Rosh Hashanah is almost upon us. It is the time when we pass before Hashem like sheep before a shepherd. He looks at us, analyzes our past conduct, and decides what kind of year we will have.
Will the coming year be filled with good? Will our fervent wishes be granted? Will we have parnassah? Will we be able to make good shidduchim for our children? Will we have good health?
All of these questions and so many more are dependent on what happens on Rosh Hashanah.
Let’s not fool ourselves. On the one hand, we deeply want Hashem to grant us a good year. We fervently desire a year of good health, parnassah, nachas from our children, and appropriate shidduchim – but we must realize that perhaps we are undeserving and these blessings will not come on their own.
What can we do to invoke Divine Mercy? What can we do to tip the scales in our favor as we stand before Hashem this Rosh Hashanah while He analyzes our deeds and our conduct?
Perhaps the answer may be found in an enhanced understanding of the words “L’Dovid Hashem ori” – “For Dovid, Hashem is my light and my salvation,” that we recite throughout the month of Elul. The midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 21:4) declares that the word ori – “my light” –applies on Rosh Hashanah
The implication is that on Rosh Hashanah more than on any other day there is a revelation of some sort of special “light.” What exactly is that light?
Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, author of the classic sefer Michtav M’Eliyahu, would often say, “If one wants an inkling of how important the day of Rosh Hashanah is, if one really wants to feel the magnitude of what transpires on Rosh Hashanah, he should step back and think about the many things that transpired between this Rosh Hashanah and the last one.”
Who would be born and who would die were decided on Rosh Hashanah. The abduction and cold-blooded murder of three yeshiva boys and the horrific Gaza war we suffered through this past summer were also decided this past Rosh Hashanah.
Certainly, not only the bad is decreed on Rosh Hashanah. As mentioned above, every baby born this past year was a product of the judgment passed on Rosh Hashanah. Every shidduch, every good business deal, every bit of nachas – all are products of the critically important day and the din that was meted out in the Heavenly Court.
Clearly, Rosh Hashanah is a Day of Judgment. If, however, so much depends on this day, if it is truly a day of judgment that fills us with trepidation, why do our sages refer to it as a day of “light”? Light, after all, implies joy – as we say on Purim, “For the Jews had light, gladness, and joy.”
In order to understand the answers to these questions, let us examine how we are to achieve a favorable outcome in the judgment of the Yamim Noraim. The key to success in judgment is revealed in a passage in the Zohar (Parshas Noach 69b) that states, “When judgment comes to the world, a person should not seek to have his name mentioned before HaKadosh Baruch Hu, for if his name is mentioned, his sins will be recalled and [the Heavenly Court] will look upon him with a more exacting focus.”
The Zohar goes on to discuss the story of the Shunamite woman related in Sefer Melachim II (4:8-13). The navi tells of a woman in the city of Shunam who displayed exceptional hospitality to Elisha HaNavi by setting aside a room in her home for his use whenever he would pass through the city. Elisha asked his hostess if he could assist her by interceding with the king or the commander of the army, but the woman declined. “I dwell among my people,” she explained.
