| This Shabbos and the day following, we observe Rosh Hashanah, the holiday of the new year. My sincerest wishes to everyone for a Shana Tova, a healthy, happy and productive year, for you and your families.
The ten days that begin on Rosh Hashanah and end on Yom Kippur are known as Aseres Y'mei Teshuvah, the Ten Days of Repentance. The Shabbos during these ten days is known as Shabbos Shuva, the Shabbos of Repentance. There are special readings from the Torah for this period.
On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, the Torah reading is from the book of Bereshis, the story of God remembering our mother Sarah, so that she gives birth to a son, Yitzchak. (Bereshis: 21). On the second day of Rosh Hashana, we read the story of Akedat Yitzchak, the Binding of Isaac. (Bereshis: 22). We repeat the words of the Akeda story each morning during the Birchot Hashachar of our Shacharis prayers. In that Shacharit prayer, the relevance to Rosh Hashana is explained. Just as Avraham overcame his love for his son to perform God's direction that Avraham sacrifice that son on the altar, so we ask God to overcome his anger toward us for our numerous sins, and act with compassion toward us, and grant us a healthy and happy year.
One of the themes of Rosh Hashanah is Zichronos, memories -- God remembering the actions of our avos, our forefathers. This, of course, is reflected in the Torah readings, as already mentioned, and in the haftoros, as well.
The haftorah for the first day is in the first chapter of the first book of Shmuel (Samuel), in which it is described how God remembered Hannnah, who was childless, and she gave birth to the prophet Shmuel. (Her husband's name was Elkana.) The haftorah for the second day of Rosh Hashanah is from the book of Yermiyahu (Jeremiah), chapter 31. and includes what might well be one of the most beautiful and inspiring passages in the Tanach: "Thus says the Lord, A cry is heard in Ramah, wailing, bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, who are gone. And God says: "Restrain your voice from weeping, and your voice from shedding tears. For there will be a reward for your labor, declares the Lord, and your children shall return to their country."
The study of Pirkei Avos ends with the arrival of Rosh Hashanah. |
