אָבִֽינוּ מַלְכֵּֽנוּ אֵין לָֽנוּ מֶֽלֶךְ אֶלָּא אָֽתָּה:
Our Father our King, we have no King other than You!
"On the first day" (Leviticus 23:40). That is the fifteenth, and you say, "On the first?" Rabbi Mana of Shav and Rabbi Yehoshua of Sakhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi, "[There is a relevant] parable about a province that owed a [certain tax] to the king and the king went to collect it. [When he was] within ten mil, the leaders of the province went out to laud him, [so] he cancelled a third of [that tax]; within five mil, the middling people of the province went out to laud him, [so] he cancelled another third; when he entered the province, all of the residents of the province - men, women and children - came out and lauded him, and he cancelled it all. He said, 'What is past is past. From now, let us start a [new] reckoning.' So [too] on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the greats of the generations fast, and the Holy One, blessed be He, cancels a third of their iniquities; and from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, the [select] individuals fast, and the Holy One, blessed be He, cancels [another] third of their iniquities; and on Yom Kippur, everyone fasts - men, women and children. So the Holy One, blessed be He, says to Israel, 'What is past is past. From now, let us start a [new] reckoning.'" And from Yom Kippur to Sukkot, all of Israel is involved in commandments. This one is involved with his sukkah, that one is involved with his lulav. And on the first day of the festival, all of Israel stand in front of the Holy One, blessed be He, [with] their lulavs and citrons for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He. And He say to them, "What is past is past. From now, let us start a [new] reckoning." Hence, Moshe warns Israel (Leviticus 23:40), "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day."
לקוטי תורה פרשת ראה לב, א ואילך
אך הנה יובן ע"פ משל למלך שקודם בואו לעיר יוצאין אנשי העיר לקראתו ומקבלין פניו בשדה ואז רשאין כל מי שרוצה לצאת להקביל פניו הוא מקבל את כולם בסבר פנים יפות ומראה פנים שוחקות לכולם. ובלכתו העירה הרי הם הולכים אחריו. ואח"כ בבואו להיכל מלכותו אין נכנסים כ"א ברשות ואף גם זאת המובחרים שבעם ויחידי סגולה
Before a king enters a city, its inhabitants go out to greet him and receive him in the field. At that time, anyone who so desires may go out and greet him. He receives them all pleasantly and shows a smiling countenance to all. As he proceeds to his city, they follow him. Afterwards, when he reaches his royal palace, one may only enter [his throne room] with permission — and this is granted only to the nation’s elite, to a select few
The Dubner Magid told astory about a naïve villager who came to the big city for the first time. He was awaked in the middle of the night by the loud beating of drums. He inquired what all the fuss was about. He was told that a fire had broken out and the drum beating was the city's fire alarm.
On his return to the village he reported to the village elders. "They have a wonderful system in the city -- when a fire breaks out the people beat their drums and before long the fire subsides."
The city officials immediately acquired a supply of drums and distributed them to the population. When a fire broke out, there was a deafening explosion of beating drums, and while the people waited for the fire to die out, several homes burned to the ground.
A visitor to the village chastised the people. "You fools. Do you think drum beating will put out a fire? You beat the drums as an alarm, and then you must get busy extinguishing the flames."
The Magid used this story to teach about Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. Some people think the shofar blasts will improve our lives all by themselves.
The shofar is the alarm, as Maimonides puts it: "Awake ye sleepers from your slumber, and rouse you from your lethargy. Scrutinize your deeds and return in repentance."
A King had an only son, the apple of his eye. The King wanted his son to master different fields of knowledge and to experience various cultures, so he sent him to a far-off country, supplied with a generous quantity of silver and gold. Far away from home, the son squandered all the money until he was left completely destitute. In his distress he resolved to return to his father's house and after much difficulty, he managed to arrive at the gate of the courtyard to his father's palace.
In the passage of time, he had actually forgotten the language of his native country, and he was unable to identify himself to the guards. In utter despair he began to cry out in a loud voice, and the King, who recognized the voice of his son, went out to him and brought him into the house, kissing him and hugging him.
The meaning of the parable: The King is G‑d. The prince is the Jewish people, who are called "Children of G‑d" (Deuteronomy 14:1). The King sends a soul down to this world in order to fulfill the Torah and mitzvot. However, the soul becomes very distant and forgets everything to which it was accustomed to above, and in the long exile it forgets even its own "language." So it utters a simple cry to its Father in Heaven. This is the blowing of the shofar, a cry from deep within, expressing regret for the past and determination for the future. This cry elicits G‑d’s mercies, and He demonstrates His abiding affection for His child and forgives him.
וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹקִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ (בראשית א, כו),... אָמַר רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס בְּרָאוֹ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (בראשית ה, ב): זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בְּרָאָם. אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, דְּיוּ פַּרְצוּפִים בְּרָאוֹ, וְנִסְּרוֹ וַעֲשָׂאוֹ גַּבִּים, גַּב לְכָאן וְגַב לְכָאן. אֲתִיבוּן לֵיהּ וְהָכְתִיב (בראשית ב, כא): וַיִּקַּח אַחַת מִצַּלְעֹתָיו, אֲמַר לְהוֹן מִתְּרֵין סִטְרוֹהִי, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (שמות כו, כ): וּלְצֶלַע הַמִּשְׁכָּן, דִּמְתַרְגְּמִינַן וְלִסְטַר מַשְׁכְּנָא וגו'.
... Said R’ Yirmiyah ben Elazar: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created him [as] an androgyne/androginos, as it is said, “male and female He created them”. Said R’ Shmuel bar Nachmani: In the hour when the Holy One created the first human, He created [for] him a double-face/di-prosopon/ du-par’tsufin, and sawed him and made him backs, a back here and a back [t]here, as it is said, “Back/achor and before/qedem You formed me” [Ps 139:5]. They objected to him: But it says, “He took one of his ribs/ts’la`ot . . . ” [Gn 2:21]! He said to them: [It means] “[one] of his sides/sit’rohi”, just as you would say, “And for the side/tsela` of the Tabernacle/ mishkan” [Ex 26:20], which they translate [in Aramaic] “for the side/seter”
And every year there descends and radiates a new and renewed light which never yet shone... For the light of every year withdraws to its source on the eve of every Rosh Hashana "When the moon is covered." Afterwards, by means of the blowing of the Shofar and of the prayers, a new, supernal light (of a yet higher rank)… is elicited to radiate…. all the upper and lower worlds that receive their vitality from it [i.e. from the light of the blessed En Sof…
( And as known to the savants of the esoteric science, that every Rosh Hashana there is the nessirah, and it receives new, more sublime mochin . .. )
… Now, this radiation and efflux, though it is continuous, nevertheless, it is not on one plane and level only since the beginning of the world. For every year there is a new, supernal light, because the light that was generated and shone on this Rosh Hashana withdraws to its source on the eve of the following Rosh Hashana.
And this is the meaning of the Scripture "From the beginning of the year to the end of the year" only. And that is why מרשית (from the beginning) is written without an aleph, alluding to the withdrawal of the light [which withdraws on the night of Rosh Hashana] until after the order of the blowing of the Shofar— when a new, more sublime light descends, so sublime a light as has never shone yet since the beginning of the world.
And it vests itself and conceals … in order to animate all the worlds for the duration of that year. However, its manifestation— from this concealment— depends on the action of those below, and on their merit and penitence during the ten days of penitence, and suffice this for the initiated.
ואמרו לפני בראש השנה מלכיות זכרונות ושופרות מלכיות כדי שתמליכוני עליכם זכרונות כדי שיעלה זכרוניכם לפני לטובה ובמה בשופר
And recite before Me on Rosh HaShana verses that mention Kingships, Remembrances, and Shofarot: Kingships so that you will crown Me as King over you; Remembrances so that your remembrance will rise before Me for good; and with what will the remembrance rise? It will rise with the shofar.
The sounding of the shofar is part of the “coronation ceremony:” just as horns or trumpets are sounded when a king is coronated, so too do we sound the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, when we coronate G-d as King of the Universe.
When Adam stood up on his feet, he saw that all creatures feared him and followed him as servants do their master. He then said to them: ‘You and I both, come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before G-d our maker (Psalms 95:6).
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, all things revert to their primordial state. The Inner Will ascends and is retracted into the divine essence; the worlds are in a state of sleep and are sustained only by the Outer Will. The service of man on Rosh Hashanah is to rebuild the divine attribute of sovereignty and reawaken the divine desire, "I shall reign," with the sounding of the shofar.
The sound of the shofar is produced by the breath of the heart in a simple tone, without combinations of letters (as in speech), and this indicates the innermost point of the heart. Therefore it is called “tekiah”-a word also used for pounding in a stake-for this point is “sunk” in the heart in a manner of utmost simplicity, without the possibility of being compounded with intellect and knowledge, let alone being revealed in speech and letters. A person emits such a cry in a simple voice, from the depths of the heart, quite beyond intellect.
There are two types of cries: the cry of a voice and the cry of the heart. The cry of a voice comes from the intellect, as in the case of a person who meditates on the greatness of the Creator, is overcome, and cries in a loud, simple voice. This cry is external, like the cry that comes from seeing something new. The cry of the heart, on the other hand, is the “inner cry that is not heard.”
When the heart is overwhelmed by love or an idea, the innermost point of the heart, higher than intellect, is evoked, and this point is expressed in the cry of the heart.
(ז) רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ דְּסִכְנִין בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל אָמַר, בְּנַפְשׁוֹתָן שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים נִמְלָךְ, הֲדָא הוּא דִּכְתִיב (דברי הימים א ד, כג): הֵמָּה הַיּוֹצְרִים וְישְׁבֵי נְטָעִים וּגְדֵרָה עִם הַמֶּלֶךְ בִּמְלַאכְתּוֹ יָשְׁבוּ שָׁם. הֵמָּה הַיּוֹצְרִים, עַל שֵׁם (בראשית ב, ז): וַיִּיצֶר ה' אֱלֹקִים אֶת הָאָדָם עָפָר מִן הָאֲדָמָה. יוֹשְׁבֵי נְטָעִים, עַל שֵׁם (בראשית ב, ח): וַיִּטַּע ה' אֱלֹקִים גַּן בְּעֵדֶן מִקֶּדֶם. וּגְּדֵרָה, עַל שֵׁם (ירמיה ה, כב): אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתִּי חוֹל גְּבוּל לַיָּם. עִם הַמֶּלֶךְ בִּמְלַאכְתּוֹ יָשְׁבוּ, עִם הַמֶּלֶךְ מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יָשְׁבוּ נְפָשׁוֹת שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים, שֶׁבָּהֶן נִמְלַךְ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּבָרָא אֶת הָעוֹלָם.
. R. Joshua of Siknin said in R. Levi's name : He took counsel with the souls of the righteous, as it is written, These were the makers [E.V. 'potters'], and those. that dwelt among plantations and hedges; there they dwelt with the king in his work (1 Chron. iv, 23). ' These were the makers' 1 they are so termed on account of the verse, Then the Lord formed [made] man, etc. (Gen. 11, 7) ; 'And those that dwelt among plantations* corresponds to And the Lord God planted a garden eastward (ib. 8); 'And hedges' corresponds to / have placed the sand for the bound of the sea (Jer. v, 22) ; ' There they dwelt with the king in his work ' : with the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, sat the souls of the righteous with whom He took counsel before creating the world.
A King once traveled through a big forest, to the depths of the forest, where he could no longer find the route home.
He noticed some villagers and asked them for directions. They, of course, didn’t recognize the King, and didn’t know what to answer because they never knew the route to the palace.
He eventually found a wise man and asked him for directions. The wise man recognized that this was the king, and was shaken. He immediately fulfilled the king’s wish by pointing him in the right direction. Because of his great wisdom, he knew the correct path to the palace and was able to guide the king back to his throne.
The man found favor in the king’s eyes.
Time passed and this same man sinned against the king and angered him. The king commanded his highest officers to judge this man as those who commit treason are judged.
The man was extremely pained knowing that he was doomed to harsh judgment for sinning against the king. He fell before the king and pleaded for one final request. He wanted to be dressed in the original clothes that he was wearing when he guided the king from the forest and back to his palace; and the king shall, as well, wear the same clothes he wore on that day.
The king obliged. When both the king and the man were dressed in the garments from the day they met in the forest, the king remembered the great kindness he displayed for the king by guiding him back to his palace and throne. This aroused compassion and benevolence within the king to forgive the sins of the man and return him to his post.
This is an analogy for Hashem and the Jewish people. At the time of the Giving of the Torah, Hashem approached all the nations of the world, but they didn’t accept the Torah. We, the Jewish people, accepted the Torah with happiness and deep joy to the extent that we immediately said “Naaseh V’Nishma” (we will do and then we will understand). We accepted Hashem as our King and committed to fulfilling the mitzvos and laws of the Torah.
Now, however, we sinned and rebelled against the king. Therefore we blow the shofar, the same “clothing we wore” at the Giving of the Torah. (The sound of the shofar was heard at the Giving of the Torah, so it serves) as a reminder that we accepted the Torah and we coronate Hashem as king with this same shofar. Through this, Hashem forgives us for all our wrongdoings and immediately inscribes us for a good life.
A King wanted to test his sons, to see which of them really loved him with a true and absolute love. He arranged to have walls constructed all around his palace, walls of wind, walls of fire and moats full of water. But the walls were in reality a deception, an optical illusion. The walls created in essence a hiding place for the King. Would his sons come to seek him?He understood that it just could not be possible that his father would create such a division between them…
Only one son, who had a great desire to enter the palace to be with his father, was smart enough to discern that the walls barring his entry were only an illusion. He understood that it just could not be possible that his father would create such a division between them and reasoned correctly that it must be a trick to test him. He understood that in essence, each wall represented a deeper level of love between him and his father.
"Why are you crying?" he asked.
The child replied that he and a friend had been playing at "hide and seek," but his friend had run off to some amusement, leaving him curled up in his hiding place, waiting in vain to be searched out.
Rabbi DovBer lifted his eyes to heaven and cried: "You, too, have hidden Your face from us only because You want us to seek You. But Your children have tired of the game and have run off..."