“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh Rosh Hashanah
29 Elul 5783/September 15, 2023
ONCE UPON THE END
On the late afternoon of Erev Rosh Hashanah, I was in my kitchen busily
taking care of last-minute things before Yom Tov. It was then that I glanced
out the kitchen window and saw something that filled me with anxiety. I saw on
the patio of the neighbor who lives behind us that the walls of his Succah were
completely assembled.
I wanted to sue him for emotional damage. There I was trying to get ready
for the imminent holiday, and he was already prepared for the holiday two weeks
later.
I’ve noticed, mostly from personal experience, that umbrellas and
raincoats are most likely to be forgotten when it stops raining after a person
arrives at a temporary destination. Since it is no longer raining, he forgets
that he brought the rain gear earlier, and leaves without it. It’s usually not
until the next rainstorm that he realizes where he left it. At that point he’ll
need to use spare rain gear to go out in the rain to retrieve his original rain
gear. Hopefully it won’t stop raining while he’s at the place where he left the
rain gear the first time.
There’s a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon depicting Calvin declaring, “G-d put
me on earth to accomplish a certain number of things. Right now I’m so far
behind I’ll never die!”
My rebbe, Rabbi Berel Wein notes that our lives are more like a
basketball game than a baseball game. We don’t get three strikes before being
called out. Our life clocks are constantly running. No one knows how much time
is left, but everyone knows that there is a time limit.
On September 13, 2023, the New York Times published an article entitled,
“Rosh Hashanah can change your life (even if you’re not Jewish).” The article
references the unnerving words of Unesaneh Tokef in which we recount the
tense awe of the day as we stand in judgement. We state unequivocally that on
this day no one knows whether he will be slated to live or die in the coming
year, or circumstances surrounding his life or death.
“You might think this morbid prospect would further decrease contentment,
but it ends up having the opposite effect. Why? Because it forces us to focus
on the things in life that actually bring us more happiness. Research by the
Stanford psychologist Laura Carstensen has shown that as we age, we move from
caring most about our careers, status and material possessions to caring most
about connecting with those we love, finding meaning in life and performing
service to others.
“… But the particular brilliance of Rosh Hashana is that it combines
thoughts of death with a new year’s focus on a fresh start. As work by the
behavioral scientist Katy Milkman and her colleagues has shown, temporal
landmarks like New Year’s Day offer an effective opportunity for a
psychological reset. They allow us to separate ourselves from past failures and
imperfections — a break that not only prods us to consider new directions in
life but also helps us make any changes more effectively.”
Perhaps that’s part of the reason why it’s customary to daven at the
graves of ancestors and righteous individuals before Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur. Not only are we trying to invoke the merits of the departed, but we are
also reminding ourselves of the finitude of life and the need to live up to our
mission.
In hilchos Teshuvah (2:7) Rambam writes: “Yom Kippur is the time of
teshuvah for all, both individuals and the community at large. It is the end of
forgiveness and pardon for Yisroel. Accordingly, everyone is obligated to
repent and confess on Yom Kippur.”
Rambam himself writes that a person can always do teshuva. What does he
mean that Yom Kippur is the end of forgiveness and pardon?
On a simple level, Rambam is referring to the conclusion of the
particularly auspicious time when all of Klal Yisroel is focused and engaged in
teshuvah. It is the conclusion of “the season of teshuvah” when heaven grants
added assistance to those who seek to rectify their past misdeeds.
Perhaps the Rambam is also helping us recognize the urgency of doing
teshuvah. Often when something can be done tomorrow it keeps getting delayed.
There is nothing that galvanizes people to act more than impending deadlines
and imminent need.
Rambam wants us to feel that there is no time like the present to engage
in personal teshuvah. Yom Kippur is a deadline of sorts, and we would be wise
to take advantage of it.
We may not have to have our Succah up before Rosh Hashanah and we may not
need an umbrella when the storm passes. But we can and should always live with
a sense of mission, knowing how valuable every day is.
We don’t have to master all our shortcomings before the “Yom Kippur
deadline”. We only have to make an earnest effort to begin the process.
Shabbat Shalom
& Good Shabbos
Gut Yom Tov
& G’mar Vachasima Tova,
R’ Dani and Chani Staum
