“You heard my voice. Please be not deaf to my plea for well-being.” (Lament. 3:56)
“The beginning of Your word is true, and for ever, every one of Your righteous judgments endures.” (Psalms 119:160)
“Guarantee for good Your servant; let not the wicked oppress me.” (Psalms 119:122) (From the liturgy recited before blowing the shofar.)
If the first verse is to be understood literally, why does it begin with the phrase “You heard,” implying that God has already heard us, and then follow with the request, “Please be not deaf to my plea for well-being”?
The Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 65:20) interprets the verse (Genesis 27:22), “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau,” as follows: “So long as the voice of Jacob continues trilling with the sounds of Torah in synagogues and study houses, the hands of Esau will have no mastery.”
The Torah and the commandments are our very life and times. Even prayer requires Torah study, as we learn in the verse (Proverbs 28:9), “Whosoever turns his ear away from Torah, even his prayer is an abomination.”
Oh! When we remind ourselves of how we used to pray in previous years . . . how our prayers would rise to heaven during the Festivals and High Holidays . . . the sounds of Torah learning issuing from study houses, yeshivas, and schools, crowning our prayers . . . and Torah that every person privately learned in his house all year, especially the Torah of the month of Elul, surrounding our prayers during these holy days. Together, the holy sounds of Torah and prayer broke through all the heavens and rose before the Throne of Glory. And it is not just we who were sanctified more each time, and it was not just to us that salvation flowed, for the Torah and prayer also fixed the Kingdom of Heaven.
God said (Exodus 20:2), “I am God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery.” The name of God—YHVH, the tetragrammaton—was revealed only when the Jewish people left slavery for freedom, and sorrow for joy. When the Jewish people are in pain, the name of God—YHVH, is hidden and God is called Elohim, as is explained in the holy Zohar (vol. III, 84b). It is only when the Jewish people are redeemed and free, and able to worship God that the Kingdom of Heaven is also revealed: “I am YHVH, God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery.” The redemption was the revelation of Anochi (“I am”) and of YHVH (God).
This is why, in the verses recited before blowing the shofar, we pray, “You heard my voice,” in the past. That is, You heard the sounds of my prayers and of the shofar because they were surrounded by the sounds of Torah that pierced the heavens. Now, even though the sounds of my prayer are feeble, unable to rise on high—as though heard from afar, as a sound to which one must bend one’s ear—nonetheless, “Please be not deaf to my plea for well-being.” Not only does the outcome affect us, it also affects You, God, as it were, as the next verse recited before blowing the shofar states, “The beginning of Your word is true.” Our sages in the Talmud (Kiddushin 31a) explain, regarding this verse: “What does this verse imply; that the beginning of God’s word is true, but not the end of His word? The meaning is this. The psalmist said, “From the end of Your words it may be seen that the beginning is true.” When the nations of the world heard the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1), ‘I am God. . . . Do not have any other gods before Me,’ and so forth, they said, ‘Look, everything God does is for His own pleasure and glory.’ Only when they heard the later Commandments (Exodus 20:12), ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and so forth, did they admit that the Commandments were wholly true. Hence, ‘The beginning of Your word is true.’ ”
We see that the quote “The beginning of Your word is true” refers to “I (Anochi) am YHVH, God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt,” the first words of the Ten Commandments, revealed on Sinai.
According to what we said above, the revelation of “I am YHVH, God,” came about precisely because “I am God your Lord who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery.” The revelation of God happens only when the Jewish people are redeemed and able to worship God. Therefore the next verse is, “Guarantee for good Your servant; let not the wicked oppress me,” for it is not we who have caused the desecration of the Torah and prevented the worship of God this way. Therefore, we beg God to have mercy, and “Guarantee for good Your servants,” for if You will save us and not allow the wicked to destroy us, then with the help of God we will renew the Torah, the prayer, and the worship with even greater strength.
“Blow a shofar at the month, at the hidden moon on our feast day. For this is a statutefor Israel, a judgmentfor the God of Jacob.” (Psalms 81:4)
This is the Festival during which the moon is hidden so that there cannot be two witnesses to testify against the Jewish people in their hour of judgment, as is well known. However, in the Rosh Hashanah liturgy we say that the Holy Blessed One “knows and bears witness.” If this is so, then the Holy Blessed One might bear witness and testify against us. This is why the verse says, “a judgment for the God of Jacob.” The judgment that will be passed this day not only affects the Jewish people, it also concerns the Holy Blessed One. On this day, Jews repent and with the act of blowing the shofar accept upon themselves the sovereignty of heaven, for, as is well known, the blowing of the shofar announces the coronation of the King and a renewal of His sovereignty. Thus, whatever concerns us also concerns Him.
Therefore, “Blow a shofar at the month, etc.” means “Return, repent, and accept the yoke of heaven upon yourselves,” during this Festival day when the moon is hidden so that there will not be two witnesses to testify against you. If you wonder whether God, who knows and witnesses, will testify, remember that “It is a statute for Israel, a judgment for the God of Jacob.” The statute is that the judgment concerns not only the Jews, but also the God of Jacob. God will be affected one way or another by the outcome of the trial, so He, God, cannot bear witness against Himself, and other witnesses are required. Since the moon is hidden there are no other witnesses, and we will surely be acquitted in the judgment.
“If You, Yah (God), should mark iniquities, Adonai (Lord), who could stand?” (Psalms 130:3, recited in the High Holiday liturgy.)
We need to understand why the verse uses the name Yah for God. Why specifically Yah? And why does it not then go on to say “Yah (God), who could stand?” instead of Adonai (Lord)?
We learn in the Talmud (Menachoth 29b) on the verse (Isaiah 26:4) “Trust in YHVH (God) for ever; for Yah (God) is rock of worlds,” that the world to come was created with Yud and the world we inhabit was created with Heh. Even though we cannot really understand these lofty issues, nevertheless inasmuch as it affects our worship, we may try to understand, at our level, why the worlds were created with Yud and Heh, the first two letters of the tetragrammaton (YHVH), and not with Vav and Heh, the last two letters.
Vav and Heh are dependent upon the Jewish people, who create worlds with them. We have learned that everything created by the Holy Blessed One was created for His glory (Talmud, Yoma 38a). So this world and the world to come, which were created by the Holy Blessed One with Yud Heh, were created to reveal His glory. When Jews worship God with the physical and psychological attributes identified with the Hebrew letter Vav—the six lower sephirot—and then accept upon themselves the yoke of the sovereignty of heaven, which is identified with the final Heh—the sephirah of Malkhut—as is well known, they are also creating something of God’s glory. In the holy Zohar (Intro., 4b) we learn that when a Jew creates something new in Torah, a new heaven is created. Thus, the Jewish people’s worship is also a kind of creation. Through it, part of God’s glory is created and revealed, so that even above, new heavens are created.
With Yud Heh God created the worlds, beginning with Atzilut (Archetypes); then Briyah (Creation), in which God’s glory is revealed; then Yetzirah (Formation), in which more is revealed; and then Assiya (Action). The Jewish people, with their worship, create at the level of Vav Heh further revelation in the world of Assiya. Their physical deeds reveal God’s light and holiness in the physical part of the world of Assiya. The practical commandments that a Jew fulfills physically, with his flesh, his blood, his strength, and even with the psychological characteristics that come from his animal soul and comprise his physical vitality, draw the holiness of God and of the Torah into the world.
That is why every Jew, in his mind, wants to worship God, even though in practice it may be very difficult for him to do so. The difference between thought and action is that thought is at the level of Yud Heh, where there is already a revelation of God that has been brought about by God. This is not so, however, with practical actions, at the level of Vav Heh. Here, the person himself must bring about a new creation, and that is a difficult thing.
With this we can understand, in our situation, the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 17:4): “R. Acha said, “When the Holy One, blessed be He, came to create man, He sought the advice of the ministering angels. He said to them, “Let us make man.” And they asked Him, “What good is he?” God answered, “His wisdom is greater than yours.” God made all the animals pass before the angels, asking whether the angels knew their names, but they could not answer. Then He passed them before man, who spoke their names, saying, “This is an ox, this is a donkey, this is a horse, this is a camel.” Then God said to man, “And you, what is your name?” Man replied, “It seems to me that a fitting name would be Adam, because I am created out of Adama, Earth.” God said, “And I? What is My name?” Man said, “It would be fitting to call You Adonai, Lord, because You are Lord of everything You created.” ’ R. Acha continued, ‘God said (Isaiah 42:8), “I am God; this is My name.” God was saying, “This is the name by which Adam called Me.” ’ ”
At the simplest of levels it is difficult to understand why it is that man should be the one to give names to everything in the world. Not only that, but also why is it that man names the Holy Blessed One Adonai, Lord? Why should this be the final argument, against the angels, in the decision to create man?
We know that the name of each, thing is its source of vitality. It is written (Genesis 2:19): “Whatever the man called the soul of each living thing remained its name,” because the name of a thing is its vital soul. There are instances, however, when something is called by a name after its life has been created, as when God called light “day,” giving the day its name only after it had already been created. Then there are instances whereby, through naming, the thing itself is called into being, as it is written (Exodus 30:2), “I have called Betzalel son of Uri son of Chur, of the tribe of Judah, by name. I have filled him with a divine spirit, with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.” By calling upon Betzalel by name, God actually filled him with wisdom, etc. On the verse (Numbers 13:16) “Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua,” Rashi (ibid.) explains: “By giving him the new name, which is a compound of two words, Yah and Hoshua ‘May God save,’ he in effect prayed for him: ‘May God save you from the evil counsel of the spies.’ ” By naming Joshua in this way, Moses managed to put extra holiness inside him, in order to protect him.
Because the angels counseled God not to create man, the Holy Blessed One replied, “His wisdom is greater than yours.” The verse (Genesis 1:1) “In the beginning God created heaven and earth,” is translated in the Jerusalem Targum as “. . . with wisdom created.” Thus, God said to the angels, “Man’s wisdom/creativity is greater than yours, because he can be creative through his worship of God. Proof of it is that he can name things, which is also a way of creating their vital souls.” But what kind of creativity is it when that which is named has already been created? It is the creativity of man using everything already extant in the world to call upon the name of God, thereby making God sovereign over all of them. This is why he named God Adonai, Lord, as Adam said in the Midrash quoted above, “Because He is Lord over all.” Through serving God with all living things, man makes God their sovereign.
The time for repentance is Rosh Hashanah, the anniversary of the creation of the world. This is because repentance, whose definition is the commitment to worship God henceforth, is also a kind of creativity, because renewal and creativity are similar. The Midrash (Leviticus Rabbah 29:6) explains the verse “Blow a shofar (ram’s horn) at the chodesh (month) . . .” (Psalms 81:4): “Don’t read it as ‘month’; chodesh also means ‘renewal.’ Renew your actions. Don’t read it as ‘ram’s horn’; shofar also means ‘beautification.’ Beautify your actions.” That is, renew your actions like God does every day, as the Talmud says (Hagigah 12b): “God renews the creation of the world, daily.”
At the creation of the world, God created worlds and destroyed them, as we learn in the Midrash (Genesis Rabbah 3:7). The creation and destruction of worlds refers to the concept of “Shattering of Vessels,” from which God made this, the “World of Fixing,” as is well known. We know from the writings of the Arizal (R. Isaac Luria, Likutei Shas Berachoth 61a) that the Ten Holy Martyrs murdered by the Romans were killed because at that moment in history there was about to be a repetition of the destruction and creation of worlds. This was due to the proliferation of k’lipoth (husks) obscuring the Divine Light. The worlds stood ready for destruction, as they did at the time of the original Shattering of Vessels, and this instability was fixed by the martyrdom of the ten Rabbis at the hands of the Romans.
We should remember this when watching the suffering that we are presently enduring, when we see so many Jewish souls, scholars, saints, and God worshippers being snatched away, may the Merciful One protect us. Every Jew is suffering so much now, especially those who are killed, may the Merciful One protect us, but God is Righteous; He will have mercy and say “Enough” to our woes and to the suffering of His people, the House of Israel. When looking at this situation, we know that now is such a time, at the level of “Shattering of Vessels.” Therefore, we must strengthen ourselves more and more, with repentance and the “renewal of our deeds,” to make a fresh creation.
The first thing that we must renew with our repentance is this: Not only will we merely refrain from repeating all the mistakes we have made up to now, and do only good, but we will also become, with our whole being, new and better creations, as worshippers and servants of God. For then, all the worlds will be fixed, as we said above. When a Jew worships, he creates worlds at the level of Vav Heh. When calling the names of God, the Jews call Adonai, Lord, and God is revealed in His sovereignty and reveals His Divine Majesty.
This is the meaning of “If You, Yah, should mark iniquities, Adonai, who could stand?” If God, with the name Yah comprising the letters Yud Heh—which God Himself created, and which does not depend upon Israel—should mark our sins, refusing to overlook them, then the name Yah might still endure. But the name Adonai will not survive because God needs the Jewish people to name Him thus, for, as we learned in the Midrash above, it was Adam who named God Adonai. In the Talmud (Berachoth 7b) we learn that it was our father Abraham, the first Jew, who named God Adonai.
In the High Holiday liturgy we pray (Psalms 130:5), “My hope is YHVH. My soul hopes; I wait upon His word. . . . Israel prays to God, because loving-kindness is with God and there is much salvation with Him. He will redeem Israel from all its sins.”
Because YHVH is expressed only through the existence of the Jewish people, therefore YHVH is the hope of the Jewish people, and He will redeem Israel from all its sins.
“Out of my straits I called upon God. With divine alleviation He answered me.” (Psalms 118:5, from the liturgy recited before blowing the shofar.)
The teaching found in the Tikunei Zohar (Tikun 6) is well known: “Those who pray on Rosh Hashanah for their own needs are like dogs howling, ‘Give! Give! Give us life! Give us food!’ ” But when a person is in terrible suffering and agony, it is hard not to scream out in pain, unless one is numbered among those great saints who are stripped of physical attachments and unabsorbed in themselves. For people like us, however, especially in such terrible, bitter anguish, it is impossible not to cry out and pray to God, even on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, about our pain and suffering. This in itself is a source of distress, and our soul cries out bitterly that even during such holy days as these we are reduced to praying “Give us life! Give us food!” instead of loftier, altruistic prayers for the needs and sake of heaven.
We have already commented on the verse (Exodus 2:23)“ . . . And the Israelites groaned from their work. They cried out, and their cries went up to God from the work.” We said that the Jews groaned only because of their slavery and pain, but their cries and prayers arose out of their desire to be able to pray other, loftier prayers, to be able to cry to God rather than from the work. This in itself was the prayer: that from the work, their prayers rise to God. They prayed that their prayers should be about God, rising beyond prayers about work.
This is the meaning of the verse “Out of my straits I called upon God. With divine alleviation He answered me.” At present, I am calling out of my straits about my pain, but please, God, respond with divine alleviation, so that I can pray from comfort and plenitude, so that I can pray properly, unselfishly, for the sake of God.