The Secret To A Good Year
As we approach Rosh Hashanah, the day on which our future for the coming year will be determined, we are all eager to procure a favorable verdict. Deep down we all want to know, what is the secret? What can we do to ensure we will be granted a good year? It is not a secret. The formula is spelled out clearly in the Talmud. The Talmud says, “Any year which is poor in its beginning will have a rich ending.” Rashi explains this to mean that a year in which the Jews humble themselves in prayer and beseech God sincerely, begging as paupers, will turn out to be a blessed year. The idea revealed in this passage closely resembles the concept mentioned in Psalms, “A broken and humble heart will not be despised by God.”
Migraines And Misery
There was once a boy who suffered from mysterious headaches. For no apparent reason, out of the blue, he began to suffer from headaches without letup. His parents took him from one doctor to another, who sent him for numerous tests, but to no avail. Rosh Hashanah arrived, and the boy’s mother went to the synagogue and poured out her heart in prayer. As the prayers
progressed, she found herself weeping as she beseeched the One Above to bring an end to her son’s misery.
She came home, drained of energy, only to find flooding in her house. For some reason, while she was gone, a water pipe in her home had burst. At the conclusion of the holiday, a plumber was called. As the plumber opened up the wall to repair the pipe, he noticed an odor of natural gas. A gas line became exposed as a result of accessing the broken pipe, and the plumber applied some soap to it. Sure enough, at a certain place, the soap began to bubble, signifying a gas leak. This wall belonged to the boy’s bedroom. Unbeknown to the family, there was a slow gas leak leaking into the room where the boy slept. Soon after the gas leak was repaired, there were no more headaches. If not for the water line breaking, who knows how long the child would continue to suffer.
The Power Of A Broken Heart
There is nothing like prayer that comes out of a broken heart. It is not easy to stir up our emotions. There is no doubt however, that if somehow we got a glimpse of the court case taking place in heaven on Rosh Hashanah, our Rosh Hashanah would look a lot different. We must realize that the fact that we don’t see our actual trial taking place does not negate its reality. It would be a great calamity for us to act obliviously towards the judgement taking place on this day – regarding whether we should remain alive or not and what kind of quality of life is being decreed upon us.
If we would take a few minutes to contemplate the magnitude of the sessions taking place in heaven on this day, perhaps our ego would melt a little, and our hearts would begin to soften. We should try our best to imagine the court case which is to be held on this day with us sitting in the defendant’s seat, and with well-prepared prosecutors presenting a serious case against us.
No one is perfect, and the mistakes we made in the past will certainly weigh heavily against us. Just because we made it through the year this year, there is no guarantee as to what the following year will bring. As the severity of the matter starts to settle in our minds, one might cultivate an uncomfortable feeling of trepidation. This in fact would be very wise and healthy; one of the best strategies we can form to aid us. Burying our heads in the sand may feel more comfortable in the moment, but what could be worse than a defendant in a trial who is so callous that he ignores the case completely?
Begging For Blessing
Everyone is in need of some kind of salvation in some area or another. We ought to take advantage of these uncomfortable feelings by tapping in to them. The desperation, which leads to humility, is the greatest gift we have as we beg for another year.
By approaching this day with a spirit of humbleness, beseeching God from the depths of our hearts to stand by our side and vouch for us, we will have secured the best means of attaining a blessed year. The “poorer” we make ourselves on this day, the “richer” we will end up being in the coming year.
Rosh Hashanah 2025
by Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber torah4every1@gmail.com
