On the verse, "Seek Hashem when He could be found," the Talmud says, "These are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur."
The words of the Talmud seem to contradict itself. On one hand it says, "between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur," which means that Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are not included. On the other hand, it says, "These are the ten days," which must include Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, because there are only seven days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
We must conclude, that there are two different aspects to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. First is their own essential individual identity, what each of those great days are all about. And then there is the teshuva aspect of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, how they are included in the Ten Days of Teshuva.
And because it says, "between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur," We understand that the holiday's own significance comes first, in other words, first comes the individual aspect of the day, and only after that, comes the aspect of teshuva of the time.
For this article, I will be discussing mostly about Rosh Hashanah.
Teshuva is higher than all of the mitzvahs, and because of that, it is able to correct all the blemishes caused by not keeping them. And being that the individual aspect of Rosh Hashanah precedes teshuva, it must be even higher than it.
What is the individual aspect of Rosh Hashanah?
The Talmud tells us, that about Rosh Hashanah, Hashem says, "Say before Me (verses of) kingship, in order that you should make Me King over you." The whole concept of mitzvahs doesn't exist before you accept Hashem as King. As our sages say, "(First) accept My sovereignty, and after that accept my decrees."
In other words, there is something before mitzvahs, higher than mitzvahs, and that is, accepting Hashem's dominion over you. Until you do that, there are no mitzvahs, and if there are no mitzvahs to break, there is nothing to do teshuva for.
What does "higher" mean? Mitzvahs are Hashem's will, teshuva is higher than mitzvahs, therefore, it can fix the damage that was caused by breaking them. But even though it is higher than mitzvahs, it still has a connection to them, because if not, it could not have an affect on the mitzvahs and correct them. So it is higher than the will of Hashem, but it still has some connection to it.
When we ask Hashem to be King over us, we are asking for Him Himself, His essence, which is higher than His will, and for that matter, beyond all of existence.
This is a testament to how great the souls of the Jewish people are, they reach and connect to the essence of Hashem. That is why we are able to generate the will in Him, to want to be King. And when do we connect with His essence? When we connect with our neshamas essence, on Rosh Hashanah, during the Amida, when we say the words, "Be King over the whole world with Your glory."
To understand this, we first have to understand the role of a king in Judaism. A true king, is not a dictator, nor is he seeking the office or yearning for power. He actually doesn't want to be king. He is someone who everyone realizes, that he is higher and greater, not just greater, but head and shoulders over the rest. We request of him to be our king, because we want to gain from and connect with his greatness. That is why we put so much effort into convincing him to be our king. His most impressive trait is his humility, and especially his humility and self nullification before Hashem.
Once he accepts, he is totally given over to the welfare of the people, physically and spiritually, and because of his great closeness to Hashem, he has the ability to raise everyone up, closer to Him. Therefore, the Torah gives him the title Nassi, because Nassi is from the word nasso, which means to raise. He has nothing of his own, everything he has is from the people. Even though he is so much above the people, he is one with them, he is totally their's, and they are totally his.
Every year, on Rosh Hashanah, we ask of Hashem, to once again be our King. He doesn't want to, but we generate a yearning in Him, through our Rosh Hashanah service. By connecting to the essence of our neshamas, we are able to connect to the essence of Hashem, and awaken in Him a yearning to be our King. He accepts, He becomes totally ours and we become totally His.
In Torah, the name that is given to something, is not just for convenience, rather, it shows us what it is all about. The holiday is called Rosh Hashanah, the head of the year. The head has different aspects to it. First, is its own unique individuality as the head. It is above and in a way, separate from all the other limbs and organs of the body. Second, it is the life force of the limbs and organs. And third, it is what controls all the organs and limbs, even after the life force has been drawn into them.
The same is with Rosh Hashanah. First, there is the individual aspect of the day, making Hashem our King, which is higher and in a way, above any connection to the days of the year. Second, is the teshuva aspect of Rosh Hashanah, where is still higher than the mitzvahs that we do during the year, but it has something to do with them, just as the head is the life force of the body. And third, is the direct effect of Rosh Hashanah on all the days of the year, because of the resolutions we make with regards to doing mitzvahs and serving Hashem all year round. Just as the head has a direct effect on the limbs and organs of the body.
About Rosh Hashanah it says, "The mitzvah of the day is with the shofar." That means, that these same ideas, making Hashem our King, teshuva and keeping the mitzvahs, could be found in the mitzvah of shofar.
The Rambam says in the laws of teshuva, "Even though the sounding of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah is a biblical decree, there is a hint in it, (the sound of the shofar) is as if it is saying, 'wake up sleepers from your slumber... and return with teshuva!'"
We have to ask: Why is this passage of the Rambam about shofar in the laws of teshuva and not in the laws of shofar? Even though it is talking about teshuva, it is a hint to why we blow the shofar, it would make sense to put it in the laws of shofar.
Another question. The Talmud says, "Say before Me (verses of) kingship... so that you should make Me king over you... And with what? With the shofar." According to this, the shofar makes Hashem King over us. Why doesn't the Rambam make any mention of it at all?
According to what we said earlier, it will become clear. Shofar also has the same three aspects. There is the mitzvah aspect of shofar, that the Rambam brings down in the laws of shofar.
Then there is the teshuva aspect of shofar. Teshuva is higher than mitzvahs, therefore it is only hinted to. In Torah, when there is a hint to something, it means that it is just too high to come down in the concrete, therefore, it is only hinted to us. This hint is higher than the mitzvah of shofar, that is the reason that it is not brought in the laws of shofar, but in the laws of teshuva, which is higher than mitzvahs. It is still somewhat connected to the mitzvah aspect, that is why he says, "Even though the sounding of the shofar... is a biblical decree," meaning, that it is a mitzvah, but he then explains the hint, the teshuva aspect, which is higher than the mitzvah.
Finally, there is the aspect of shofar that makes Hashem King over us. Since it comes from the essence of our souls, and touches the essence of Hashem, it is infinitely beyond mitzvahs and teshuva, therefore, it isn't even found in the Rambam.
How amazing are we, that Hashem chose us as His own, and that we can connect with His essence. As the shofar is sounded, take a moment to lose yourself to the essence of your neshama, which will connect you to the essence of Hashem, and ask Him to be your King. He will surely accept and grant you and your loved ones, a happy and sweet year.
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