, so we should try to put these thoughts into our daily prayers from now, as preparation for the high holidays:
The first is
ה׳ ימלך לעולם ועד
Hashem will reign for ever and ever
(This is the first of our pesukim of Malchuyot, which we have previously studied)
This was said when the Jewish people saw the sea split, and they prayed that it should last forever, and that it would be in the future.
The second is,
כִּי לַה׳ הַמְּלוּכָה
וּמוֹשֵׁל בַּגּוֹיִם
Hashem has the kingdom, and rules over the goyim
at the time when the goyim are not yet accepting of Hashem’s kingdom)
(this is the fourth of the Malchuyot pesukim)
The third is the pasuk that we are studying today
(the eighth of the Malchuyot pesukim of Musaf)
וְעָלוּ מוֹשִׁעִים בְּהַר צִיּוֹן
The saviors will go to Mount Zion
The fourth pasuk of Az Yashir is the ninth pasuk of Malchuyot-
וְהָיָה ה׳ לְמֶלֶךְ עַל כָּל הָאָרֶץ
Hashem will be the King on the whole world. (He is King now, but ultimately, He will be recognized as King of the world, and the whole world will want this kingdom)
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה ה׳ אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד
On that day, Hashem will be One and His name will be One
The Gemara questions this, in Masechet Pesachim- Is God not One today?
And the answer is that now, when we hear good news, we make the beracha of HaTov U’Metiv, to recognize that it’s good, but Has V’shalom, when we hear bad news, we say Baruch Dayan HaEmet/ Blessed is the God of true justice.
In the future, however, there will only be HaTov U’Metiv. There will not be two types of events then. We will realize that all events are good. That is what it means that there will be only One Hashem. It won’t be like today, when at times, it looks like there is justice, and then at other times, there is mercy, as if Has V’Shalom, there are two different ways that God acts. There are not two ways that God acts.
The word שםShem/Name is what one is known for. In the future, God will be known for only one thing- only good, whereas today He is seemingly known for things that seem both good and bad.
In the future, we will have that clarity.
In his commentary on the Torah, Rashi says that when we say Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad, it means that today, we recognize that Hashem is Elokenu, our God, but the goyim don’t recognize Him.
In the future, it will be Hashem Echad- the whole world will recognize Hashem. Like it says,
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה ה׳ אֶחָד וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד
On that day, Hashem will be One and His name will be One
Every day, when we say Shema Yisrael Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad, we are praying for the time when everyone will recognize the Oneness of God, and that there are no two events.
These are very powerful pesukim.
B’ezrat Hashem, we should insert these understandings into our prayers, daily, so that we are better prepared for our Rosh Hashanah Musaf. The more we feel them daily, the better prepared we will be, the better our Musaf will be, and the better our year will be.
Have a wonderful day.