Judaism

ASK THE RABBI

Looking for answers? Send your question to Rabbi@RabbiSchochet.com

FACEBOOK OR INSTAGRAM?

Dear Rabbi

My question pertains to social media. I have always resisted it but it seems to have invaded my home. To be clear we are not an internet free zone in our home and my kids all have mobile phones. But it seems as though this has taken over their lives. One is obsessed with reading everyone’s stream on Instagram, even actually complaining about what she sees some of her friends getting up to and “why can’t we do that?” Another is constantly posting pictures on Facebook with all sorts of captions. I get it that this is some form of entertainment and I know it is better than roaming streets, hanging out in clubs and whatever else worse than that, and my wife insists it is harmless. Personally I think it is toxic and welcome your opinion.

Malcolm

Dear Malcolm

Social media has provided a unique opportunity to engage with the world in a whole new way. Many Jewish organisations have found that social media is the optimum way by which to engage audiences and market events. During a year of lockdown social media also provided much opportunity to broadcast classes and spread Torah to many who might have previously never had any real affiliation.

But like any double edged sword, social media is also the bane of society. It amplifies news for eyeballs and clicks and people are constantly consumed with everything going on in the world. Against that all sorts of mental health issues are on the increase and anyone who thinks there is no correlation is delusional. Your own child proves the point with her prevalent jealousy when watching other people’s lives on social media.

There are those who spend much time gazing at strangers’ holiday snaps, or spending hours fine tuning selfies in order to post on social media then check back every day to see if they’ve acquired more than just the two likes already there – one from their best friend and the other from the anonymous friend who is really their mother trolling to see what they’re getting up to. And yes, that generates all sorts of inner anxiety and is very counterproductive.

Like nuclear power that can either light up a city or wreak havoc, it all comes down to how one utilises social media. If used as a tool for spreading light, (perhaps with occasional news and entertainment updates) then it is serving purpose in keeping with the concluding Mishna of Ethics of the Fathers: “Everything was created in order to enhance G-d’s glory.” By definition, everything as it exists can be and is meant to somehow enhance positivity in the world. Otherwise it is an incredible time waster, can prove addictive and indeed wreak havoc with one’s life.

TO GET OR NOT TO GET

Dear Rabbi

I want to get married to a wonderful man who got divorced from his wife several months ago but only civilly. There was no Jewish divorce. He doesn’t care and says he’s happy to marry me as he is. His ex-wife doesn’t seem to care either. But I come from a different sort of background and while I am really keen to marry him, it wouldn’t feel right without him getting a get document. I would always find myself feeling a little guilty.

Marylyn

Dear Marylyn

Do you want to spend the rest of your life always feeling ‘a little guilty?’ To be sure, the wrong that your husband would commit in marrying you without a Jewish divorce pales in significance against the enormity of the sin his ex-wife would be committing were she to remarry without a get but your marriage would still be wrong. So in encouraging him to pursue a get you’d be doing a double mitzvah in both freeing him and her up to doing the right thing. If he’s as keen to marry you as you are him, he’ll look to do the right thing by you.

IS THE OLYMPICS KOSHER?

Dear Rabbi

What are your thoughts regarding the Olympics. I enjoyed watching them (however different they were this year). A friend however told me it is essentially a pagan thing and should be avoided at all costs. Is this actually true or just another “holier than thou” mishugas?

Donna

Dear Donna

The original games some 2700 years ago, within the boundaries of Olympia, the altar of the sanctuary dedicated to the goddess Hera maintained a continuous flame. It was thought to have been stolen from the gods by Prometheus. Therefore, fire was also present at many of the sanctuaries in Olympia, Greece. During the Olympic Games, which honoured Zeus, additional fires were lit at his temple and that of his wife, Hera. The modern Olympic flame is ignited at the site where the temple of Hera used to stand. Moreover, even the fact that the Games take place every four years, as well as the Olympic symbol of five interlocking rings, are connected to idol worship. The five intertwined circles represent Venus, which traces a perfect pentacle across the sky every 8 years. To the ancient Greeks, Venus became the symbol of perfection and beauty, qualities prized in athletes’ bodies. As a tribute to Venus, the Greeks used “her” 8-year cycle to organize their Olympic Games. The 4-year schedule follows Venus’ half cycle. So there is a clear pagan connection.

That said, today most people would be clueless about any of the above and really just watch the Olympics for the sake of enjoying the sportsmanship. So to each their own and you be your own judge and jury on this.

Follow Rabbi Schochet at: RabbiSchochet.com Twitter: @RabbiYYS Facebook: facebook.com/Rabbiyys.

Pirkei Avot

For Refuah Shalema for Mordechai Ben Chaya Sara Perek 3: Mishna 17 pt1

.ץֶרֶא ךֶרֶד ןיֵא ,הָרֹות ןיֵא םִא ,רֵמֹוא הָיְרַזֲע ןֶּב רָזָעְלֶא יִּבַר .הָאְרִי ןיֵא ,הָמְכָח ןיֵא םִא .הָרֹות ןיֵא ,ץֶרֶא ךֶרֶד ןיֵא םִא ןיֵא םִא .תַעַד ןיֵא ,הָניִּב ןיֵא םִא .הָמְכָח ןיֵא ,הָאְרִי ןיֵא םִא ,הָרֹות ןיֵא םִא .הָרֹות ןיֵא ,חַמֶק ןיֵא םִא .הָניִּב ןיֵא ,תַעַד ,ויָׂשֲעַמִמ הָּבֻרְמ ֹותָמְכָחֶׁש לָכ ,רֵמֹוא הָיָה אוה .חַמֶק ןיֵא ,ןיִטָעֻמ ויָׁשָרָׁשְו ןיִּבֻרְמ ויָפָנֲעֶׁש ןָליִאְל ,הֶמֹוד אוה הַמְל הימרי( רַמֱאֶנֶׁש ,ויָנָפ לַע ֹותְכַפֹוהְו ֹותְרַקֹועְו הָאָּב ַחורָהְו ןַכָׁשְו בֹוט אֹובָי יִכ הֶאְרִי אֹלְו הָבָרֲעָּב רָעְרַעְכ הָיָהְו )זי הַמְל ,ֹותָמְכָחֵמ ןיִּבֻרְמ ויָׂשֲעַמֶׁש לָכ לָבֲא…רָּבְדִמַּב םיִרֵרֲח ולִפֲאֶׁש ,ןיִּבֻרְמ ויָׁשָרָׁשְו ןיִטָעֻמ ויָפָנֲעֶׁש…ליִאְל ,הֶמֹוד אוה ֹותֹוא ןיִזיִזְמ ןיֵא ֹוּב תֹובְׁשֹונְו תֹואָּב םָלֹועָּבֶׁש תֹוחורָה לָכ …לַעְו םִיַמ לַע לותָׁש ץֵעְכ הָיָהְו )םש( רַמֱאֶנֶׁש ,ֹומֹוקְמִמ והֵלָע הָיָהְו ,םֹח אֹבָי יִכ הֶאְרִי אֹלְו ויָׁשָרָׁש חַלַׁשְי לַבוי … תֹוׂשֲעֵמ ׁשיִמָי אֹלְו ,גָאְדִי אֹל תֶרֹצַּב תַנְׁשִבו ,ןָנֲעַר

Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah said: Where there is no Torah, there is no right conduct; where there is no right conduct, there is no Torah. Where there is no wisdom there is no fear of G-d where there is no fear of G-d, there is no wisdom. Where there is no understanding, there is no knowledge; where there is no knowledge, there is no understanding. Where there is no bread, there is no Torah; where there is no Torah, there is no bread. He used to say: one whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are numerous but whose roots are few, so that when the wind comes, it uproots it and overturns it, as it is said, “He shall be like a bush in the desert, which does not sense the coming of good. It is set in the scorched places of the wilderness, in a barren land without inhabitant” (Jeremiah 17:6). But one whose deeds exceed his wisdom, to what may he be compared? To a tree whose branches are few but roots are many, so that even if all the winds in the world come and blow upon it, they cannot move it out of its place, as it is said, “He shall be like a tree planted by waters, sending forth its roots by a stream. It does not sense the coming of heat, its leaves are ever fresh. It has no care in a year of drought; it does not cease to yield fruit.” To be continued next week…

70 JUDAISM

TO ADVERTISE CALL 020 3906 8488

Torah from Israel

Saving Shmita

BY RABBI MOSHE TARAGIN

The experience of Shmita is both fascinating and iconic. Occurring once in seven years, it carries the mystique of something “extraordinary” or even enchanted. Intended as a seminal national experience, it was rarely practiced in its truest form. In the modern context, our encounter with shmita has dramatically shifted from the fields and orchards to the rows of the supermarket. What are the deeper meanings of this multifaceted and complicated mitzvah?

Shmita distills several important Jewish values. It qualifies our ownership of land while moderating our response to financial successes. Returning the land back to its Creator, prevents the arrogance typically follows economic success. A full year of work stoppage underscores that human wealth is Divinely allocated and therefore transitory.

Additionally, shmita reaffirms our national rights to the land of Israel. As G-d’s chosen people, we possess moral and historical warrant to this land. Throughout history, our deed to our land has been vehemently disputed. Every seven years, Shmita certifies that it will be Divine allocation and not political diplomacy or military aggression which will dictate the future of this land.

Furthermore, shmita reorders socio-economic hierarchies. Lands are left barren, and produce is equally and readily available to both rich and poor. The related laws of “shemitat kesafim” or the annulment of loans, in theory, are meant to dissolve all debt, effectively resetting financial imbalances. Every society struggles with wealth inequality and its potential social repercussions. The rich accumulate more wealth as the poor sink into greater debt, eroding social unity and destabilizing economies. At our particular stage of history, wealth disparities are particularly exaggerated, as 1% of the world’s richest possess twice as much wealth as 6.9 billion people. By resetting financial parity, Shmita rebuilds a more egalitarian and classless social fabric.

Finally, Shmita serves as a spiritual and personal ‘retreat’ from the hustle bustle of society and the pressures of our daily routine. Functionally similar to Shabbat, it provides a yearlong “leave of absence” enabling spiritual, personal and communal rebooting. As Shmita incorporates so many core elements of religion, it serves as a benchmark for Jewish residence in Israel. Adherence to shmita secures our presence in Israel, while violation of this commandment ousts us from the land of G-d.

Historical Cycles of Shmita

Similar to the Jewish people, shmita has undergone dramatic shifts throughout history. Many of the Torah’s commandments are static and remain, more or less, unaffected by history. Other mitzvoth are more fluid, fluctuating with the revolutions of Jewish history. Shmita has been deeply impacted by Jewish history and, particularly, by our unending struggle to settle our homeland. The journey to full shmita observance mirrors the odyssey of Jewish history.

Tragically, during the First Temple era, shmita was largely ignored. During that deeply flawed 400-year period, seventy shmita and yovel periods were disregarded. A seventy- year exile in Babylonia provided respite, allowing the land to recoup its lost shmita cycles. Ironically, the Jews of the second Temple era did adhere to the laws of shmita. However, during this period, the caliber of this mitzvah was compromised. Most Jews did not return from Exile, as the majority of our people resided outside the boundaries of Israel. Under these disappointing conditions, the Biblical experience of shmita no longer applied. Shmita was still practiced at a Rabbinic level, but the ideal performance of the mitzvah remained elusive. In effect, during the initial nine hundred years of residence in our homeland, shmita never achieved its full stature. In the year 70 AD, the long night of Jewish exile began and shmita, effectively, faded from view for close to eighteen hundred years. When it resurfaced, it would become entangled in significant controversy.

SURVIVING SHMITA

Toward the end of the 19th century, Jewish settlement in Israel expanded beyond the vicinity of Jerusalem. New agrarian settlements, almost exclusively dependent upon farming, were sprouting up. The specter of a full year of shmita, absent of any agricultural activity, threatened both the livelihood and the lives of these new yishuvim or moshavot. In the lead up to the shmita year of 1889, a fierce controversy erupted surrounding potential workarounds for shmita. Leading Israeli and European rabbis debated the legality of circumventing Shmita prohibitions by selling Jewish lands to Gentiles. Many authorities rejected this legal fiction known as ‘heter mechira’, recommending instead, full compliance and a complete work stoppage. Alternatively, many rabbis who were exposed first-hand to the dire situation, were more supportive of this potential leniency. Shmita became a divisive issue.

The struggle wasn’t only divisive, it was also sadly ironic. We had dreamed of this historical “moment” for centuries. Having been scattered across the globe, we yearned for a return to the fields and pasturelands of Israel. How sadly paradoxical that, clawing our way home in the late 19th century, we were obliged to sell our land to Gentiles. What a sad commentary upon the imperfect nature of our return. Evidently, history and the land were not yet ready for a full Jewish return.

Gradually, as the cycles of Shmita passed, reality overcame ideology and the heter mechira policy of selling the land of Israel finally became institutionalized by Rav Kook in the year 1909.

PERSONAL RELIGION OR NATIONAL RELIGION

For most of us who do not live agricultural lives, Shmita has transformed into a year in which we insert one more “check box” to our kashrut checklist. During shmita, in addition to inspecting general kashrut, we also examine “shmita kashrut”. Most of the overall population relies upon the heter-mechira sale, while continuing to purchase Israeli products, as they would during a non-shmita year. Others, who are uncomfortable with this “halachik bypass”, import their produce or purchase it from local Arabs, or from farms located outside the boundaries of Biblical Israel. It should be plainly obvious that each of these solutions is severely deficient.

Interestingly, these two differing strategies reflect two fundamentally different attitudes about religious life in Israel. One approach places almost exclusive emphasis upon personal religious experience. Imported fruits or Gentile-owned vegetables are optimal for preserving the kashrut level of my personal plate of food. If personal religious quality is the primary factor, this approach is far superior.

Other Jews adopt a more nationalistic view- one concerned with sweeping shmita ramifications, beyond their own kitchen or meal plan. Individuals may be able to import from Gaza, Turkey or Jordan. Nationally though, a full cessation of labor would starve the agricultural industry. Shutting down this sector for an entire year and ceasing exports, would practically forfeit international markets. My personal salad can be imported, but the agricultural industry- a vital national asset- requires a different shmita solution.

Additionally, the heter-mechira bypass is valuable for national kosher ‘coverage’. Fervently religious people may be willing to incur greater cost or enjoy lower quality produce to maintain shmita laws. General Israeli consumers, though, may be less dedicated and less willing to sacrifice quality. To enable national shmita observance, heter mechira is necessary to insure readily available “kosher” produce. Heter-mechira may not represent the highest standard of kashrut but it remains the best vehicle for stretching shmita to the national stage.

RELIGIOUS ONE-UPMANSHIP

and retire for a year-long spiritual retreat. Economic ledgers are wiped and, for an entire year, the divisions between affluent and poor vanish. During Sukkot immediately subsequent to shmita, in the aftermath of this economic and spiritual unity, an entire nation descends upon the city of unity for a public recital of Torah. The harmony of Hakhel torah-recital caps the solidarity built during shmita.

In the modern world we have lost so much of our shmita experience. Can we at least retain shmita as a unifier? Let us not turn shmita into a “kashrut competition” or a smug conversation about which “flawed approach” to shmita kashrut is halachikally superior. If we still haven’t solved shmita in the modern state, let it not degenerate into sanctimony or holier-than-thou posturing. Those who don’t rely upon the heter-mechira workaround should appreciate the needs of national shmitta. Those who do rely upon the workaround should have the intellectual honesty to realize how flimsy it is and how, in an ideal world, we would not sell off our country to non-Jews.

Shmita is also a year of humility before G-d. Hopefully, we all navigate the upcoming shmita with humility, appreciating and respecting different approaches to this quandary.

Shmita holds a mirror to Jewish history. Do we trust G-d enough and are we spiritually courageous enough to adopt full shmita compliance? Our track record isn’t great. We still haven’t cracked the riddle of returning to the modern Israel and maintaining shmita. As we inch closer to a fully redeemed state we draw closer to full shmita compliance. One day we will reach it. Until that day, let us stand together during shmita united by one common dream.

The writer is a rabbi at Yeshivat Har Etzion/Gush, a hesder yeshiva. He has smicha and a BA in computer science from Yeshiva University as well as a masters degree in English literature from the City University of New York.

Weekly Dvar Torah

FROM ERETZ YISRAEL

Serving Hashem Properly

BY RABBI JESSE HORN

At the end of the Tochacha, the section of the Torah describing the horrific events prophesizing what will occur when Bnei Yisrael are exiled from Eretz Yisrael, the verse states: Tachat lo avadetem et Hashem Elokeycha b’simcha u-v’tuv levov m’rov kol, “Because you did not serve Hashem, your G-d, with joy and a good heart, with much good” (Devarim 28:47).

The Mesilat Yesharim (19) explains that m’rov kol “with much good” and b’simcha u-v’tuv levov “with joy and a good heart” refer to poor attitudes of the Jews. The verse criticizes Bnei Yisrael’s performance of mitzvot with the wrong approach. Their service of Hashem lacked enjoyment, simcha, and for that reason they receive these horrific curses.

Rashi (Devarim 28:47), however, accepts an alternative interpretation of the verse. He reads m’rov kol to refer to a time period, not an attitude. M’rov kol refers to a time period when things were good and the Jews prospered. The verse explains that when the Jews were thriving, they forgot Hashem, and went astray. It was during well-to-do times that the Jews had abandoned Hashem and the mitzvot and in effect brought about these curses.

This concern, overconfidence and arrogance leading to forgetting Hashem, is one that the Torah addresses often. Moreover and more specifically, the Torah offers two types of prescriptions designed to deal with the problem.

Firstly, many mitzvot are aimed at combating this arrogant mindset that leads one away from Hashem. A great example is the mitzvah of Sukkah according to the Rashbam (Vayikra 23:43). He argues that we sit in a Sukkah, precisely to avoid this problem. At the end of the harvest season, one can naturally feel empowered and accomplished after a successful harvest. The Torah’s response is to move out to the Sukkah. When it is natural to feel too much like the baal habayit the Torah orders you to go out and live in a Sukkah.

This suggestion of the Rashbam also explains why we sit in the Sukkah on Sukkot and not Pesach, a question many commentaries struggle to answer. It is because specifically then, after the harvest, that it is natural to develop this sense of overconfidence. It also may explain why s’chach is used as a roof. One should use some of the crops harvested as the s’chach, a covering for the Sukkah symbolizing that it has the potential to protect him, but realize that real protection comes from Hashem.

Besides mitzvot, there is a second weapon the Torah has against claiming credit and allowing that to forgetting Hashem. Awareness of the problem, education, and the proper perspective are psychological tools used to help man overcome this potential trap. Moshe warns the Jews explicitly of this concern saying, “Be careful lest you forget Hashem, your G-d” (Devarim 8:11). Preparation and knowledge is a large part of the battle.

But even more than warning us of the potential problem, the Torah offers an alternative attitude, a better way constructing one’s outlook on one’s success. The Torah says, “And you will say that ‘With my strength and might of my hands I succeeded’” (Devarim 8:18). Often misunderstood, in this verse the Torah never tells man to dismiss his own accomplishments. On the contrary, as the Ran (Drashot HaRan, Drasha 10) points out, the Torah does encourage one to recognize one’s talents, but to realize something else as well: “He is the one who gives you strength to succeed.” It is Hashem who gave you the strength, so you can succeed for yourself. Humility is not ignoring one’s talents, but recognizing they come from Hashem, whereas arrogance is taking credit yourself when Hashem is deserving of it. That is what Hashem warns us from doing, what he encourages us to rethink, and punishes us for violating, if we don’t deal with it correctly.

Lastly, if Hashem exiles us because Tachat lo avadetem et Hashem Elokeycha b’simcha u-v’tuv levov m’rov kol then one can assume that to succeed in Eretz Yisrael, one should serve Hashem humbly and happily.

Rabbi Jesse Horn is a Senior Ra”m at Yeshivat Hakotel and Program Director of Mizrachi Mechanchim. He is a member of the Mizrachi Speakers Bureau (www.

• Raincoats from £29.50 • Sports Jackets and Blazers all ½ price. • Suits £85 each 2 for £150 • Polo Shirts £8 each 2 for £12 • Lightweight Trousers £20.00 2 pairs for £35.00 • Shirt Bargains £10 each 3 for £20.00 • Big sizes no problem up to 60 inch chest and 21 inch shirts

10 Golders Green Road London, NW11 8LL

Open weekdays until 6pm & Sundays til 5pm

Ki Tavo: “But it’s in Private…”

BY GAVRIEL COHN

In this week’s Torah portion, Moshe commands the twelve tribes that after they enter the Land they are to divide themselves and gather upon two opposing mountain-tops for a quite perplexing, foreboding event (which Yehoshua later performs, see Yehoshua, 8:33). As the entire nation waits on these peaks, listening, “the Levites are to speak up, saying in a loud voice to every man in Israel:”

“Cursed be the man who makes any graven image, an abomination to the Lord, the handiwork of a craftsman and sets it up in secret! And all the people shall respond, saying, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who degrades his father and mother. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who moves back his neighbour’s landmark. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who misguides a blind person on the way. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who perverts the judgment of the stranger, the orphan, or the widow. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who lies with his father’s wife... And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who lies with any animal. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who lies with his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who strikes his fellow in secret. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ Cursed be he who takes a bribe to put an innocent person to death. And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’”

Why are these sins specifically enumerated? What makes these wrongdoings more curse-worthy than any other? Why perform this ceremony anyway?

All of the details within this peculiar event hint to its purpose. The Levites’ declarations of damnation are addressed not to the nation or the tribes but rather to “every man in Israel” – to each and every individual. Nevertheless, at the same time, this was to be a national affair, a gathering of all the tribes together. The sins mentioned are those committed “in secret” – behind closed doors or when few people would be watching.

This mountain-top rite was intended to shape the future Jewish society of the Land and to send a critical message to each and every member of it. One may think that these sins, despite being forbidden, are tacitly permitted by the public as they do not harm society at large; they are committed privately, hidden from the public, and off the community stage. One could move his neighbour’s border-marks or slightly fudge one’s business dealings without any large-scale or collective damage incurring or, for that matter, without anyone finding out. He could “strike his fellow in secret” (which Rashi takes to mean gossiping); be ill-mannered to his parents at home; or exploit and abuse the vulnerable in private – he wouldn’t be harming society or the State as a whole, so why would anyone else mind? He may not even get caught. Thus, to combat this attitude, Moshe demands that all the tribes assemble together and, as a nation thunder against such private crimes. As the tribes respond “Amen!” they are moulding Jewish society. They are showing to “every man in Israel” that the public, the tribes, equally abhor those misconducts committed in private as it does those in public. That no one is to take advantage of someone else; even if he may remain untraceable and hidden – society condemns him nonetheless.

Perhaps for this reason, according to some, if a person wishes to repent for his sins towards his fellow man he should confess his wrongdoings publically, telling a whole gathering of people how he slighted this particular friend, even if his offence was committed in private (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah, 2:5). By publically confessing his misdeeds, this wrongdoer would come to appreciate that the community is indeed concerned with what happens “in secret.” Previously, he wrongly assumed that society as a whole would turned a blind eye to what goes on discreetly between two people; now, with his public confession, he would see that he was mistaken. This repentant soul will finally hear the roaring “Amen!” of the tribes that Moshe commanded to ring out from those mountaintops: That Jewish society cares about morality and honesty behind closed doors as well.

if a person wishes to repent for his sins towards his fellow man he should confess his wrongdoings publically

Gavriel Cohn is an informal educator at Immanuel College, Bushey. He has written a number of Torah articles for various publications. If you have any questions or comments, please get in touch! gavcohn@ gmail.com.

Chovat Halevavot

The author continues to list the seven ways in which one shows their folly by refusing to properly engage in service of Hashem until they have taken a “security” on their “efforts”, meaning only if all their needs (and extras) are met prior. (People who say, “If I have one million pounds, then I will give charity” or If I have a car then I will do Chesed etc.) Hashem is not to be treated like a person shopping on credit, whom one only allows to take goods if one is satisfied that they will be able to repay their debt.

The first thing we say to such a person is: Understandably, one may wish to take a security from their friend or a stranger prior to extending credit to them. However, it would be highly inappropriate for a hired worker to say to his boss, “I am not doing any work for you unless you give me your silver candlesticks as a security so that I can be sure you will pay me!” Similarly, we are on a log term contract with Hashem, and it is self-understood that we will serve Him properly and not make demands of Hashem prior. To the contrary, we are enjoined by the Tanna in Avot to not conduct ourselves as slaves who seek reward but as slaves who do not seek reward (although of course there is reward for every Mitzvah we do or sin that we are tempted by and refrain from). Secondly, in the usual course of lending money, one knows how much the loan is and therefore knows what security to take against it. When it comes to serving Hashem, on the other hand, how can a person say, “Give me X, Y and Z before I begin to serve You, Hashem, properly”? Surely, one does not know what they need for their life and their family’s life, how long they will all live for and what their needs will be! Thus, it is completely unreasonable to withhold service of Hashem due to not having everything that one needs.

Hilchot and Minhagei Rosh Hashanah

Below, we present some pertinent Halachot and customs to be aware of on and around Rosh Hashanah.

The forty days between Rosh Chodesh Elul and Yom Kippur are days that have been designated for introspection and closeness to Hashem. This started with Moshe Rabbeinu ascending the Mountain to receive the second set of Luchot, which he brought to us on the day after Yom Kippur.

As it is a serious time and one of reflection on our conduct throughout the year, we pray with greater sincerity and spend time on added prayers, such as Selichot. The Sefardic custom is to commence Selichot from the beginning of Elul, whereas Ashkenazim begin on a Sunday which allows at least four days. As Rosh Hashanah falls on Tuesday this year, Selichot will begin on the Sunday prior to the week of Rosh Hashanah.

We also sound the Shofar in shul on each day of Elul (besides for Shabbat and Erev Rosh Hashanah). This serves as a “wake up call” to alert us to the fact that there is a day of Judgement approaching and if we wish to be granted a happy and sweet new year, we would be strongly recommended to make some changes to our (often unhelpful) habits. For this reason too, some people fast on Erev Rosh Hashanah. However, even though we approach Rosh Hashanah in a solemn manner, we nonetheless are joyous that we have the privilege to crown Hashem as the King over the Universe once again.

We leave shul on Rosh Hashanah day in a respectful manner but also filled with faith that the community has earned itself a favourable judgment.

It is important to use a good Machzor on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as there are many insertions and small but highly significant changes to the prayer services over these days.

On Rosh Hashanah night, it is customary to wish our family and acquaintances to be written down (as it were, by Hashem) for a good year. We also eat various sweet fruit and honey and sincerely plead with Hashem that we all be granted a sweet new year!