These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly portion: # 1437 – Dip the Apple in the Honey Make A Bracha: Which Bracha? Good Shabbos.
The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuva 3:4) writes: “Even though the blowing of the Shofar on Rosh Hashana is a gezeiras hakasuv (scriptural decree), there is a remez (hint) in it (to which we can all relate): Arise those of you who slumber from your sleep…”
The Shofar is literally a “wake-up call.” If you have ever been in a hotel with a need to catch an early flight you ask the front desk to send you a wake-up call. Suddenly, while you are sound asleep at 4:30 am, you receive this “wake-up call.” It rings loudly and you jump out of bed with a start “Where am I?” It wakes you up. You cannot fall back asleep after that! That is what an alarm clock is. That is what a wake-up call is! That, too, is the intention of the Shofar.
The Rambam continues: And search your ways and repent with teshuva and remember your creator… Those who forget the truth are consumed with havlei ha’zman (mundane things), with which we occupy our lives. People spend their lives and their days engaged in meaningless activity (our work, our shopping, running around, errands, etc.). Look at your deeds and improve yourselves… That is the essence of Shofar – a wake-up call asking us to consider what we are doing with our lives, which are filled with trivialities and nonsense.
Finally, at the end of this halacha, the Rambam writes: “And because of this matter, the entire House of Israel is accustomed to increase their giving of charity and their doing mitzvos and good deeds from Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur, more so than the entire year.” Really, we should be doing these things the entire year, but at least during these Aseres Yemei Teshuva (Ten Days of Repentance), we should focus on the ikar (main thing).
The question is – to what is the Rambam referring when he says “And because of this matter?” But, more to the point, the Rambam says that on Rosh Hashana, the Shofar is a wakeup call to examine our deeds, repent, and remember our Creator. However, do we do teshuva on Rosh Hashana? The only reference to teshuva on Rosh Hashana is “Avinu malkeinu, chatanu l’fanecha” (Our father, our king, we have sinned before you). Those four words are the only mention in the entire Rosh Hashana liturgy referencing sinning or repentance. We do not elaborate with confessions and “al chets” on Rosh Hashana. And yet, the Rambam says that on Rosh Hashana, we are supposed to do teshuva. After, all it is called the Ten Days of Repentance. The only way we get 10 days of repentance is by utilizing all 10 days, which includes both days of Rosh Hashana!
So where is this teshuva on Rosh Hashana? We spend the majority of our day in shul on Rosh Hashana and apparently “I missed the boat!” Where was I supposed to do teshuva? When was I supposed to do teshuva?
As we approach Rosh Hashana, the importance of a message I saw in the name of Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro (1917-2006), z”l. is especially timely. We in fact do teshuva on Rosh Hashana. But it is a different teshuva than we do on the rest of the Aseres Yemei Teshuva. On the rest of Aseres Yemei Teshuva we worry about our past deeds. We look back at the past year and think about all the aveiros we may have done. We do teshuva for that. We say the al chets. We say the ashamnus. However, the teshuva of Rosh Hashana is to get our priorities straight again and to forget (as the Rambam writes) the havlei ha’zman. Those people who forget what life is all about utilize Rosh Hashana to focus on “What am I doing? Where am I going? Am I leading a meaningful life? Can I lead a more meaningful life and can I be less obsessed or pre-occupied with all the shtuyos (foolishness) that occupy my daily life?”
That is the “avodas hateshuva” (repentance service) of Rosh Hashana. That is what the Shofar is supposed to accomplish according to the Rambam. The Shofar is our wake-up call: What are you doing with your life? The way to correct our preoccupation with havlei ha’zman is to meditate about how we live our lives and to figure out how we can make those lives more meaningful. The teshuva of Rosh Hashana is not “ashamnu, bagadnu.” The teshuva of Rosh Hashana is focusing on the overview of our lives.
This perhaps explains a very interesting halacha in Shulchan Aruch. The way we pasken, based on strict legalities, we are permitted to eat pas paltar (bread baked by a non-Jewish bakery). Throughout the year, although it is praise-worthy to seek out pas Yisrael (Jewish baked bread), normative halacha permits pas paltar. Yet, during the Aseres Yemei Teshuva, it is brought down that it is appropriate to be particular and insist on eating only pas Yisrael. The language used in Shulchan Aruch is that “a baal nefesh should be machmir.”
This expression “a baal nefesh should be machmir” is not to be equated with certain pious practices that are recommended only for particularly righteous individuals (e.g. – wearing Rabbeinu Tam Tefillin in addition to wearing Rashi Tefillin). What exactly is a baal nefesh? The Tolner Rebbe once said that a baal nefesh is a person who is worried about his soul (nefesh). The whole year, we are worried about our body (guf). During Aseres Yemei Teshuva, we need to worry about our soul.
Transcribed by David Twersky; Jerusalem [email protected]
Edited by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MDÂ [email protected]
This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the halachic portions for Parshas Nitzavim/Vayeilech is provided below:
- # 022 – Reading Haftorah: Scrolls vs. Book
- # 112 – Shoteh: Mental Incompetence in Halacha
- # 158 – Schar Shabbos: How Do We Pay Rabbonim and Chazzanim?
- # 205 – Kiddush Before T’kiyas Shofar
- # 252 – Buying Seforim
- # 295 – Burying the Dead on Yom Tov Sheni
- # 341 – The Brachos on the T’kios
- # 342 – Is Building a Succah a Mitzvah?
- # 385 – Fasting on Rosh Hashana
- # 386 – Succah Gezulah
- # 429 – Treatment of an Invalid Sefer Torah
- # 473 – Seudas Siyum Mesechta
- # 517 – What Exactly Is Mitzva of Shofar
- # 561 – Lo Bashomayin He
- # 605 – Selling A Sefer Torah
- # 649 – Minhagim of the Yomim Noraim
- # 693 – My Father’s Chumros
- # 737 – Borrowing and Lending Seforim
- # 781 – I’m the Baal Tokeah and Not You!
- # 825 – The Shuls of Gaza – A Halachic Perspective
- # 826 – Yom Kippur: Women and the Shehecheyanu; Women and Kor’im
- # 869 – The Mitzvah of Chinuch-Whose Responsibility? Mother or Father?
- # 870 – Yom Kippur – The Yom Kippur That They Did Not Fast
- # 913 – The Tefilah of Oleinu
- # 957 – Coming Late for Tekias Shofar and Other Rosh Hashana Issues
- # 1000 – Ta’amei Hamikra – The Tropp – How Important Is It?
- # 1044 – Must You Stand for Chazoras HaShatz on Rosh Hashana?
- # 1088 – Learning During T’kias Shofer?
- # 1131 – Asking For Personal Needs On Rosh Hashana?
- # 1173 – Oops! I Forgot Ya’Aleh Ve’Yavo in Bentching on Rosh Hashana
- # 1217 – Fascinating Halachos Pertaining to a Choleh on Yom Kippur
- # 1261 – Did I Say Hamelech Hakadosh? / Nuts on Rosh Hashana
- # 1305 – The Case of the Esrog That Was Not As Advertised
- # 1349 – The Baal Tokeah Who Was Doubtful If He Could Blow
- # 1393 – The Baal Tokeah Who Could Only Blow From His Left Side and Other Shofar Issues
- # 1437 – Dip the Apple in the Honey Make A Bracha: Which Bracha?
- # 1481 – Selichos: Can It Be Said Without a Minyan? Sitting Down?
- # 1567 – Returning A Lost Object to an Aino Yehudi
- # 1607 – Lo BaShamayim Hee – Can You Use The Heavens to Pasken Shailos?
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