Q:
Why do we wish people a ksiva v’chasima tova? Doesn’t the judgment of Hashem on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur go according to your deeds? What’s a bracha going to help?
A:
Absolutely a man is judged according to his deeds. But tefillah helps too. So you’ll ask, why does your tefillah help? If you’re judged according to your deeds why do you pray? You’re going to be judged according to your deeds and that’s all, so why pray?
And the answer is, that’s part of your deeds. When you pray that’s part of your deeds. And the deeds of somebody else can also help you. The zchus of other people can also help you, yes.
And that’s why when you’re praying on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, and every day as well, you say שלום רב על עמך ישראל תשים לעולם. You pray for for the whole Jewish nation, not only for yourself. You say it b’lashon rabim. You say כתבינו and חתמינו – “Write us in the book of life.” And we’re thinking, “Hashem, remember us. All the members of our shul. All the people who come to our shiurim. Our wives. Our children. Our grandchildren. All the bnei yeshiva. All the yeshivos. Satmar Yeshiva. Mir Yeshiva. Chaim Berlin. Bobov. Torah Va’daas. Passaic. All the yeshivos and all the girls’ schools too. Bais Yaakov, Yeshiva of Brooklyn, Prospect Park, all the frum girls. Then, you think about all their fathers and mothers. All the Jews who keep kashrus and Shabbos and taharas hamishpacha. All the Jews who are busy keeping the Torah. We say, “Hakodosh Boruch Hu, bless them all. The Slobadka Yeshiva in Eretz Yisroel. And Chevron. And Mir. And Ponovezh.” Say it; say it with your mouth. Not merely thinking. With your mouth say it.
“Ohhh,” Hakodosh Boruch Hu says. “You’re fulfilling that which you want Me to do. Now I see that you mean business.” If you want Hashem to bless the Am Yisroel then you should get busy giving blessings.
And that’s what we say in שים שלום. We say כתבינו – all of us! You have to always think about other people. And כל המבקש רחמים על חבירו והוא צריך לאותו דבר הוא נענה תחילה – If you pray for others, you get the first results for yourself. It’s so important to think of other people. Think of the Jewish nation in general, but also think about the details. You can think of your father-in-law and your mother-in-law, besides your own parents. Think of your cousins, your children, your grandparents, your grandchildren. Think about all of them. You can say their names too. Not in the middle of shemonah esrei, but at the end make sure to say it. Say the words. Give a bracha to all Jews.
When you pass by a house and you see a big mezuzah, say “You should all have a גמר חתימה טובה.” Did you ever think about that? Absolutely. When you pass by a house, you should say, “גמר חתימה טובה.” Who’s listening? Hashem is listening. Hashem hears you! And that’s more important than the people in the house hearing you.
This is very important what I’m telling you now. It’s not a small matter. That’s why we say the whole davening b’loshon rabim. Some people think that the lashon rabim means “We” [The Rav pointed at himself]. People think that רפאנו and ברכנו means, “Bless me,” “Heal me.” The royal “We.” “We means me,” he thinks. No; we means we. All of the loyal Jews. על כל ישראל עמך. The whole Jewish people. We love the Jewish nation. I love the Jews in Teiman. I love the sefardi Jews in America. I love the chassidisheh Jews in Williamsburg. We love everybody. All frum Jews, we love them all.
Some of them are much better than us. Much better. And we love them anyhow. We love all frum Jews. We love Boro Park. Say that. Say, “I love Boro Park! I love all the frum Jews in Boro Park. Ribono Shel Olam, watch over all of the Boro Park frum Jews and all of the Flatbush frum Jews.” Say it!
And Hashem says, “Oh; now I see that you mean business. You’re blessing My children. And now I’ll get busy blessing you.”
TAPE # E-201 (September 1999)
