High Holidays

A few days ago we entered the Hebrew month of Elul, traditionally dedicated to the spiritual work of repentance- Teshuva. The month’s preparation ends with the first holiday in the high holidays series, Rosh Hashana, beginning of the new year.

In the rabbinical sources this holiday is referred to as the day we anoint G-d as our king. The prayers guiding us along this day focus greatly on this issue of G-d’s character and power as king over us.   As we flip a page in the diary of our lives, on the very first moment of the year, why is this the issue were busy with? Shouldn’t there be other things on our minds?

There is an ancient and basic question asked in Judaism, concerning the motives of G-d creating the world. One of the answers given sounds like a riddle- “For there is no King without a Nation”. Any king is just another citizen with no meaning if there isn’t a nation accepting him as their King.  Meaning, G-d’s awesome greatness and goodness could not be revealed with a world to reveal it to. We have to accept G-d as our supreme King in order to give any meaning to our existence, our creation in the first place.

Truthfully, that doesn’t sound like the most inspiring attitude to this holiday. Needing to excuse our existence, forcing us to accept G-d as king. But there is one more variable in the discussion- Freedom of choice. There is no freedom in a choice made at gun-point. In order to allow us this freedom, a wonderful process goes on throughout the double-day holiday.

In Kabbalah it is described as the same process in which G-d separated Adam from Eve in the garden of Eden after their creation. At first they were created as one creature, like Siamese twins in their nature, male and female connected back to back. Then G-d surgically intervened and separated them while sending them to sleep. We may be surprised by the act. It was done because of their yearning for an experience as a couple, but seems they were much closer before being divided!

The obvious answer is that we value a willful relationship much higher than one in which the sides have no other option. By giving them the legitimate option to part their ways, they were given their first genuine opportunity to truthfully unite.

The same happens with us on this first of the High Holidays. By tradition this is the date of human creation, on this day we regain our ability to reconsider our relationships, primarily our relationship with G-d. Kabbalah teaches us that as we enter the new year, we have to wake our G-d, our faithful companion. We have to understand we truly have the power to decide we want this companionship-marriage, and call back our King to stand at our side with true fellowship.

How do we wake up G-d from his slumber after this separation? By the sound of the Shofar- ram’s horn. It is our simple cry, beyond words and complication, our inner will cry.

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