In the reading of the parsha of the Holidays (Emor) the opening line stating the date of Rosh Hashana differs from those of the other Yomim Tovim. The passuk of Rosh Hashanah commences with “on the seventh month on the first of day” while all the other holidays are introduced in the reverse, first the day of the month and only afterwards the number of the month. I would like to suggest a possible explanation for this aberration.
The number seven – shevi’ee has another connotation which is shevuah - oath. This thought is explained in the Medrash (Pesikta Rabasi 41,6) Avraham says to Hashem You knew that I could have answered You at the time You requested from me to sacrifice Yitzchak. For by fulfilling your request there would be a contradiction in Your words. You already promised to me that Yitzchak will be the future of my descendents and now I am told to kill him. Yet I did not ask or question your command but remained silent like a mute. So too, when his descendents are judged this very same day and there will be many prosecutors against them, You too should be silent. Hashem agreed. However Avraham asked Hashem to take an oath on His promise and He did (22,16). This is hinted in the words introducing the parsha of Rosh Hashanah.”On the seventh month” alluding to that oath – shevuah taken by Hashem at the Akaidah. [Compare Yechezkel (33,11) where Hashem also swears in defense of Am Yisrael affirming that His desire is not to punish and bring retribution but rather that the sinner should repent and live].
Two fundamentals can be gleaned from this Chazal. One that the Akaidah took place on Rosh Hashanah. That is the reason that we read this parsha in the Torah on this day. Secondly, on this day Hashem is required to fulfill His oath to not to answer the prosecutors against Am Yisrael condemning them to death.
The Sefas Emes (Rosh Hashanah 664) writes that the inner meaning of Hashem taking an oath. It indicates that Yidden will have the merit to cleave to and nurture from Olam Habah even in this world especially on the very day of Rosh Hashanah when He swore. That is why we find by the blessings given to Avraham at the conclusion of the Akaidah test, double blessings: varaich avarechecha, harbeh arbeh to allude that the blessings will emanate from the upper world the source of the 13 Middos of Mercy. Avraham at the Akaidah merited to elevate himself to such a high level that when the malach called from shamayim his name it was also repeated twice corresponding to the first two middos of rachamim which is the repetition of Hashem’s name.
This Medrash defines that the power of teshuva and forgiveness come from the next world for in this world it is impossible to erase actions and deeds and to look at one’s past as if it did not happen at all. Sincere teshuva can make this supernatural event happen.
The ram’s horn with which we blow shofar is to arouse the merit of the Akaidah where Avraham sacrificed the ram instead of Yitzchak. Since its association with the Akaida and the oath of Hashem it therefore also possesses that identical power. For the word shofar means beauty and this upper world is called world of beauty. For in the world to come one is beautiful without any blemishes. To this Dovid Hamelech alludes to when he writes Tikoo bachodesh shofar bakeseh leyom chagianu – that when blowing shofar we arouse the world of “keseh” – the upper world that is presently concealed and hidden and yet we can still sense Hashem’s oath on our behalf beckoning for our teshuva in order to merit us with life instead of death demanded by the prosecuting angels.
Yet there is another relationship of oaths that connect to Rosh Hashana. The gemarrah in Nidah 30b that before the neshama enters the body of a newborn it is sworn that it will be a tzaddik. What is the purpose of this oath if we don’t remember it anyway? We find that Avraham made Eliezer swear and similarly Yaakov made Yosef swear that they would fulfill what was requested from them. Does one think for a moment that without the oath they might have defaulted on their loyalty to actualize the tzadik’s request? Based on Rav Wolfson’s shiurim in Tanya the explanation is as follows. People possess incredible inner power and strength of which they themselves are unaware of. For instance in times of emergency and crisis, the body naturally produce adrenalin. In many such instances individuals have been known to accomplish super human feats. The word shevuah has its origin in the number seven corresponding to the seven middos of the human. By taking a shevuah one is girded with the unification of these seven middos to work together to accomplish the task at hand. It creates such a mutual unity of power that one can overcome even what seems like insurmountable odds (Sfas Emes).
No doubt that both Eliezer and Yosef would have tried their utmost to fulfill their respective undertakings that were requested from them. However, the moment when they encountered the intense destructive and resistant powers of tumah personified in Lavan and Pharaoh, there was a great chance that they might have been unsuccessful. However, now coupled with the added strength of the shevuah which empowered them with the spiritual adrenalin to draw upon all the unrealized inner commitment to see their mission through, their mission could be accomplished.
However there is a deeper meaning to the power of the shevuah. Our Chazal say that when the third commandment of not swearing falsely was proclaimed, the entire earth shook and trembled. Why so? The Ramban explains that the word shevua which connotes also the number seven, refers to the seven days of creation. The shevuah contains all the elements and powers of the entire seven days of creation. Man as well was created from all the powers and energies of the universe. Hashem said Let us make man together – Me and the entire universe. Therefore if man chooses to make a positive oath then all creation from which he was fashioned, come to his aid in fulfilling his oath. Therefore, before the neshama comes down to this world it is told of the constant difficult battles and challenges that it will have to face. But he is encouraged by being told that he is not alone for he is allied and strengthened by the shefah of all the incredible powers of creation with which he was created to help him overcome these very challenges.
From this shevuah that the neshamah receives, we starkly realize that “everyone” yes everyone has the potential to be a tzadik and not to aim for just being a mediocre Jew. We should not sell our potentials short with the disclaimer that aliyah in avodas Hashem even to intense heights of devaikus is only for “those” people with different backgrounds but not for “me”. Every neshama takes this shevuah!!
Rosh Hashana is the Day of Judgment. Man was created on this day. The original Man had his neshamah enter his body on this day. We too, on the anniversary of the creation of Man, are judged to what degree have we fulfilled our shevuah of being a tzadik. However it is much deeper. On this day the neshama entered Adam. As we blow shofar we recreate the creation of Man when Hashem blew within him neshama (see Pachad Yitzchak Rosh Hashanah 25). Just like he took the shevuah and the whole cosmos was there to help him fulfill his mission, so too when we blow the shofar to reenact our creation we awaken the dormant shevuah of the seven days of creation to aid us in our struggles to fulfill our potentials for the coming year.
Now we can understand why Rosh Hashanah begins its parsha in the Torah with the seventh month rather than the first day of the month which follows the pattern of all the other Yomim Tovim. The Torah wants to convey that on Rosh Hashanah the number shevi’eeh means more than number seven. It alludes to the essence of the Rosh Hashana day, a day of oaths. It’s about Hashem’s oath that He took on the day of the Akaida to protect us from the prosecution of the Heavenly Court. It is a day when we are judged to what degree we strived to fulfill our own shevuah of becoming a tzadik during our stay in this world. It is also about the shevuah that our neshamos receive at the time of blowing the shofar to assemble all the forces of creation to help us overcome the challenges we will face in the coming year.
On Rosh Hashana after maariv we recite the perek Ledovid mizmor. Many reasons are given. According to our explanation above we can add another reason. In the middle of the perek we recite Who will ascend the mountain of Hashem…… someone who did not swear falsely…. This does not refer to the oath of the courts. Rather it refers to the oath that our neshamos took before it entered our bodies and on this same oath we are judged and we reaffirm every Rosh Hashanah to fulfill our potentials of becoming Tzadikim. Every single one of us can reach such a potential of becoming a tzadik at least in one area and mitzvah as the sefarim explain. Let us renew our faith in Hashem and ourselves and let the kol shofar take us to that other world of beauty to bathe in Hashem’s glory.
Gut Shabbos
KESIVA VECHASIMA TOVA
Rav Brazil
