Recap for 6 Tishrei 5776 (Parsha Vayelech and meaning of RH and YK)

This Shabbos we discussed parsha Vayelech, the meaning of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and various other topics. Yaki Moskowitz led discussion.

We discussed how there are different months that are considered to be the start of a new year. These include Tishrei as well as Nissan. Nissan is actually the month that is considered to be the first month of the year according to the Torah.  However we keep track of years starting with Tishrei, which is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve.  Nissan is the month in which we were free from Egypt, however we go with Tishrei, when numbering the years.

We discussed how through-out the Torah, Hashem would speak to Moshe in the Tabernacle and then Moshe would relay the information received to the Jewish people. However, in this week’s parsha Hashem speaks to both Moshe and Joshua at the same time.

We discussed how during Tishrei hashem really comes down to earth and we can feel his presence whereas during Nissan hashem does not really come down.  One of the ways Hashem comes down to earth is with the shofar. Seth suggested that blowing the shofar is like blowing the horn of a car. When we hear the shofar we should think of Hashem blowing the shofar to alert us.

Yaki talked about how everything has a purpose. Sometimes it is hard to see the purpose in things, such as a stone, but the stone has a purpose. Norm gave an example of a baby boy that is born and unfortunately passes away after a few weeks. It is hard to see that this baby served a purpose. But Norm suggested that the baby’s purpose may have been to have his Brit Milah.

Yaki spoke about how on Rosh Hashanah hashem judges everything. Everything includes people, things like stones, communities as a whole, and nations. We discussed how the judging that takes place is not necessarily whether someone is “good” or “bad” but how well they are fulfilling their purpose and mission.

We discussed how on Rosh Hashanah the progress we are making towards fulfilling our mission and the overall direction of our lives is what is judged, not necessarily where we are absolutely. For example, someone who grew up in a secular home could be making great progress simply to come to shul once a month, whereas someone who grew up in an observant home may not be making much progress at all if his focus on learning is very low.

We discussed that it is very important to leave the judging up to Hashem. Norm commented that we shouldn’t judge anyone. It is tempting to judge others, but we don’t really know fully what others have gone through and/or what obstacles they face.  It is possible for anyone to be moving in the right direction, regardless of how things appear.

Yaki spoke about how it seems that the order of the holidays are backwards. Why is it that Rosh Hashanah – in which we are judged, comes before Yom Kippur in which we ask for forgiveness. Yaki gave the analogy of a car. Why would we first inspect a car, then judge based on our inspection, followed by working on fixing the problems? Wouldn’t it make more sense to inspect the car, fix the car, and then judge the car?

Yaki explained the logic behind the order of the holidays. On Rosh Hashanah hashem does an inventory of how we have done over the last year, and we should do our own inventory. Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we should try our best to make amends for things, but it is not our goal to fix everything. What is most important is to make progress towards moving our lives in the best possible direction.  On Yom Kippur we ask for forgiveness after we have done our inventories and demonstrated we are serious about living the coming year the best that we can.

This is a summary of what we discussed. No Halachic rulings are intended or should be inferred.