Daily Chizuk #0986

The Shulchan Aruch writes in the laws of Rosh Hashanah that on this great day we are supposed to eat and drink and be happy. However we should not eat to complete satiation so that we don’t come to a light headed state of mind, but rather, keep the fear of Hashem upon us. The Mishnah Berura writes that although Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgment, there is still a mitzvah to be happy on the holiday. The sefer Vaveh HaAmudim asked, seemingly these two emotions, fear and happiness, are contradictory. How can we be expected to have both at the same time? The Rabbi explained with a mashal. Imagine, in Yerushalayim we discovered a hidden tzaddik who is a master of every facet of Torah. Very quickly, all of Klal Yisrael begins looking to him for guidance. But not only is he a gadol b’Torah and righteous in all of his deeds, he also has ruach hakodesh and can see on a person’s face every deed that he ever did, both good and bad. Not only that, he also has a special power of beracha. Whenever he gives a person a blessing, it always comes true. Every day, hundreds of people get on line to try to get one minute with this great tzaddik. For sure, if a person knows he is about to go in, he will make teshuva for all of his sins, not wanting the rabbi to see what he did. He will also come prepared with his words carefully, not wanting to waste time with unimportant things. And when he actually walks in to where the Gadol is, on one hand he is going to be afraid, knowing whose presence he is in, but at the same time he is going to be so happy, knowing that the answer to all of his problems is just one blessing away.
Today, before our deeds are scrutinized, we still have a chance to repent so that we could enter the King’s chambers looking beautiful. On one hand, Rosh Hashanah is a very serious day, but at the same time it is such a happy day because we are so excited to be together with Hashem. Chazal tell us, during the entire Aseret Yameh Teshuva, beginning with Rosh Hashanah, Hashem is closer to us than He is during the rest of the year. It’s as if He is personally coming into our homes to be with us. Let us prepare properly to greet the Melech and b’ezrat Hashem He will bless everyone with kol tuv v’tov. Amen.
Tizku l’shanim rabot and Shabbat Shalom.