Hayom Haras Olam — Rosh Hashana is the birthday of the world. All of creation is being created anew. From inanimate objects and plant life to animals and humans. All are being evaluated to see if and how they should show up in the newly minted world. The fate of the day creates a certain heaviness.
But there’s also a beautiful opportunity that comes when the world is re-created, because you too are being created brand new. Therefore, you can actually daven for whatever additional, brand-new kochos you want this year.
Of course, at every second of every day, Hashem is emanating creation. But He typically does so with His hanhagas hamishpat, meaning there is a natural order to the world, and Hashem doesn’t just upend teva for no reason. Your IQ is your IQ, your moodiness is your moodiness, etc.
But on Rosh Hashana, everything is reassessed and totally recreated. Here’s your golden opportunity for the best birthday present you can ask for. You can ask for… anything. If during the year you’ve been struggling with specific middos or challenges, they really belong to your pekelah from the previous year. Perhaps you don’t have to be recreated with them again for the upcoming year — as long as you demonstrate to Hashem that you want to fulfill His ratzon and plan to do so with the additional tools He gives you.
I’ll illustrate with a life-altering example someone shared with me. Her husband was officially “in learning” but struggled with the language barrier. In addition to having to grapple with complex Gemara concepts, he broke his teeth over every bit of Lashon Hakodesh and Aramaic he encountered. Despite his yeshiva education, he just didn’t have a “language head.” Some people are gifted with a knack for languages; he wasn’t.
This woman truly wanted her husband to be matzliach in his learning, but there was a very natural obstacle in his way. No amount of ArtScroll or remedial kriah books were making his time in kollel that much smoother.
That Rosh Hashana, she added something to her davening. “Hashem, You are creating every single bit of creation, brand new and fresh. This year, create my husband with the ability to grasp Lashon Hakodesh. Make him able to easily understand the language. Give him the intellectual abilities to process and retain Hebrew.”
She continued, “You are the Melech, and we want to serve as devoted subjects in Your kingdom. Surely it’s Your will that my husband be able to learn and understand Your Torah. Give him the kochos to be able to do so.”
Nothing dramatic happened. Her husband didn’t magically grow a photographic memory of the dictionary. But his day-to-day reality eased. He found that he was able to understand Hebrew more easily and could figure out the gist of what the text was saying by working out the shorashim and context. That tefillah whispered by his wife changed him, simply because she believed in the opportunity of the day.
The world is being created anew, and with it, you are too! And since you have an audience with your Creator on the very day He is creating you, don’t you want to ask big? Ask for whatever kind of life you feel you need to serve Hashem properly, to reveal His Shechinah in the world, to make Him a dwelling place down here.
Believe that a new, custom-made you can be created. What would you like for your birthday?
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 98 – Rosh Hashana.
