Rabbi Guy Tal: Rosh Hashanah 5786

by Rabbi Guy Tal

(Edmonton) – The famous children’s song (and for adults?) by the late Naomi Shemer ends with the words:

בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה

לִבֵּנוּ עָנָה בִּתְפִלָּה נוֹשָׁנָה

שֶׁיָּפָה ושׁוֹנָה תְּהֵא הַשָּׁנָה

אֲשֶׁר מַתְחִילָה לָהּ בְּשִּׁיר.

(On Rosh Hashanah, on Rosh Hashanah / Our hearts responded with an ancient prayer / That the year which begins with a song / Will be beautiful and different).

To what ancient prayer is Naomi Shemer referring? Perhaps to the famous prayer “Achot Ketana” (Little Sister) which begins with the words:

אָחוֹת קְטַנָּה תְּפִלּוֹתֶיהָ

עוֹרְכָה וְעוֹנָה תְּהִלּוֹתֶיהָ

אֵל נָא רְפָא נָא לְמַחֲלוֹתֶיהָ

תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ:

(A little sister arranges and sings her prayers, O G-d please heal her illnesses, may the year and its curses end)

and ends with the words:

תָּחֵל שָׁנָה וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ

(“May the year and its blessings start”)

Why do we want the year to be different? What is the secret of the year (Shana=Shinui, year=change)?

Reality and the universe seems on its face to be circular and self-contained, trapped in the chains of a despairing determinism that invalidates meaning. The world has existed forever, argued Aristotle, and therefore, as Pythagoras, the Stoics, and others added, everything has already happened, and everything will happen again in a kind of endless cycle of meaninglessness. Eternity is a very long time, and if reality has existed forever, everything has already had time to happen and will happen again and again – the eternal recurrence. The most wondrous and despairing description of this anti-creationist Stoic world view is written in the eternal Book of Books.: “Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities, all is vanity… A generation goes, and a generation comes, and the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun sets; then it hurries back to the place where it rises… All things are wearied… What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, ‘See, this is new’ It has already existed for ages that were before us.”

This depressing circle is broken by the idea of creation. Like platform 9¾ at King’s Cross station in London, like the wardrobe in Professor Digory’s house, the idea of creation opens a gateway for us to a magical, different, free world, which is not trapped within itself. The belief in creation is the belief in the ability to renew the world, to repair it, and to create a new world – “Me-ha’olam v’ad ha’olam ata El,” (“From everlasting to everlasting, You are G-d”), “Hadashim labekarim rabah emunatecha,” (“They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness”). This is our faith in You, but even more so, it is Your faith in us. 

In a process that is long yet short—thousands of years that are as nothing compared to eternity—the world is being built and repaired, moving toward its complete redemption. The belief in a starting point, before which reality was completely different, is also the belief in an endpoint, after which reality will be completely different. “Or Chadash al Zion Ta’i” (A new light will shine on Zion).

On Rosh Hashanah, the world was created, reality was revitalized, and ever since, each year it is brought into being once more, providing us with the opportunity to renew ourselves. What was is not what will be; the year to come is a fresh and distinct reality we will craft with our own hands. As Naomi Shemer wrote beautifully: “Beautiful and different will be the year that begins with a song.”

Rabbi Guy Tal is the Rabbi at Beth Israel, the Modern Orthodox Jewish Congregation in Edmonton.