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Rosh Hashanah Table of Contents Torah Wellspring - Rosh Hashanah Preparing for Rosh Hashanah ............................................................. 4 Erev Rosh Hashanah ........................................................................... 10 A New Creation ................................................................................... 14 Blueprint ............................................................................................... 16 The Awesome Judgment ................................................................... 17 Tefillah ................................................................................................... 19 Ask for a Lot ......................................................................................... 23 Everyone Can Daven........................................................................... 26 Hav! Hav! .............................................................................................. 26 Torah ...................................................................................................... 28 Humble Beginnings ............................................................................ 30 Tears....................................................................................................... 33 Tears Rouse Kavanah ......................................................................... 37 Tears of Joy ........................................................................................... 38 Tears with the Shofar.......................................................................... 39 Tehillim ................................................................................................. 40 Simanim................................................................................................. 43 The Primary Siman ............................................................................. 45 Why Are We Happy on Rosh Hashanah? ....................................... 48 Fear ......................................................................................................... 54 Joy and Fear .......................................................................................... 57 Teshuvah with Shofar ......................................................................... 58 The Struggle ......................................................................................... 61 Segulos of Tekiyas Shofar .................................................................. 64 A Good Eye........................................................................................... 68 Torah Wellsprings Rosh Hashanah Preparing for Rosh The tzibbur is dependent Hashanah on the chazanim and on the baal tokei'a for a good Shulchan Aruch (581:1) year, therefore it is essential teaches, "It is proper to that they be very righteous. search for the most fitting chazan, the greatest scholars The Chasam Sofer and doers of good deeds taught that in our that you can find. They generation, the chazanim should daven selichos and and the baalei tokei'a aren't the tefillos of the yamim as holy and righteous as nora'im." they were in the past, and we don't rely on them The Be'er Heitev writes, anymore to daven for us "The chazanim and those and to help us attain a good who blow shofar should be year. perfect baalei teshuvah..." Therefore, the Chasam Halachah also Sofer says, the entire recommends that they congregation should should prepare themselves prepare themselves during with teshuvah during the the three days before Rosh three days prior to Rosh Hashanah (and three days before Yom Kippur) so that Hashanah (and the three days their tefillos will be accepted. prior to Yom Kippur). The Beis Yisrael of Gur This year, Rosh zy'a, taught these ideas Hashanah is on Tuesday, with a mashal: which means they should prepare themselves from The lion, king of the Shabbos, Parashas Nitzavim. jungle, got angry with the Torah Wellsprings - Rosh Hashanah 5 animals of his kingdom don't worry. I still have and wanted to punish one hundred parables left them. All the animals of to tell the king, and that is the jungle gathered and certainly sufficient." sought a way to appease the king, but they couldn’t When they came before come up with a solution. the lion, the fox told them, "I just forgot the last one The fox said "I have hundred parables, too. It is three hundred mashalim I now up to you to say what can tell the king to explain you can to appease the our situation and our point king." of view, and he will understand that we aren't They all pleaded before guilty. He will certainly be the king, and the king appeased. Come with me." accepted their pleas and forgave them. The animals were relieved that the clever fox From the start, the clever had a solution, and they all fox didn’t have anything to hiked together to the king tell the king. But he realized of the forest. that their only hope was to go to the lion and to plead After walking some however they could to time, the fox said to the arouse his compassion. So animals, "I just forgot one the fox told the animals hundred parables. But that he has three hundred there's nothing to worry parables so they would about, because I still have follow him to the lion. But another two hundred at the last minute he told parables," and they walked them that it was up to them further. to say whatever they could to save themselves. A mile later the fox said, "I just forgot another The Beis Yisrael zt'l hundred parables, but explained, that chassidim 6 Torah Wellsprings - Rosh Hashanah go to their Rebbe for Rosh We prepare ourselves Hashanah, and rely on with teshuvah, and teshuvah their Rebbe's tefillos to help begins with thoughts. them in their judgment. Everyone should think But then the Rebbe may about the year that passed, tell them, "I’m at a loss, just and ask himself, "What did as you are. I don’t know I do wrong this past year? what to say to Hashem to Which mitzvos am I failing 1 forgive our sins and how in?" to earn a good year. Now it Also, one should think is up to you to pray and do about what he did correctly, whatever you can to so that he will continue appease the King." doing so in the upcoming year. And since it is everyone's If we make this obligation to plead before introspection during these the King, we should three days, it will be a good prepare ourselves during preparation for Rosh these three days. Hashanah.2 "כי מדי ,In Shemonah Esrei of Rosh Hashanah, we say the pasuk .1 .(Yirmiyahu 31:19) דברי בו זכור אזכרנו עוד על כן המו מעי לו רחם ארחמנו נאם ה'" when I ,כי מדי דברי בו ,Rebbe Mordechai of Lechovitz zt'l explained ,זכור ,speak to myself in introspection about my sins, I tell myself "Is that called remembering Hashem? Is the amount and the I will" ,אזכרנו עוד "?intensity of how I think about Hashem sufficient this ,המו מעי לו ".improve and begin to remember Hashem more Is how I act" ,רחם ,arouses Hashem's compassion and Hashem says I will increase" ,ארחמנו עוד "?with this person called compassionate my compassion onto him. I will bestow even more goodness on him…" 2. The Chovas HaLevavos (Shaar Avodas Hashem 9) teaches the following mashal: Torah Wellsprings - Rosh Hashanah 7 A republic on an island near India had an unusual custom. Every year they appointed a foreigner to be king of their country, and at the end of the year they sent him away. When the foreigner was crowned king, he wasn't told that his kingship won't last longer than a year. This was a well-kept secret by everyone who lived in this country. The king would ask people about the kings before him, who they were, and why they aren't king now, but he wouldn't receive straight answers. The king would amass a lot of wealth during his year in rule, but then he would unceremoniously be sent away, and he was left without anything at all. One year, the country appointed a foreigner as king, as they did every year, but this king was wiser than all the others. The king immediately sensed that a secret was being held from him, and he wanted to know what it was. "There is no secret at all," the people in the government told him. "Why should there be a secret? You are king, and that's that." "But who were the kings before me?" he'd ask. "What happened to them?" But he didn't get any clear answers. He spoke with the common people of his rule. He thought that maybe they would tell him the secret, but they too remained silent. The king wanted to get to the bottom of the matter, so he befriended a high-ranking government official, and one day, the king asked him, "What is the secret of this country?" The official replied, “At the end of the year, you will be sent back to your country, and you will leave behind all the wealth you have amassed.” Now that he knew the secret, he knew how to outsmart the system. As king, he amassed a lot of wealth, but he didn't store it in the 8 Torah Wellsprings - Rosh Hashanah The Gemara (Bava Basra and slanders the Jewish .nation הוא שטן הוא יצר הרע הוא ,states (16 the Satan, the ,מלאך המות yetzer hara, and the angel of However, the Nesivos death are all the same HaMishpat points out that 3 being, the same malach. the Satan is our enemy, is at (שונא and an enemy (a On Rosh Hashanah, he times pasul and disqualified works as a Satan, a for testimony (see Choshen prosecutor. He stands Mishpat, 34:20). Whatever he before the heavenly court says is disregarded in the kingdom, as all the kings before him did. He didn't build himself expensive palaces within the kingdom, because he knew that it will be soon taken away