In preparing for Rosh Hashanah, one cannot but wonder about the idea of having only a single day reserved for Divine judgment. Though the idea appears in the Mishnah, the Talmud itself turns around and ponders how this could be fair. It essentially asks, ”What about people who receive a negative judgment as a result of their behavior last year, but then change their ways for the better in the middle of this year?” Should they not be given a new judgment based on their current behavior?
It is true that the Talmud finds a resolution in certain cases, but it leaves the underlying problem not completely resolved (Rosh Hashanah 17b).
At the same time, the fact that God does judge us more at this time of year than at others has created some amazing realities: On other days, it is very rare to find appropriate decorum in a Jewish place of worship. Frankly, it is embarrassing to see the joking and irrelevant conversations that go on in these holy places – places where, at least during our Amidah prayers, we stand in the presence of God.
In contrast, on Rosh Hashanah (and Yom Kippur) our shuls are transformed into what they really should be all year round. All of a sudden there is a sense of awe and majesty. We are finally conscious of God’s presence and act accordingly.
Still, the decorum evident on the High Holy Days may sound like an exercise in hypocrisy – why can’t we act this way throughout the year? In dealing with this issue, we should remember that this is not the only Jewish concept invoking enhanced consciousness of God at specific times or places, despite His presence everywhere and at all times.
For example, when the Jews asked Moshe to speak to God on their behalf out of fear that they would die at Mount Sinai if they had to stand in His presence any longer, it was another way of saying they were not yet ready to be constantly aware of God’s presence. As a result, God allowed them this – which was to be essentially unaware of His presence on a daily basis. Instead, He required that we only occasionally focus on how we should really be thinking all the time and in every place.
This occasional focus serves as a model of what we must work toward during the rest of the year and of what we must seek to develop in all mankind. Indeed, it is this consciousness that will typify the messianic era.
Yet a model should not be confused with the reality it tries to mold. Rather, it is meant to be a small-scale demonstration of what might eventually be done on a larger scale. Thus holidays and Shabbat, Jerusalem and the Mikdash, blessings and set prayer times, the Jewish people and the kohanim are all selected to show what could be, not what is.
In order to get the whole project off the ground, however, God needed a mechanism through which to grab our attention. Having created us, He knows there is no greater tool to bring this about than the evocation of our own self-interest. But without a special day of judgment, that concern would be largely latent. Hence, it seems He pushed all the theological and philosophical problems to the side in order to establish Rosh Hashanah as the one day of judgment.
In doing so, He powerfully helps us focus on Divine justice and our resultant accountability. In turn, the awareness of God that is thereby stimulated motivates us to improve our ways. And, finally, the more we recast our actions in His image, the more we reinforce our consciousness of His presence.
