Ethical Teachings of the Torah

Today is the Birthday of the World, whether as Children or as Servants [2] by Dr. Meir Tamari

Today is the Birthday of the World, whether as Children or as Servants [2] by Dr. Meir Tamari

The world was created on the 25th of Elul and on Rosh HaShana the whole of creation came before Hashem saying, ‘before we were created we were all part of You but now we are separated from You’. So He created Adam and Chava on that day and through them everything He created becomes connected to G-d” (Admor Mordechai Yosef of Izbitza).
Rosh HaShana that celebrates this connection comes in Tishri, the month that marks the beginning of autumn, harbinger of winter. Don Yitschak Abarbanel sees this not as something incidental, but rather as marking the very essence of this day and all it symbolizes. He observes that because of the human fear of the darkness of the long nights and the absence of light and warmth, in early pagan societies and even in some modern religions, the New Year comes in the middle of winter when the approach of spring and summer is already felt. However, in Judaism, the autumn and winter are not periods of fear and darkness but rather for spiritual recharging and storage of religious energy, just like seeds lie in the furrow, absorbing rain and nourishment for the renewal of growth. “Rosh HaShana is Yom HaZikaron, a day of self-examination, of remembering our spiritual failures and our unfulfilled religious aims, while looking forward to our hopes and aspirations; truly the beginning of our year” (Rabbi S. R. Hirsch). There can hardly be a more appropriate haftara for this day than the story of the birth of the prophet Shmuel, which we read on the first day of Rosh HaShana. First there is the theme of remembrance and examination of people’s actions and spiritual desires. This is followed by the Song of Chana, his mother, which is a hymn to the great mercy of G-d and our resultant optimism for the future.
Chazal taught laws of tefila from this prayer of Chana’s; “One has to devote all one’s heart in prayer [she spoke in her heart], one has to enunciate with one’s lips only [only her lips moved], one may not pray aloud [her voice was not heard]” (B’rachot 31a-b). The Avnei Nezer of Sochochow points out that loud prayer pours out of the heart and refers to the prayers of the individual asking for his needs and thanking Hashem for His gifts. However, the Amida and Musaf modeled on the korbanot tzibur, contain only requests for communal needs and requirements. They stem from the brain as they are the result of study and observation, so they are recited silently.
“The song of Chana is one of Ten Songs which encompass the whole history of the world”. (Targum, Shir HaShirim). It is easy to see Chana’s desire for a son as a search for a mother’s fulfillment through childbirth, or to achieve greater happiness in her marriage or to obviate the stigma attached to the barren woman. However, her voluntary giving of the child as soon as he was weaned to be a Nazerite devoted to G-d, his whole life to serving as a prophet and judge, show that her motive was a different one. Her search and prayer for a son is solely a story of devotion to the prophecy of a person who would anoint the first kings of Israel and so correct the lack of kingship which is described as the cause of sin at the end of Shoftim. She expresses an inspired perception of the ways of G-d in the world that captures the whole message of Rosh HaShana.
“For a G-d of thoughts is He and by Him the single acts are reckoned up! It is G-d who kills and gives life. He brings down to the grave but also raises up [from there]. It is He who makes poor and makes rich. He brings low and also lifts up” (Shmuel Alef 2:3-7). “On this day, sentence is pronounced upon countries for war or for peace; mortals are recorded for life or for death. Those who seek You shall never stumble, those who trust in You shall never be disgraced, for You remember and search all their deeds. May every being know that You made it, every creature realize that You created it, may every breathing proclaim, ‘the Lord G-d of Israel is King and His Kingdom rules over all’” (Musaf Rosh HaShana).

Dr Tamari’s new book - “Truths Desired by God: An Excursion Into the Weekly Haftarah” is published by Gefen Publishers

• Other Ethical Teachings of the Torah
• Funding Social Costs - Taxation [2]
• THE CHALLENGE OF MONEY - Funding Social Costs - Taxation [1]
• "Why the Land was Destroyed (Nedarim 21a): The Cycle of National Disasters [3] by Dr. Meir Tamari