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Of gifts and judgements
By Rabbi Berel Wein
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
THE JEWISH VIEW of the holiday of Rosh Hashana is that it marks not only
the beginning of a new calendar cycle, but that it is a day of judgement
and the beginning of a ten day period of serious introspection and
self-analysis. Therefore, even though Rosh Hashana is a holiday celebrated
with festive clothing, good and altogether too copious amounts of food and
family gatherings, it has a dimension of seriousness and awe to it that
none of the other holidays in the Jewish year possess. For it is the day of
the "conception of the world," of the beginning of the human story, of the
review of the past and the present and the vision for the future. And that
is of necessity serious business.
Again, Jewish tradition teaches us that the day of judgement that Rosh
Hashana represents, operates on a dual level of judgement. There is the
judgement regarding the individual --- about each and every one of us solely,
as to our behavior, attitudes and accomplishments. We all pass singly
before the Heavenly Judge and all of the events of the past year and years
pass in microscopic review.
The good that we did to others, our efforts to
further and strengthen Torah values and principles, to worship, obey and
serve G-d Himself, so to speak, are placed on the balance scale of justice
and judgement. What influence did we have on others? Are we truly proud of
what we did, said or accomplished this past year? Were our means justified
and were they as noble as the end we desired to achieve? And our weaknesses
and moments of anger and insensitivity, our denial of our Divine mission
and our succumbing to the seductive but eventually unproductive temptations
of the physical world, are also measured and weighed. The words we should
not have spoken (or written), our depression and pessimism, our doubts and
failings, are taken into account in the heavenly judgement and they weigh
heavily against us.
The second level of heavenly judgement concerns our community and society
-- the Jewish people as a whole. In our Rosh Hashana prayers we affirm that
not only the fate of individuals but that of nations as well is reviewed on
this day of judgement. "Which nation will taste the sword, and which shall
be tranquil, which will prosper and which will hunger." Even though man
proposes, it is after all G-d Who disposes. And thus a person is really
judged twice. Even if one is entitled to a good report because of one's
individual behavior, the fact that he or she is part of the general group ---
the Jewish people as a whole, influences all judgements and decrees. Jews
are responsible one for another, we are all guarantors of our fellow Jews'
notes and obligations.
How have we discharged this obligation during the
past years? What words of anger and denigration have we employed against
other Jews? Why are we afraid of hearing another's viewpoint? Why do we
automatically condemn and shout? These are questions that this second level
of judgement -- of communal responsibility and responsiveness -- asks of us.
And we must therefore formulate sufficiently justifiable answers to these
questions. We must continually hope that the judgement for our entire
society be a favorable one. If not, G-d forbid, it unlikely that we will
escape troubles, no matter how righteous our individual case may have been.
The grandness of the first ten days of Tishrei stems from this gift of
introspection and self-correction. It provides a positive program of growth
and revitalization for the coming year. We have an opportunity to truly
regret our past foibles and errors and commit ourselves to improve and
mature. But again our own weaknesses overtake us, even in regards to this
golden opportunity to right past wrongs and build a brighter future for us
and all of Israel. We despair on our own ability to correct and sanctify,
to lead satisfying and inspiring personal and communal lives. We have tried
to be better before and have failed, so we are hesitant about trying again.
But that is perhaps the most serious sin that we can commit - the sin of
apathy, inertia and self-convinced failure. We must truly try to be better,
to do better.
The great Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev awoke one morning and before
beginning his prayers said to himself: "Levi Yitzchak, today you are going
to behave correctly -- you are going to be a good person!" But he then
sighed and said: "But Levi Yitzchak said that yesterday as well and he
wasn't such a good person for the rest of the day." And then he said to
himself: "Never mind yesterday, today Levi Yitzchak truly means it!"
We
have to truly mean it and it can
JWR contributor Rabbi Berel Wein is one of Jewry's foremost historians and
founder of the Destiny Foundation. He resides in Jerusalem. You may contact Rabbi
Wein by clicking here or calling 1-800-499-WEIN (9346).
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