Q:
The Gemara (Rosh Hashana 32b) says you don’t say hallel on Rosh Hashanah because ספרי חיים וספרי מתים פתוחין לפניו – the Books of Life and Death are open now and we are being judged. So how can we say hodu laHashem ki tov ki leolam chasdo, which is called hallel hagadol, and also all the other hallelukahs in davening?
A:
All the tehilos Dovid we say always. But saying Hallel according to takanas Chachamim is only for special occasions, that’s all. And Rosh Hashanah is not one of those occasions. Because they want us to feel the pachad hadin. On Rosh Hashanah, כמה דכייף איניש דעתיה טפי מעלי – the more your mind is bent over in fear of Hashem, the more you’re afraid of the Yom Hadin, the better off you are (Rosh Hashana 26b). Because fear of the Yom Hadin means to be afraid of Hashem. It’s such a tremendous achievement to gain some more fear of Hashem. That itself is a big zechus on the Yom Hadin.
Some people try to soften it; they say not ‘yirah, fear’ but ‘awe’ of Hashem; that you shouldn’t be afraid of Hashem.
No. The more you fear Hashem, the better off you are.
Here is a tzaddik, Aharon Hakohen. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe, דבר אל אהרן אחיך – Speak to Aharon, ואל יבא בכל עת אל הקדש – he shouldn’t come always to the kodesh hakodashim, כי בענן אראה על הכפרת – unless he comes with an anan. He has to come with a cloud of ketores. ולא ימות – Otherwise, he’ll die (Vayikra 16:2).
He’ll die?! Is that the way to talk to Aharon? You’re telling Aharon he should do something, you have to threaten him he’ll die? Aharon would do it anyhow.
The answer is that even someone as great as Aharon it’s a zechus for him to have more fear of Hashem. Everybody, the greater he becomes, wants more yiras Hashem. Don’t think that you become older and now you get yiras haromemus. You’re wiser now so you fear Hashem’s greatness, you see His chessed, His wisdom, and you belittle now the small middah of fear of onesh.
No; it’s not a small middah to fear onesh. You should always be afraid of the onesh. The bigger you are, you fear the onesh even more. And because Aharon was so great, he feared the onesh even more than anybody else.
And therefore fear of Hashem is always important even for the biggest tzaddikim. Because no matter how much you fear Hashem, it’s nothing compared to the truth.
Now, fear of Hashem includes also not only yirah but re’iah—awareness of Hashem. We have to work very hard to feel that Hashem is right there because He is there. He’s here more than we are.
I give a mashal always. People are talking with cellular telephones now and right now through this room messages are racing back and forth. Through this window and out the other window. We don’t hear it but it’s there. The messages are there and some say they’re there forever. Some say that someday we’ll have machines to recapture the energy of the voices and when the energy is captured and rearranged we’ll hear again those voices. Some say that. Of course you need a great deal of equipment to do things like that but technically it’s possible. Theoretically it’s possible. So therefore the voices are true. We don’t see them but they’re there.
Hashem is more true than we are. We are only His imagination. כי הוא אמר ויהי – He spoke and it came into being. He is the One who has existence. He is yud kay vav kay which means havayah, existence. Our existence is only an imaginary existence.
And therefore we have to know that He is the One to be afraid of. He is the One. He’s the only One! And the more you’re afraid of Him, the better off you are.
Especially on Rosh Hashanah. On Rosh Hashanah I remember Jews used to weep on Rosh Hashanah. Balebatishe Jews used to weep on Rosh Hashanah. Very important! They wept because they wanted to ask Hashem, “Have rachamim on us. Please Hashem, we want to live.” It’s an excellent thing if you can weep on Rosh Hashanah—if you could. Halevai we could. The more כמה דכייף איניש דעתיה, the more his mind is bent over in fear of Hashem, so he’s better off.
However, nothing will help unless you give Hashem a promise that you’re not going to waste your life. Why should He give you another year of life? Promise Him, “I’m going to make use of this year bli neder to make something out of myself. I will always remember Olam Hazeh is only a prozdor.”
This world is only a lobby. We’re here only for a short time. One hundred and twenty years is a very short time. We’re here to prepare. How do we prepare ourselves? We get a lev tov, a Torahdike mind. We try to do as many mitzvos as we can. If you’re a woman, as many children as you can. Bring up a whole family and each time say, “I’m doing it leshem shamayim.” It’s a zechus, a tremendous zechus! We should be jealous of the women who have big families. They’re the ones who have a tremendous zechus more easily than we have. גדולה הבטחה שהבטיחן הקב״ה לנשים – the promise to women is greater than the promise to men (Berachos 17a); because of their zechus.
And therefore everybody should utilize his life for the purpose of putting more awareness of Hashem into his life. And know that this is the world where you can do it. Later it’ll be too late. You’ll always forever and ever and ever regret, “Why didn’t I utilize the time I was in this world? Why didn’t I make use of it to gain more and more of a lev tov, a Torahdige mind.”
(September 28, 2000)
