If it is true that Hashem wants us to emerge meritorious in judgement, shouldn't He have made Yom Kippur fall before Rosh Hashana(3)? Yom Kippur is the day set aside for teshuva, repentance, while Rosh Hashana is the day on which we are judged. Shouldn't we have had the opportunity to do teshuva and to achieve atonement before being subjected to din, to judgement?

There is something else about Rosh Hashana that seems very strange. Since, on Rosh Hashana, Hashem judges us according to our deeds, shouldn't the major prayer of Rosh Hashana, the Shemoneh Esrei, mention our regret at our sins and our plea for Hashem's mercy? Instead we find that the main points of the Shemoneh Esrei revolve around the theme of Hashem's sovereignty, the pleas that Hashem's kingdom will be recognised by the whole world and that everyone will undertake to fulfil the will of Hashem.

The Torah says(4): "This mitzva which I have commanded you today is not concealed from you, neither is it far off... But the word is very near to you in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it." These verses refer to the mitzva of teshuva, and the Torah here reassures us that it is not difficult to do teshuva, to achieve repentance(5). However, we know that part of the mitzva of teshuva is charata, to have a feeling of regret, and as Rabbi Yisrael Salanter zt'l points out, it is not at all easy to achieve a feeling of regret.

The Gemara(6) says that once a person repeats a sin, he begins to consider it a permitted act. The first time he commits a particular sin, he has a feeling of remorse and is determined not to do it again. If it should happen that he does do it again, the unspoken feeling is that it isn't so terrible. What happens if he does it a third time? Then, says Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, it becomes a mitzva in his eyes! To avoid a conflict between his actions and his intellect, a person has a natural tendency to rationalise and justify his actions.

How then can a person ever feel regret for his sins when he does not feel the seriousness of the sin? The answer is that a person has to make a very strong resolution to abandon his sins even if they don't seem serious to him - and after a while he will again feel their severity and seriousness(7).

In order to make this resolution to change our ways, we need the inspiration, the arousing power of Rosh Hashana. The inspiration of Rosh Hashana gives us the strength to resolve to improve out deeds, and only then can we take advantage of the golden opportunity afforded us by Yom Kippur. This is why Rosh Hashana precedes Yom Kippur.

The avodas hayom, the task we are to accomplish on Rosh Hashana, is to recognise the King of the world. Rosh Hashana, the day on which Hashem's malchus - sovereignty was first recognised, is a day especially designated for recognition of the extent of Hashem's malchus. This day gives us the opportunity to reach the understanding that everything that happens in the universe depends on Hashem's will. Certainly it is also necessary to make a personal effort, but we must realise that all our achievements really depend on Hashem, not on our own knowledge, influence or initiative.

Every person has free will and can choose whether to harm another or not, but we have to recognise, despite this, that any hardship that befalls us comes from Hashem's will.

The Gemara(8) says, "We should declare His sovereignty before Hashem in order that He should remember us for good, and with what is this accompanied? - the shofar". The shofar symbolizes our coming inside and out - before the Heavenly Court. In the U'nesaneh tokef prayer we say, "And a great shofar will sound... and the angels will tremble, and fear and trembling will seize them and they will say 'Behold, the Day of Judgement!" Proper recognition of the King of the universe comes when we realise that everything that happens to us throughout the year is decreed on Rosh Hashana. Besides life, our parnasa, our income, is decreed on Rosh Hashana - "who will become rich and who become poor". On this day the decree goes forth whether we will have the peace of mind and the freedom from burdens we need to accomplish our goals and to serve Hashem - "who will be a peace and who will suffer."

In the recitation of the Shema Yisrael, it has been said(9), we declare Hashem's kingdom everywhere, in all the worlds, in every corner of the universe - but the one place we often forget to declare His kingdom is in ourselves. We see Divine providence in all sorts of things that happen to other people, but unfortunately, all too often, we neglect to see that everything in our personal lives is min hashamayim - from Heaven. If we can just achieve this recognition on Rosh Hashana, we will have reached the necessary condition for the Ten Days of Repentance and Yom Kippur.

According to the Gemara(10) a person is judged on Rosh Hashana on the basis of "where he is." Even if he has not yet done teshuva for his past actions, he will be acquitted in judgement if his thoughts and actions place him in the category of the righteous at the time of judgement. This Gemara is puzzling, however, for how can a person be considered a tzaddik, righteous, if he has not done proper teshuva? To add the puzzle, the Gemara says further that a person can be acquitted in judgement if he has merely achieved in thought a kabalas ol malchus shamayim - an acceptance of the yoke the Kingdom of Heaven.

A parable will explain this puzzle(11). During the Russo-Japanese War of 1905, it once happened that a Japanese bomb fell on Russian territory and a young soldier - at the sacrifice of his own life - picked up the bomb and ran with it to a place where it would do little damage when it exploded. This incident was widely reported in the Russian press. At about the same time, the father of the brave young soldier was on trial for some crime he had committed. When the judge read the newspaper accounts of the son's heroism, he pardoned the father, telling him, "Since you have raised a son who is so loyal to this country, you deserve to be pardoned for your sins."

This is the meaning of saying Kaddish. When a deceased father or mother comes to the Heavenly Court and Hashem hears a son of theirs saying: "May His great name be gloried and sanctified", He recognizes this as being to the credit of the parents who raised that son.

A similar case arises when we appear before the Heavenly Court on Rosh Hashana with our sincere prayers, "May all Your creatures fear You. May they all form a bond to do Your will wholeheartedly." Our recognition then of Hashem's sovereignty is a z'chus, a merit, for us that may allow us to be acquitted.

Certainly, if we wish to avoid being punished for our sins, we must do a proper teshuva, but as far as the judgement of Rosh Hashana is concerned this z'chus may ensure that Hashem will overlook our sins sufficiently to grant us a kesiva vechasima tova - a good decree for the year.

>From Rosh Chodesh (the first day of the month) Elul onwards, twice daily we say "L 'David Hashem ori viyishi" - "David Hamelech said, Hashem is my light and my salvation."(12) Chazal say, "What is our light and our salvation? 'My light' refers to Rosh Hashana, 'my salvation' refers to Yom Kippur." With Hashem's help, may we merit that the light, the inspiration of Rosh Hashana may bring us the yeshuah, the salvation, of Yom Kippur and that we will all have a kesiva vechasima tova, that we will all be inscribed for a good year.

Footnotes.

1.This is an excerpt of an article that originally appeared in the Kollel's Atara magazine, Tishrei 5744.
2.Sefer Hachinuch 311
3.Rav Itzle Peterberger
4.Devarim 30:11-14
5.Ramban
6.Yoma 86b
7.Rabbeinu Yona
8.Rosh Hashana 16a
9.Rav Yisrael Salanter
10.Rosh Hashana 16b
11.Rav Elya Lopian
12.Tehillim 27.1