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angelic forces both prosecute and have we made to them? Has our role RETURNING TO ONE DAY
defend our actions and motives in over the last year in each and every Perhaps this is the reason why the
the Heavenly Court. Based on these one of these spheres of connection two-day Rosh Hashanah observance
two verses, the Zohar sees a premise made them that much better for us continued during the exile of the
for two distinct types of judgment. having been present? Jewish people from our Holy City
The first day is harsh judgment, אָני ִ ּ ד and Land. Even once the calendar
A BEAUTIFUL EXPLANATION אָי ְ ׁש ַ ק, since we stand completely was fixed and no longer depen-
The Rebbe went on to give a beau- alone as individuals. The second day dent on the sighting of witnesses,
tiful interpretation for the need is a lighter judgment – a אָי ְ פ ָ ר אָני ִ ּ ד – it would be a two-day holiday, and
for two separate days of judgment: since we are never alone when we even in Israel too. At this time, the
every Jew lives concurrently on are part of the ל ָ ל ְּ כ and contribut- sense of Jewish peoplehood was
being eroded and we found our-
two plains – both as an individual ing to its success. The merit of the selves scattered to all corners of
and as a member of the commu- community comes into play when the globe. Judaism could have very
nity – the Jewish people. Having we ensure that our individual des-
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two roles means that a Jew has two tiny is inextricably linked with the easily become individually focused,
specific missions, each one requir- destiny of the community – Klal since we had been stripped of our
ing a specific focus and a separate Yisrael. national homeland and the col-
lective spiritual focus of the Beit
judgment. We need to give a dual To fulfill our mission and pass the Hamikdash. Jews could have forgot-
reckoning of how we have lived our dual judgment, we must succeed ten about the enormous responsibil-
lives as individuals and also how at both. We dare not forget either ity toward one another – the power
we have contributed to the Jewish mission. We may be judged in one of the ה ָּ ל ִ ה ְ ק – the community.
people and the broader community. way as an individual, but fare very
differently with regard to our judg- If we live as complete Jews, both
On the first day, we are judged as ment as part of the Jewish people. individually and communally, per-
a ט ָ ר ְּ פ, an individual, and on the We must be careful not to lose our- haps we will no longer need two
second day as part of the ל ָ ל ְּ כ – the selves in either role to the exclusion separate days. We will hopefully
collective. On day one our personal of the other. A person must not merit to be able to return soon to
life is under scrutiny. How hard have focus exclusively on personal spir- the original Biblical imperative of
we worked to better ourselves; to itual growth, as important as this a one-day Rosh Hashanah: one day
improve our character traits, actions is, but also always see how he or which incorporates both individual
and motives. Even if we were the she can contribute to the destiny of and communal togetherness, with
only person alive, we have an obli- our people and to the greater good. the One People serving the One G-d
gation to aspire to be the best we Alternatively, making a difference in the One Land.
can be. Are we a better person and to the lives of others at the expense
Jew this year that we were the year of our personal growth is counter-
before? Even if we most certainly productive. We have to have it both 1
are, it is not enough. No man is an ways. The dual judgment of Rosh Zohar, Parashat Pinchas, 231.
island and no-one can get away with Hashanah beckons us to aspire to be 2 Job 1:6 and very similarly again in 2:1.
living in splendid isolation, oblivi- a complete Jew. To aspire always to 3 I subsequently saw a very similar idea
ous to those around them. For that both heal ourselves and to heal the mentioned by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler in
there is a second day of reckoning. fractured world we live in. To con- Michtav MiEliyahu Volume 2, in his dis-
We may also be a child, a spouse, a currently prioritize both the course course about Rosh Hashanah.
parent, and are certainly part of a of our personal spiritual lives and
family, a community, a people and also the course of the lives of all Rabbi Doron Perez is the Chief Executive
a world around us. What difference those around us. of World Mizrachi

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