Posted on 09/03/21
When I sat down to begin writing this week’s Dvar Torah, I hit what is called a writer’s block. I simply could not think of what to write and how to express myself. I generally don’t like putting the blame on others, especially because I am the guy who likes to tell people, “You know that when you point your forefinger at someone else in blame, you are really pointing three fingers back at yourself!” However, with that said, I do want to blame the mixer that was turned on in the kitchen for giving me writer’s block. The sound of the mixer was so loud, it felt like my thoughts were placed on pause. If I had not looked over from my writing desk to the kitchen to actually see the mixer, I would have thought a helicopter was landing on the kitchen island.
There is a lesson here. When that mixer in the kitchen was turned on, it was extremely difficult for me to think straight and be focused on what needed to get done. And the same is true when it comes to life. You see, all too often we allow the “noise of the mixer” to negatively impact our present state of mind and focus. We all have important things that need to get done, but the louder the background noise, the easier it is to become sidetracked and unfocused.
The Torah (29:9) tells us, אתם נצבים היום כלכם – You are all standing before Hashem today. The Zohar HaKadosh points out that the word היום – today – is a reference to Rosh Hashanah. In the paragraph of לדוד ה' that we recite throughout the month of Elul, the commentaries point out that the word אורי – light – is also a reference to Rosh Hashanah. These two ideas, Rosh Hashanah being called היום (today) and אורי (light), go hand in hand.
The holiday of Rosh Hashanah contains an אור, a special light, a spotlight, if you will. You know what the spotlight of Rosh Hashanah is? You know what the focus of Rosh Hashanah is? On היום, on today, i.e., on the day of Rosh Hashanah itself. More than anything else, Rosh Hashanah is a time to focus on היום, on TODAY, not on yesterday or tomorrow. It is a holiday of the present, not the past or future. It is a special time of year to just be present – to be היום – and focus on Hashem, your place on this world, and the meaning of life.
This word – היום – appears in Tanach 458 times. Ironically, the 458th word of the Torah is השביעי, perhaps an allusion to the holiday of Rosh Hashanah which occurs at the beginning of the 7th month, Tishrei. Additionally, the number 458 is the same as the gematria (numerical value) of חתן, a groom.
I remember when I was a חתן, the greatest advice given was: just be present. The job of a חתן is to focus on his new bride. The 581st mitzvah of the Torah (see Sefer Hachinuch) is the Mitzvah that a חתן should not leave his home during the first year of marriage. It does not matter that the Jewish people are engaged in war, etc. The חתן has an obligation to stay home: be present and focused on his wife.
Maybe it’s a coincidence, although I don’t believe in coincidences, but the number 581 also has significance to Rosh Hashanah; after all, Hilchos Rosh Hashanah (Shulchan Aruch) begins in Siman 581. If you think about it, we – on Rosh Hashanah – have a similar job to the חתן in his first year of marriage. Just like a חתן is commanded to not leave his בית in order to be focused and present on his wife, so too we must not leave the בית of Hashem, like we say: שבתי בבית ה' כל ימי חיי – I will dwell in the house of Hashem all the days of my life. Rosh Hashanah is a time to focus on היום, on today, and establish Hashem as our loving King and Father.
Chazal say חתן דומה למלך – a groom is like a king. Perhaps, homiletically, this is us on Rosh Hashanah. We, the children and nation of the King of all Kings, have the ability to be אדמה לעליון, we can liken ourselves to Hashem. Let us be focused on Hashem and our potential to be like Him.
Have a holy Shabbos!