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Rosh Hashana: Calling Upon Hashem's Mercy Through Humility

For anyone who has been saying selichos since before Rosh Hashana, and then continued in the days after Rosh Hashana all the way through Yom Kippur, one glaring discrepancy may have jumped out. Whereas we include vidui (confession - ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu, etc.) in all selichos and culminate with the lengthy al chet vidui on Yom Kippur, we don't recite vidui on Rosh Hashana. To the contrary, the Mishnah Berurah states in 584:3 that "One should not confess on Rosh Hashana."

Why not?

If one thinks about it, confessing sins reflects a bit of arrogance. As if we expect that, in spite of our sins, Hashem will grant us a favorable judgment because we have enough merits to offset those sins. For if one believed that his sins would sink him, would he so readily confess them? Probably not - man has an instinct for self-preservation. So, in fact, confession implies that we think highly enough of ourselves to believe that we will emerge unscathed in the end because, notwithstanding the sins we committed, we are really worthy and deserve a favorable judgment because of our offsetting merits.

But is this really a calculation we want Hashem to make? There are two attributes of Hashem - that of Justice and that of Mercy. If in our arrogance, we ask Hashem to weigh our sins against our merits, we are essentially asking Hashem to exercise His attribute of strict justice, and see which way the scale tips. That's pretty risky. Do we really know how much weight each of our sins will carry, and by the same token, how much merit each of our mitzvos will add to the balance? In the end, the scales may tip in the wrong direction (Pirkei Avos 2:1 tells us that we don't necessarily know the reward associated with each mitzvah; similarly, we don't know the negative impact of each individual aveirah). 

Clearly, arrogance is not the best approach. Instead, we must exhibit humility because it is humility that allows us to call upon Hashem's attribute of Mercy. When Hashem exercises Mercy, He may forgive us even if the balance of our sins and merits is not favorable (see "Kel Melech Yoshev Al Kisei Rachamim" refrain in selichos - when sitting on the throne of Mercy, Hashem can literally remove our sins one by one... "Ma'avir Rishon Rishon..."). How does this work? 

The gemara in Sotah discusses at length the negative impact of arrogance. Among other things, Hashem says there is not enough room in the World for both Himself and the arrogant person. It follows that by exhibiting humility, we allow Hashem's presence to expand. And on Rosh Hashana, by declaring that Hashem is King, we are humbly acknowledging that we are completely and totally dependent on Hashem's mercy and goodwill for a favorable judgment.

The centrality of humility as a theme on Rosh Hashana is exhibited in various ways. The gemara indicates that the bent shape of the shofar is meant to convey submissiveness to Hashem - i.e., that penitents should be "bent", or hunched over, when calling upon Hashem to act mercifully.

Similarly, I've also heard it said that the breath entering the shofar on the narrow end represents the "breath" Hashem blows into us when we are born, while the sound emanating on the other end, represents the breath of life departing when we die. In essence, our life here on earth is completely dependent on the life force that Hashem breathes into us at birth; when Hashem removes it, we die.

And tying the idea of humility into Mercy, the Pesikta of Rabbi Kahana (not sure of location at present), states that the purpose of the Shofar blasts is to cause Hashem to leave the throne of Strict Judgment and move to the Throne of Mercy.

These ideas help explain, incidentally, why the shofar is not blown on Shabbos (referring here to a philosophical explanation, rather than the straightforward explanation in the gemara about the fear of violating the prohibition against carrying). For Shabbos represents acknowledgment of Hashem as the Creator, and in that sense, is also an expression of humility - an acknowledgment that it is NOT our own creative, physical efforts that bring success. But rather we are ultimately dependent on Hashem's blessing for our material needs.

The notion of humility is also expressed through Tashlich. In discussing the rationale behind Tashlich, the Rama (in his sefer Torat Haolah, 3:56) explains that were the waters of the oceans to rise only a small amount, all of the world's lands would be flooded and human life would cease to exist. Thus, by visiting a body of water to perform Tashlich, we are again reminded of our complete dependence on Hashem's mercy to continue sustaining life on earth by holding back the waters that might otherwise drown us were they to rise (consider also the opinion of R. Eliezer, gemara Rosh Hashana 10b, that the world was created in Tishrei).

In sum, the purpose of Rosh Hashana is to imbue within us the sense of humility required to fully acknowledge our complete dependence on Hashem's Mercy for a favorable judgment; indeed, for the continued existence of life on earth. As such, there is no place for vidui, confession of sins, which implies some level of arrogance that calls upon Hashem's attribute of Justice to weigh our sins against our merits.

With appropriate humility in place, we are ready to resume the process of teshuva, which requires enunciation of our sins, feeling remorse, and commiting not to return to them again.

Credits: the thoughts in this post originated in shiurim heard from Rabbi Sam Goldfinger (Center for Return Yeshiva Lite program), and Rabbi Mordechai Becher and Mrs. Debbie Greenblatt (Gateways Rosh Hashana Retreat).

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