We continue with sources that a fundamental of Rosh Hashanah is humility, which is a topic we have been working on. The Rambam, in his commentary to Mishnayot on Rosh Hashanah chapter four, explains the mishna that there is no Hallel sung on Rosh Hashanah. Why not? He says, because Rosh Hashanah is a day of servitude, humility and fear, and these three concepts do not match with the levity of singing Hallel. When you sing Hallel, you’re in a lightheaded mood, which is not the mood of Rosh Hashanah. Rosh Hashanah is not a day of Hallel. It’s a day of of humility and service. The Ben Ish Chai writes in Parashat Netzavim that the reason it's customary to fast on Erev Rosh Hashanah, as brought down in Shulchan Aruch, is so that one goes into Rosh Hashanah with humility, because fasting makes a man humble.
So we see quite clearly the greatest of rabbis stressing the need for humility on Rosh Hashanah.
There's an interesting, Taz, one of the great Halachic Poskim, brought down by the Mishna Berurah, the Kaf HaChaim and many others, that says that on Rosh Hashanah, we are reliant on God, that He’s going to give us a good judgment, and therefore we dress up in (what we'll call) Shabbat or holiday clothing. But even so, he says, On Rosh Hashanah, one should not wear embroidered or silk clothing, like on other holidays. It should not be the most Hashub of suits. Why is that?
One of the reasons is to remind us that Rosh Hashanah is a different day. On Rosh Hashanah we don’t say, Moadim L’Simcha/times of happiness, like we say on the three holidays Pesach, Shavuot and Succot, because it's a day of judgment. It's not that light mood.
The bottom line is, it's a day of humility, and therefore, as we said, our clothing is not the fanciest, to remind us that it's a day of judgment.
I'd like to add a concept from
Shaare Teshuva, that besides humility in the brain, there's humility in action. What's humility in action? The first example he gives is to speak with a low tone. That's an indication of humility. Also, he says, don't get involved with beautiful clothing. He cites pesukim to that point. Those are indicators of humility. So its possible that this is one of the reasons brought down not to wear your fanciest clothing, because when a person wears fancy clothing, it’s human nature to feel a certain arrogance. You put on a fancy suit and you feel all sharp. That's not the feeling of Rosh Hashanah.
Of course we’re not mourning, we're not sad, and we're not fasting on Rosh Hashanah. The key word is humble. Be humble in front of your Creator.
We’ve been working on this topic for quite a while, trying to motivate everyone to the importance and need of this trait. This is the
deciding factor. The Gemara says, any year that's poor in its beginnings, will become wealthy in its end. What does, ‘poor in its beginnings’ mean? That we make ourselves humble. Rashi quotes a pasuk, ‘Tahanunim yedaber Rash,’ the poor person speaks words of supplication, the opposite of the wealthy man speaks with arrogance. This is Rabbenu Yona’s source for a soft, low tone. A person has to be humble. Humble people speak softly. That's what Rosh Hashanah is about. And the source is the Pasuk says, that says, “מרשית השנה Mereshit Hashanah, from the beginning of the year-the word רשית Reshit is spelled with without an א alef, as if to say רשית Rashit, which means humble.
So again, we cannot stress enough the importance of humility on Rosh Hashanah. Have a wonderful day.