We continue with our series: Mindsets for Rosh Hashanah.
The first, which we discussed yesterday, is the overarching mindset that Hashem is king; so much so, that for ten days, our Amida switches from “HaKel Hakadosh”(the G-d that is holy) to “HaMelech HaKadosh” (The king that is holy).
If we make a mistake with this, we have to repeat the Amida.
There is a change, over these ten days, in that our main focus must be that G-d is king.
Rav Yisrael Salantar points out that a person can make a mistake. He can declare Hashem king over the seven heavens and over all four corners of the earth, but he forgets to make G-d the king over himself. If G-d is the king, we must be servants.
The Hovot HaLevavot says it’s two sides of a coin: G-d can’t be our king if we aren’t his servants.
The Hovot HaLevavot says the definition of a servant is that he must be humble. This is especially true of a servant of G-d, who realizes that everything he has, and all he has accomplished, is attributed to G-d. He can’t become haughty or take credit for anything that happens to him.
To show how important this concept is, the Gemara in Masechet Rosh Hashana 26b tells us that on Rosh Hashanah the shofar is supposed to be bent. Why? It’s possible to find a somewhat straight shofar.
The answer is that
בר"ה כמה דכייף איניש דעתיה טפי מעלי
On Rosh HaShanah, the more a person bends himself, and his mind, the better it is.
That is an important mind-set.
Rashi too, tells us to humble ourselves in prayer. This is something to have in mind- so much so that the Ramban says, in his famous letter to his son, that the first step to greatness is humility. He quotes a pasuk that we say each Friday in the Shir Shel Yom :
ה׳ מלך גאות לבש
God is king, God wears arrogance.
We say this every Friday, and Adam HaRishon said it on the first Friday after creation, when he was created. He opened his eyes and said, “G-d is king” and then he said, “G-d wears arrogance.”
G-d wears arrogance? That doesn’t sound right. Arrogance is a bad trait, isn’t it?
But Ramban explains that arrogance is not bad, if you really deserve the credit. If you haven’t done anything worthy, then arrogance is bad.
Imagine a boy who is playing his first game of baseball at little league. He doesn’t know what he is doing. His father stands behind him and holds the bat with his son. The pitcher throws the ball and the father, holding the bat with the boy, swings. He hits a home run! The kid is thrilled. He’s celebrating his accomplishment, but we all know that he could hardly hold a bat. He’s proud of himself, but it’s silly because he didn’t do anything. It was his father.
In life, the only one with the right to be arrogant, says Ramban, is G-d.
Only G-d has the right, so to say, to show feelings of greatness over His accomplishments.
The Ramban continues in a poetic way, saying regarding anyone who is arrogant, that it’s like he’s stealing the king’s coat. Why? Because if מלך לבש גאות, If G-d wears arrogance, and I’m being arrogant, I’m taking His coat.
The worst thing would be to take the king’s coat on Rosh Hashanah!
Our job is to coronate the king, to put a crown on the king.
Therefore, on Rosh Hashanah, we have to think: I lived a year, my heart is pumping, I’m alive. I may have exercised a little, but that was just my hishtadlut. I’m here not because of my own doing, but because G-d brought me here.
If I have success in my business, I have to think: Lots of smart people didn’t make money this year. So, my success is because of Hashem.
Regarding family- for everything I have, I have to feel overly humbled to G-d.
And this humility is not just toward G-d. It’s toward other people as well.
The Ramban talks about this in his letter:
We aren’t supposed to feel greater than others, or feel haughty.
This is another important aspect of our Rosh Hashanah mindset: To focus and remember the need to be humble every day of the year, but especially on Rosh Hashanah. In the month of Elul, we should start to have this on our minds, in order to prepare.