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שבת שלום - שנה טובה
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Video Shiur
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Click play to watch the video shiur by
Rabbi Scott Kahn about ברכת החמה |
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News and Notes
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The entire yeshiva
wishes mazal tov to Rav
Eliezer and Shuli Kwass
on the birth of a baby
boy! Shetizku l'hachniso
bibrito shel Avraham
Avinu b'ito uvizmano,
ul'gadlo l'Torah ul'chuppah
ul'maasim tovim!
The
Yesodei HaTorah community
is eagerly anticipating
Rosh Hashanah in the
yeshiva. Rav Kahn, Rav
Wolicki, Rav Arnold,
and Rav Lichtman will
be the baalei Tefilah,
and Rav Simkovich and
Rav Arram will give sichot
each morning after Kriat
HaTorah. The Yamim Noraim
in yeshiva are invariably
meaningful and intense,
and we look forward to
a spending a wonderful
yom tov together.
The
administration, faculty,
and staff of Yeshivat
Yesodei HaTorah wish
all of our friends, along
with all of Klal Yisrael,
a Ketiva v'Chatima tova!
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A Single Glance
By Rabbi Scott Kahn
"On Rosh Hashanah, all the world's creatures pass before Him like bnei Maron, as it is said, 'He created their hearts together, He understands all their deeds.'" (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 16a)
Chazal offer three differing interpretations for the enigmatic phrase, bnei Maron. One opinion states that these were sheep being counted for the purpose of tithing them; they would each go through an entranceway to their pen, too narrow for more than one to pass at a time. A second opinion is that bnei Maron refers to a steep mountain pass with a fearful drop on either side, and with no room for two people to walk side by side. A third interpretation is that bnei Maron refers to King David's army, the soldiers of which marched into battle single file. (Rashi on Rosh Hashanah 18a) Although there are many explanations of the deeper meanings behind these metaphors, all three opinions clearly state that bnei Maron refers to an individualized accounting. On Rosh Hashanah, G-d looks at every individual and judges him alone; each person - by himself - is responsible for his actions, and is judged accordingly and in isolation.
The prooftext that the Mishnah offers for this, however, is troubling: "He created all their hearts together, He understands all their deeds." This seems to point to the opposite conclusion: namely, that G-d looks at all of humanity in pronouncing his judgment. Indeed, the Gemara itself alludes to this by interpreting the above verse as, "The Creator looks at their hearts together, and understands all their deeds." Accordingly, Rabbi Yochanan states that although people are judged individually on Rosh Hashanah, "They are all viewed with a single glance." What are Chazal telling us with these conflicting images?
The answer is that we are, indeed, judged as individuals, and are forced to stand alone before G-d as He determines our fate. However, in determining whether or not we have behaved properly, G-d reckons the needs of the larger group to decide whether we have performed admirably. G-d's judgment takes into account not only our behavior, but also the issue of our having done what was necessary as members of society. "Doing a good job" is a function of whether we have used our individual talents, strengths, and abilities to mold the world into what it ideally should be.
The great twentieth century talmid chacham and community leader, the Chazon Ish, once stated that he would have been an even greater scholar had he not found it necessary to deal with communal matters. The Mishnah tells us that no reward can compare to the reward for learning Torah (Peah 1:1); had individual judgment been the Chazon Ish's only yardstick, he surely would have ignored all societal obligations and spent even more time in the Beit Midrash. But along with the individual judgment of Rosh Hashanah comes the reality that "They are all viewed with a single glance." The People of Israel needed more than the Chazon Ish's absolutely uninterrupted learning, so he made time for the needs of his people. By the same token, the famed Netziv related that he almost gave up on his studies and became a shoemaker; only when he begged his parents to give him another chance to succeed in learning did they relent. Had he agreed to become a shoemaker, the world would now be lacking the tremendous works of Torah scholarship he bequeathed to us. Although as a shoemaker he would have been an upstanding and honorable member of his local Jewish community, the Netziv would have been ignoring what the Jewish people needed from him. He knew that he was not only judged as an individual, but that "They are all viewed with a single glance."
Only through maximizing our abilities, together with recognizing our communal responsibilities, can we emerge unscathed in judgment. Each of us is solely responsible for his behavior, and that behavior is judged based on what our role in Klal Yisrael should be.
This may be the underlying reason that two central themes of Rosh Hashanah are G-d's kingship and His role as a judge. A king is a king over a nation, not over individuals, whereas a judge investigates each individual separately. On Rosh Hashanah, G-d fills both the role of a king and a judge, for as King He determines the needs of the people, and as Judge He evaluates whether each person is filling those needs as he should.
May we all merit a favorable judgment this Rosh Hashanah, so that we earn a year of goodness and sweetness - as well as a year in which we can strive to be everything we can be, by helping Am Yisrael become what it should be.
Shana Tova!
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