Rosh Hashanah: The Head of the Year
“And He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord does man live.” — Deuteronomy 8:3
“The correct way to pray on Rosh Hashanah is to pray on the first day for tikkun haneshama [the fixing of our soul] and all matters relating to serving God, and then on the second day to pray for all our physical needs (children, health and sustenance), and for the needs of all of Israel.” — Rebbe Yisrael of Kosnitz ¹
Rosh Hashanah is a time of setting our priorities. It is a time of refocusing our aspirations and goals. In the teaching above, Rebbe Yisrael is telling us in no uncertain terms the proper order of our priorities: God and our spiritual needs come first, and our physical needs only come afterwards. This is the way we must learn to live our lives.
Such a realignment of our priorities will have a powerful effect on our year. It will change the manner in which we spend our time as well as the daily decisions that we make. It will establish a strong spiritual foundation upon which to build our coming twelve months.
Rosh Hashanah literally means the “head of the year”. The way that we begin our year will influence how our year unfolds. It will decide the consciousness that we carry with us into the New Year. It will determine the attitude and the mindset with which we confront the opportunities and challenges that the New Year brings our way.
The Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe) are a time of reflection. They are an opportunity to clarify our convictions and values. They are a chance to deepen our faith and broaden our understanding of both the higher and the lower reality. They are an occasion to ask ourselves why we have come into this world.
According to the tradition, we blow the shofar (ram’s horn) on Rosh Hashanah to remind God of Akedat Yitzhak (the Binding of Isaac). We blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah to remind the Compassionate One of all that the Patriarchs and Matriarchs suffered and sacrificed for Him. We recall the zechut avot (the merit of our forefathers) in the hope that their merit will awaken the Almighty’s infinite compassion for us.
The shofar is not only meant to be a reminder to the Holy Blessed One; it is also a signal to us. It is a symbol of the commitment and faith of our forefathers and mothers. It is a reminder that we belong to a vast and ancient Soul that stretches way up into the Kingdom of Heaven. It is reminder that we are part of a noble vision and mission. It is a call to remain faithful to the path that our forefathers set out upon so long ago.
The call of the shofar is a reminder that we have come into this world to do more than just fulfill our physical desires. It is an exhortation to greater aspiration and action. Its piercing cry breaks us out of our habitual patterns of thinking. The shofar rouses us from our spiritual complacency and reminds us who we really are.
This is why we pray first for the needs of our soul on Rosh Hashanah and only afterwards do we begin to pray for the requirements of the body. We begin with the needs of the soul because the body is only a vehicle or instrument to serve the Spirit. We pray first for tikkun neshama because without a vital inner life a Jew is not truly alive.
The real question is: where do we look for answers? Where do we search for guidance and strength? Do we look for direction from the world outside ourselves or do we search for inspiration from within? If we learn to put God first, then everything else will settle into place. If we rest our mind in the Divine, then what we need to do (and what we don’t need to do) will swiftly become clear.
When we set our priorities right, a sublime and subtle process is set in motion. If we have forged a link with the Kingdom of Heaven, then whatever we require will flow naturally to us from that source. If we are a conscious part of the Timeless, Boundless One, then we can rest assured that He/She will take care of us.
There are numerous stories in the life of the great saints and prophets that recount how their needs were miraculously met. Elijah was fed by the ravens while he hid in a cave in the desert. Later, when he was wandering in the wilderness of the Negev, an angel appeared to feed him with food and water. Elijah lived for forty days and nights on the nourishment of that supernatural meal.
Whenever a need was brought to the attention of Sri Ramana Maharshi, the desired object would soon arrive without any action being taken on his part. Soon after a request was voiced, a devotee would appear with the article in hand inspired by a dream, or an inner feeling, or just a whim. The desired object could be anything from a ladle for cooking, to plums to heal a cough, to a notebook to write down a composition which happened to arrive in the exact size, number of pages and binding that the Maharshi had wanted. And this occurred far too frequently and unexpectedly to be a mere matter of coincidence. ²
How do we achieve this fundamental realignment of our priorities on Rosh Hashanah? How do we forge this new link with the Kingdom of Heaven and infuse its light into the whole of our lives?
According to the tradition, Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the creation of the world. The Hasidic Master, Natan of Nemirov, teaches that on Rosh Hashanah we tap into this tremendous creative force through the power of our prayer. Through our prayers we bind ourselves to the Divine. Through our prayers, we draw on this reservoir of infinite livingness to transform and renew our lives. ³
The type of prayer that will vitalize this process is laid out for us in the three sections that make up the musaf service, the special additional standing prayer that we recite on Rosh Hashanah. These three sections are called: malchuyot (kingship), zichronot (memories or remembrance), and shofarot (blasts of the ram’s horn).
The Hasidic Master, Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter of Ger, links each of these three sections to one of the three Patriarchs. ⁴ In the Talmud, Tractate Brakhot 26b, we are told Avot tefilot tikknu, the Patriarchs fixed the three daily prayers. Each of these three services represents a different mode of prayer. Together they provide us with a complete approach to God. When these three modes of prayer are joined together with the spiritual power of Rosh Hashanah, they take on a greater energetic potency. The channel for this power is the three sections of the musaf service: malkhuyot, zichronot and shofarot.
The Talmud tells us that Abraham established the morning prayer (tefilat shachrit). The Prayer of Abraham is a prayer of thanksgiving and praise. It is a prayer that comes in the brilliance of early morning.
Abraham was the first person to understand that there is one God who is the Lord over all. This is the reason why Abraham is malkhuyot — sovereignty. His prayer is a praise of the Creator of the Universe. It is a prayer of gratitude for the beautiful world which He/She has given us. It is a prayer of thanksgiving for the glory of a sunrise and the miracle of a human birth. It is a prayer of gratitude for the gift of self-awareness that enables us to experience the world around us and permits us to know God and ourselves.
Yitzhak established the afternoon prayer (tefilat minchah). In the Torah it says, “And Isaac went out to meditate in the fields towards evening.” (Genesis 24:63) Dusk is a time of contemplation. It is a moment when we can examine our day and ourselves. It is an opportunity to look at who we are and who we want to be.
This is why Yitzhak is zichronot (remembrance). Minchah is a time of memories when we reflect on the journey that we have completed and the road which still lies ahead. The Biblical phrase “and Isaac went out to meditate in the fields” is written at a critical juncture in Isaac’s life. It comes after he has been through the transforming experience of the Akedah. It follows the death of his beloved mother Sarah and her burial in the Cave of the Machpelah. It takes place while his father’s servant Eliezer is at the home of Avraham’s brother Nahor in Paddan Aram searching for Isaac’s wife.
At this crucial moment, Isaac goes out into the fields to contemplate his life. He reflects on everything that has happened to him until now, and all that he hopes for in the future. This is the prayer of minchah — it is a prayer of contemplation, reflection and self-introspection. It is a time of zichronot, of evoking and exploring memories.
Jacob established the evening prayer (tefilat maariv). The Torah tells us that as Jacob fled from his father’s home in fear of his brother Esau and headed towards an unknown future, “he lighted [yifgah — touched] on a certain place and tarried there all night.” (Genesis 28:11) The Talmud explains that the word yifgah signifies prayer. As night fell in this moment of great distress in his life, Jacob began to pray.
Jacob’s prayer is the prayer of nighttime — the prayer of darkness and despair. It is a call to God from the depth of our soul. It is shofarot — the cry of the ram’s horn. It is raw prayer that reaches beyond words and ideas and goes straight up into the heavens.
That night after Jacob has finished his prayers, he experiences a vision in which he sees a ladder reaching from the ground up to the heavens, with angels ascending and descending upon it and the Lord looking down from above. This astonishing revelation leads him to exclaim, “How awesome is this place! This is no other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:17)
This most profound type of prayer lies at the heart of the spiritual life. It is this prayer from the core of our being that pierces the higher realms. It is this simple and direct prayer that will lead us to the knowledge of God.
These three modes of prayer form the basis of the process of realignment and renewal that we must undergo on Rosh Hashanah.
Malkhuyot: We begin with the prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving. We strive to reach a place where we know in our heart that everything comes from the Source of all life. We strive to accept that everything that has happened to us is from God and therefore is true and right. We focus on the many blessings, both big and small, that we have received in our lives and not on our sorrows and failures.
Zichronot: The next step is to truly see ourselves. In this prayer, we look back at where we have come from, where we are today, and where it is that we want to be in the future. And we go through this process of self-examination while standing in the presence of the Eternal One.
Shofarot: In this final stage of the musaf prayer, we seek to transcend ourselves. We strip away all the external facades and dive deep into the core of our being to awaken the Divine spark that lies within. Then we call out to God from this pure and pristine place with all our heart, mind and soul.
There is another dimension to this process of transformation and renewal as well. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Jewish people around the world gather together to think about God and the purpose of their lives. There is a great cry of prayer that rises into the heavens from synagogues across the globe. This wave of prayer resounds in the Soul of Israel on the higher planes. As a result, the great souls who are part of that Soul in the Kingdom of Heaven draw near to overshadow those who have incarnated on the physical plane. They radiate forth a tremendous outpouring of light, love, and grace in answer to the lower Israel’s prayers.
It is this Great Approach that enables us to draw on the creative power which lies at the heart of the universe. We receive the energy of this Divine emanation according to the degree to which our own hearts are open to receive it. This inner openness will depend on the work of teshuvah (return or repentance) that we have undertaken during the weeks leading up to Rosh Hashanah, and the depth and sincerity of our prayers on the High Holydays themselves. Our teshuvah and our prayers combine with this supernal emanation to create a powerful spiritual force. This spiritual force is the engine that drives our experience of transformation and renewal. It is this inner transformation which realigns our priorities and makes God a living reality in our lives.
Rosh Hashanah is truly the head of the year. Its sacred power lifts us out of the grip of material consciousness and fills us with Divine life. Through the inspiration of its prayers of thanksgiving, self-awareness, and high aspiration we are able to enter the New Year fully present, inwardly awakened, and filled with spiritual joy. Through the transforming grace of the Rosh Hashanah experience, we will begin the coming year totally new.
Copyright © 2022, by Yoel Glick
Acknowledgements
1. Yisrael of Kosnitz, Avodat Yisrael, Rosh Hashanah/ Avakat Rochalim: # 14
2. K. K. Nambiar, The Guiding Presence of Sri Ramana, p. 10–11; and The Power of the Presence, Part II, p. 193–4
3. Natan of Nemirov, Otzar Hayirah, Teshuvat Hashanah, Rosh Hashanah
4. Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter of Ger, Sefat Emet, Rosh Hashanah
