Page 33 - HaMizrachi # 22 Rosh HahHana - Yom Kippur 2020 USA

YAMIM NORA’IM READING

Rabbi Zev Leff Rabbi Berel Wein

Past, Present and Future

osh Hashanah marks the begin- remembers us for good and for life and inspire us to strive to become a holy
ning of a reflective period in the we remember our entire history from nation and a kingdom of priests. That
RJewish calendar year. At one the binding of Yitzchak till today. The echo has never diminished and the
and the same time we look back at the most painful of all conditions, as we challenge it conveys has also never
accomplishments and failures of the are all so aware of in our time, is the lessened. Rising to that challenge
past year and we also look forward to disappearance of memory. The person is the goal set for us in the new year.
our lives and hoped-for achievements we loved and cherished is gone even if The sounds of the shofar remind us
in the coming good year now dawning the body of that person is still present again of Sinai and its eternal covenant
upon us. The prayers of Rosh Hasha- and functioning. and strictures. Just as our past was
nah represent this duality of outlook. governed by it, so too will our future
If this is true regarding individual be determined by its structure and
They also represent the constants in human beings, how much more so parameters.
our lives and souls. The malchuyot does it apply to national memory? We
section tells us of G-d’s ever-present ask G-d not to forget and forsake us So too, to a certain extent, our future
rule over His world and its creatures. but we are also bidden to remember can be assessed and can become more
It is this constant that surpasses time our story and ourselves. Heaven, so predictable on Rosh Hashanah. The
and space, calendars and timepieces. to speak, holds up a mirror to us, and more we are able to hear the echo of
Life is too random and unstructured as we move, so does our reflection in the shofar of Sinai, as we strain to
for human society to begin to under- Heaven. listen to the faint strains of the shofar
stand and cope with in the absence of of Redemption, the better the new
this constant. If we are not diligent in remember- year will be for us individually and
ing then we are prone to be forgotten nationally. The shofar represents our
It is only because of this omnipresent as well. Rosh Hashanah is the tool to
constant that we retain the ability to reinforce our memory of people gone trumpet call to national and spiritual
glimpse the past and foresee the future and of past events, of family tradi- greatness.
simultaneously. A Hebrew quip says tions and ancient customs and of the All of the verses of the liturgy of sho-
the past is gone, the future has not yet core events of Jewish history. On Rosh farot combine these two soundings
arrived and the present is but a wink of Hashanah, the entire sweep of human- – Sinai and Redemption – in their
the eye. Yet the present is always with ity is remembered and assessed. In message and import. The great army
us with its demands and challenges. It a flash, the past becomes the pres- of G-d’s eternal people is being sum-
is the constant reminder of G-d’s eter- ent. That is the tremendous aspect of moned to arms, to face the challenges
nal sovereignty, always omnipresent memory, for by being able to evoke the of the new year. We have to hear those
even if sometimes hidden.
past we recreate it as part of the pres- shofar soundings reverberate in our
The L-rd ordained for us so many ent. The zichronot section on Rosh souls, not only in our ears.
commandments so that in every step Hashanah provides us with this gifted
in life we are reminded of His presence ability.
and sovereignty. We are never really
alone in our existence in this world. But Rosh Hashanah is also a holiday of
This is one of the sublime messages of optimism and of looking forward and
Rosh Hashanah. ahead. We resolve to become better
people, more humane and G-dly in
In our liturgy and rabbinic litera- our attitudes and behavior. We hear Rabbi Berel Wein is Senior Rabbi of Beit
ture, Rosh Hashanah is called the Day the echo of the shofar of Sinai, or our Knesset HaNassi in Jerusalem and Director
of Remembrance. G-d, so to speak, own sounding of the shofar, and they of the Destiny Foundation.

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