Last night, in that speech in Lakewood, so a group of single girls, most of them older than 19, some of them significantly so. Without being explicit, I basically said this. I said, “Girls, ladies, you’re in a... Right now, when you feel this: ‘I want my life to be a certain way, and it’s not that way,’ you’re in a unique position to make Hashem your king.”
So anyone in this room, and anyone who’s listening, if you have one of the four struggles I mentioned above, or you have all four, or you have all four plus other struggles in your home, and you’re trying and you’re wishing and you’re saying, “I have to come to Hashem now and remind Hashem that we don’t have children yet. I have to remind Hashem that my kid needs to get into school. I need to remind Hashem that my third kid needs friends”—you don’t need to remind Hashem of anything. You need to remind yourself of who you’re supposed to be. You need to remember where you belong. The goal of Rosh Hashanah is to find ourselves. That’s the goal. And the way we find ourselves is by proclaiming Hashem as king.
So you tell Hashem, “I’m yours. I am fully, unequivocally yours.” And you know the proof? “I want this to happen. I have no control over it. I want that to happen. I’m trying my best. It’s not happening. I want this to happen. I called everybody I know. I should be the easiest thing in the world. It’s not happening.” Hashem, here, I am yours.
On that first day of creation, when Adam HaRishon was lost, today I stand before you, found. In fact, we say that when we eat the head, we should be in the year L'rosh velo l'zanav. We should be a head and not a tail.
The Sefer Yitav Lev says: You know what L'rosh stands for? It’s not about being a head. It’s not about being a leader. It’s not about being on top. L'rosh stands for these four words: La'asot retzon avicha shebashamayim. Lamed resh alef shin (four Hebrew letters). La'asot, to do; retzon, the will; avicha, your father; shebashamayim, in heaven. To do the will of your father in heaven. That’s what I want to be. I don’t want to be standing on top. I don’t want to be on some pyramid. I want to be the head of the company. I don’t want to be the most important person in the room. That’s not what L'rosh, that’s not what a Jew is really trying to achieve. That’s not what a Jew is aspiring toward. We’re trying L'rosh, to be la'asot, to be Hashem’s wills.
So the goal of Rosh Hashanah is this. It’s basically to keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground. Your goal is, in this world, with these physical struggles, to keep your eyes up. And somehow, somewhere in November, December, January, February, maybe it’s June or July, somehow, like Adam HaRishon, we can’t even find ourselves. The week will go by, be like, “What did I do this week? Is this what I wanted to do? Is this what I wanted to be? Is this how I wanted to sound? Is this how I wanted to look? Where did I go? Where’d my head go? Where’d my frustration go?”
So on Rosh Hashanah, you could think about the things you want, and maybe you could say the request, maybe you could, but really, that’s not the point. The point of Rosh Hashanah is that when Hashem calls out to us on the first day of the year and He says, “Where are you?” you could respond and say, “Hashem, Borei Olam (Creator of the world), I am right here. I am ready to serve. I am focused. I know my purpose. I know what it’s about. And I know more than anything else that I have no control. Because you, not me, are the king.”