english ROSH HASHANA
24 HOURS AT MACY’S
My five year old daughter came back from kindergarten and sang me a song. The song spoke about a mother that saw a cute dress for her daughter in the store window. 50% off. She passed the store for ten days, every day reminding herself that she wanted the dress; she just needed to find the time to go in and buy it. When she finally found time to stop in, she asked for the dress. “Sorry, the sale is over.” “But I was so busy, I did not have time to come in…” “Sorry, ma’am. The sale has expired.”
It was a מציאה , a find, a good deal. But it slipped through her fingers. She felt bad; the dress would have been so cute on her daughter. And then, my daughter sang, דרשו ה’ בהמצאו – Seek out G-d when He is to be found – this refers to (doing teshuva in) the ten days of teshuva , from the beginning of Rosh Hashanah till the end of Yom Kippur. The words of the song were a great lesson. When Hashem is to be found means a time when you can get close to Hashem “at half price.” You can do Teshuva at half price. It is a find, a מציאה . All year long, Teshuva can be done, but only with a longer procedure. During these days, there is a ten days’ blowout clearance sale: all you have to do is seek. Seek G-d. And how is this done? How do we seek G-d? For that, we need to seek time. Time to spend alone and go into our hearts. Time to review the busy daily schedule and see what can be done differently that will make us a drop better and give more quality to life.
Why did my daughter’s nursery rhyme call it a bargain? All year long, teshuva means changing your ways, becoming somewhat of a different person. Now, teshuva is half price, because all you’ve got to do is decide that you want to be better, you want to be closer to G-d, and then G-d will consider it as if you have made the change, as if you have already changed. Just in time for judgment.
This reminds me of an episode that I laugh about each time it comes to mind. Living in Israel, it is hard to find nice, quality clothes for good prices, so my wife and I decided to do some serious shopping when we went to America for my brother’s wedding. On the day of the wedding, we went to Macy’s. Many items were on sale, with really significant reductions. We were not sure if we really needed everything we had chosen. We had to be on time for picture taking .Time was short. It’s difficult to make decisions under pressure, so I asked the newly trained cashier if he would be able to put part of the clothing on hold for us for two or three days. Right away, he called the manager, and relayed his message. “Sir, our policy is to hold your items for 24 hours.” I knew that we would not be back, the day after the wedding, in 24 hours from that moment. It was 12 noon. Half jokingly , I asked the cashier, “Does the 24 hours begin immediately from now , or from the end of the business day?” I just wanted to see if there was any way that the clothes my wife had worked so hard to choose could be left on the side for a few more hours the next day. Again, a call to the manager. “The 24 hours begin right now.” And then, partially out of frustration, partially out of wanting to add a little comic relief, I asked him, as if wondering out loud, “Sir, is it possible that the 24 hours can be split up? A couple of hours today, a couple of hours tomorrow, spreading out the hours until next week?” He took me seriously . He picked up the phone and called the manager. “A gentleman, here, wants to know if he can put some items on hold for a couple of hours today, a couple of hours tomorrow, or even next week. Is that under the 24-hour policy of putting things on hold in Macys?” It looked as if it was going to take the manager 24 hours to understand. So, I left the store and the rookie cashier, who was, in all earnestness trying to explain his question to the manager. He must have felt that he had better know the store policy, just in case someone else might want to split the “24 hours on hold” store policy.
In those ten days of teshuva that we have, there are 240 hours = 14,400 minutes= 864,000 seconds. That’s it. You can’t put time on hold. You can’t take some time from today, a little time from tomorrow… it is the store policy. Manager’s orders. Take it or leave it. Take it, or lose it.
People spend hours seeking out brand names and good quality at discount prices. For the Teshuva bargain this week, you do not even need to spend time and money getting out to the shopping mall, filling up with gas, paying for tolls or parking. You do not even need internet or a credit card. Just park right there on a chair in a quiet spot. Away from internet, Amazon , eBay or anything else in which people immerse themselves in for untold hours. Take out a pen and paper. And start writing whatever you think you may be able to do better this year. And there – you got it! 50 % off. Your earnings are already in your Heavenly Bank Account. And you’ve gotten a better quality life. Same second delivery…
WRONG SIDE OF THE BED
As Chaikel, the water carrier, was going about his daily chores, he was stopped by the Baal Shem Tov. “How are you doing?” the tzaddik asked. “Rabbi, what do you want me to say,” Chaikel groaned. “Life is so difficult and bitter. Every single day, I’ve got to walk all the way to the well and carry the water back to the village. It’s too much for me, too draining. And aside from that, I’m also subject to much abuse from the village’s youngsters, giving them the enjoyment of watching a man collapsing under his heavy load.”
The following day the Baal Shem Tov posed the identical question. This time the response was different. “Baruch HaShem, every morning I wake up and HaShem gives me strength to go about my business,” he answered with a huge smile. “Through my buckets I bring brachah into my home. At the end of a long, hard day, I return home to find my wife waiting for me. Without me, she wouldn’t be able to survive. All this gives me the strength to continue.”
With this, the Baal Shem Tov turned to his students and said, “Chaikel has just helped me understand something I’ve been trying to comprehend for a long time. There are two contradicting phrases from Chazal (Rosh HaShana 16a). First, they state that a person is judged on Rosh HaShana; but then, it goes on to say, that he’s judged daily. Chaikel has just explained this to me.”
“As you’ve just seen, Chaikel hasn’t changed his difficult schedule or back breaking work since yesterday, yet his mood has changed. On Rosh HaShana, the day on which it’s decided how much money one will earn during the year, it was decided that Chaikel shall receive parnasah from carrying water. Every day, however, it is decided what his mood will be, whether or not on that particular day he will enjoy what he’s doing.” (Story from the sefer חיים שיש בהם, על מועדי השנה)
This story relates to us a point that may, at times, confuse us. The story seems to express that we are not in control of our emotions; rather, the way we feel is subject to Divine Judgment. If one is angry or sad, there is nothing that he or she can do about it. That was the Heavenly decree of the day, due to their actions. The wrong side of the bed that one wakes up on is out of one’s control, for it is a Heavenly punishment.
This is a common mistake. Our emotions, the way we feel, have everything to do with the way we think. Waking up on “the wrong side of the bed” is a follow-up of going to bed with a negative thought or belief.
If a person feels strong emotions about something, and we tell him to stop that feeling – stop being frustrated, stop worrying, stop being angry – this just adds to the fire. The way we can help to get ourselves or others out of a negative emotion is by finding out what thoughts or beliefs caused it. Guidance to a healthier and more positive way of thinking can be given only when the strong emotion has subsided. Not always are we in control of our thoughts: ironically, if one were to decide not to think tomorrow, he would wake up thinking that he does not want to think! Thoughts come to mind with or against our will. However, we can decide if we would like to entertain a certain thought, and how we want to believe and look at things.
By perceiving life in a certain way, we bring judgment on ourselves. I believe that the Baal Shem Tov was telling his students that the way we think brings about Heavenly Judgment that determines how we feel. And the way we believe will bring judgment as to what type of “luck” we will have in life. We can learn this from Chana.
“On Rosh Hashana, Chana was remembered”(Rosh H.10b, 11a). Each year for the Holidays, her husband, Elkana, would bring the family up to Shilo, the place of the Mishkan. Her husband had another wife, Pnina, who did have children: ten of them. Elkana would always give Chana a double portion of the holiday feast, for he loved her, and commiserated with her for her being childless. Pnina teased Chana, trying to get her to pray for children at the Mishkan with bitter tears on the holidays. This gave Chana great pain, causing her to lose her appetite at the meals. Elkana came to Chana to console her and said, “Why are you crying? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart bitter? Am I not better for you, as a husband, than ten children?
We might ask, what kind of a consolation was this meant to be? So what? Her Shalom Bayit, tranquility at home, is fine. Still, she does not have any children! How can she be happy when she is taunted by the other wife, who has a whole school bus of children, when she is all alone?
The answer is that Elkana was trying to shift Chana’s perspective to look at what is working out and be happy and appreciative for it. It is for her to choose her focus, and she had a beautiful marriage with Elkana. Elkana tried to cheer her up saying that their marriage was everything. Chana was so overwhelmed with pain and bitterness that she was unable to hear Elkana’s attempts to help her. So, she went to the Mishkan to pray and pour out her frustration to G-d.
She made a silent prayer, which, as the first of its kind, aroused the suspicion of Eli, the Kohen Gadol. Something here was strange, so Eli Hakohen approached the woman. When Eli heard of her trials, he blessed her with a baby ואלקי ישראל יתן את שלתך )the word is spelled שלתך, not שאלתך . Commentators deduce from here that Eli was telling her, not only will G-d answer your prayers, but he will also give you a baby) . Then, she stopped being angry. ופניה לא היו לה עוד (Anger was no longer visible on her face). Immediately after she changed the expression on her face from anger to calm, she was remembered by G-d, and she became pregnant. – Blessings follow those who believe that things will be okay. (Adapted from a class by Rabbanit Y. Mizrachi)
Not only is it important for us to take charge of our thoughts and beliefs for better living; we must repent having negative and invalid thoughts of the past, as well. R’ Ovadia Yosef, shlita, mentioned this in his weekly worldwide class a few years back. The passuk says יעזוב רשע דרכו ואיש און מחשבותיו the wicked shall leave his ways, and a strong-minded man (shall leave) his thoughts. The passuk here is describing two types of teshuva: teshuva from sin and evil ways, and teshuva from thoughts that are invalid – those that are against Torah principles or against the truth. For example, says R’ Ovadia, a person who thinks, even for a minute, that learning Torah is not saving the world, that learning Torah is not keeping our nation alive, must do Teshuva for such thoughts. For this goes against the teachings of our Rabbis, אם לא בריתי יומם ולילה חוקות שמים וארץ לא שמתי . Thoughts and beliefs are of great importance, because they determine the way we are going to feel and behave. And it is safe to say that if our belief in G-d – that He cares for us and loves us so much, that He always has only the best for us in mind – is ever weakened, even to an almost negligible degree, it is a serious breach of faith which requires our repentance.
The way we look at things, the way we believe, can instill hope in us. This may even be the way that G-d will judge us. This is what I believe the Baal Shem Tov wanted to teach his students, and teach us all!
