Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

ROSH HASHANA
EVENING DRASHA

Rosh Hashanah celebrates the anniversary of the creation of the world. It was on this day, according to tradition, God created the world.

There is a very intriguing passage in the Jerusalem Talmud (Brachot 1:1) that reads:

The ministering angels of heaven gather around the Holy One, and ask: “Almighty God! When Rosh Hashanah begins?” God replies “Why are you asking me? Let us go down and ask the people of earth: “When does the New Year begin?”

One would expect that the Creator would have given a precise answer. What an odd response! This kind of answer almost sounds like, “It sure beats me! How am I supposed to know? Let’s ask somebody else who knows.”

Rabbinic wisdom frequently expressed their wisdom through hyperbole and paradox. What did the ancient rabbis have in mind when they said such a thing?

I believe that Jewish folklore may hold a very valuable key to answering to our original question - “Doesn’t God already know when Rosh Hashanah begin?”

Perhaps the Sages wished to teach us that it is not God who makes the New Year, the New Year begins with our readiness and commitment to renew life.

According to the Kabbalah, the Bible of Jewish mysticism, God did not create us to be mere receivers or “takers” of God’s divine blessings, but to be givers and dispensers of God’s abundance. This spiritual attitude is well known in the annals of Jewish folklore. In the old Shtetle of Europe there was a whole class of people who were popularly known as the “Schnorers.”

Enter the Schonerer.

What’s a schonerer? According to Jackie Mason, a schonerer as a resourceful beggar who spends his whole life figuring out how to live off other people. He’s not successful unless he feels he can make his way through life for nothing. You may recall how the schonerer was one of the more colorful characters in Shalom Aleichem’s “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Whenever schnoring, the schonerer made his usual request modestly, firmly, with a sense of entitlement. He knew that everyone had an obligation to give. He lived on his quit wit. Once a schnorer knocked on a wealthy man’s home, the owner replied, “I haven’t a cent in the house right now. Business has been bad. Come back tomorrow.” said the householder. “Ah, my friend” said the schonerer, “Do I look like I work for a Hebrew Loan Society? You’d be amazed to know what a fortune I have lost by giving people like you credit!” Another version of the story reads,” Because business for you has been bad, must I have to suffer?” quips the Schonerer.

There is a well-known story about a schnorer that once went to Barron Rothschild and asked the rich Barron for a hand-out. The Barron refused, the schnorer was not about to take no for an answer, he started shrieking to the top of his voice, “My family is starving to death, and the Barron refuses to see me!”

The Barron relents “I’m defeated. Here is a sum of 20 thalers (dollars). Let me give you some advice. If you hadn’t made so much noise, you’d got forty instead of twenty.”

The schonerer counting the money said, “Sir. You are a banker; do I give you banking advice? I’m a schnorer; don’t give me schnoring advice!”

The schonerer is no ordinary moocher. He did not ask for alms, he demanded them. Typically, the schonerer was daring, brash, and cynical. Schnorers could often quote Talmud with the best of rabbis. He was quick on the verbal draw. A schonerer was full of hutzpa; they were experts in exploiting one of the most psychological forces that is pervasive in the Jewish psyche everywhere-guilt.

Although Jewish history has always had its share of Schnorers, it was never the kind of occupation any Jewish parent would want their child to aspire to. A doctor? Yes. A lawyer? Maybe. A stock broker? Yes, but a Schonerer? Never!

As the Kabbalah intimates, on Rosh Hashanah, God does not want us to behave as if we were nothing more than spiritual schnorers begging God for the gift a New Year, He expects each of us to make the New Year special. The New Year does not begin in Heaven; it begins whenever human beings decide to re-sanctify their lives anew.

Practically speaking, all our actions, behavior, and thoughts during these two days determine how our destiny will unfold in the forthcoming days. Not only must we make the vessel for God’s blessings, we also have to find innovative ways to expand the vessel so we can attract a greater flow of abundance.
Knowing that our fate is in our hands, the question becomes for each of us:
“So, what am I going do about it?”
Here’s something you can do. Over the next 10 days, make two lists: one containing all the things you want in the coming year; the other outlining the behavior that will get you those things. Now, keep in mind one of the basic requisites of the Kabbalah:

In order to get something you have to give something. The Blessings we ask for, an asiaat Ha-clei. Without a vessel, without a receptacle that is strong, we cannot receive God’s blessings fully.

What are some of the things we pray for on Rosh Hashanah? I will give only a few examples, I believe if you reflect on the words of the Avinu Malanu prayer, you will discover other meanings that are no less spiritually relevant to your lives.

I. We pray for Bracha - blessing.

To receive a bracha, we are told in our sacred tradition, we become a blessing. The story of Abraham should serve as an excellent model. Abraham is told: Be a blessing - vehee bracha!

What a powerful phrase. It’s as if God is telling him: Don’t think that blessings are something that will fall out of the heavens without any effort on our part. It is not a matter of merely possessing the blessing, if we wish to be blessed, then we must become the blessing. Our very presence must emanate goodness and kindness. Let every breath we breathe exude God’s blessings (bracha) to our loved ones and neighbors around us.

II. Another thing we pray for is healing.

If desire healing, we must expend healing to those around us in our communities and in the world. Comfort the afflicted whenever possible; send monies to those who are experiencing hardship; visit the sick. Learn to recognize the healing energy that each of us possesses.

III. We also ask God for Silicha and Michilah - pardoning and forgiveness.

Central to the theme of the Ten Days of Repentance is the importance of personal renewal. So long as we find ourselves “stuck” in the past, we will experience the blessing of forgiveness. If we wish to receive God’s forgiveness and pardon, what are we prepared to do? Do we forgive easily? Do we hold on to grudges, to hatred and animosity? Does anger govern and define our life? Starting this evening, it is time to let go of the old hurts, of grudges, hatred and animosity. Only then can you be a worthy vessel for God’s forgiveness. The Talmud teaches that he who forgives others receives forgiveness from God.

IV. Perhaps most importantly, we pray for is shalom -

If we want shalom from God, then we must pursue shalom in our own personal relationships. When provoked, how do we respond? Do we love to fight? If we find pleasure in seeing people upset or miserable, how can any of us honestly pray for shalom? We must stop harboring resentment, we must stop letting ourselves be instruments of hatred and hostility. We must make peace with each other and let go of the heavy baggage of contentiousness and grudges that stops us from receiving God’s abundant blessing of Shalom.

Without Shalom, the Sages point out none of the other blessings will endure. Shalom is the one thing we must aggressively pursue

What is true with respect to the individual is no less true with regards to our nation. As we remember the victims of September 11, 2001, let us give pause how we wish to defeat the ubiquitous threat of terrorism. Are we to act as if our nation never experienced this assault on our nation? We are a good nation who cares about the welfare of others; no other country in human history has ever liberated more people than the United States, if we want to defeat terrorism, we must be prepared to fight against terrorism, economically, culturally, and militarily. No amount of wishful thinking is going to defeat the forces of evil who remain determined to destroy our country. Should we lack the resolve to win, we may be witnessing the end of the greatest nation the world has ever seen. The prayers for peace must be more than wishful thinking; we need to take our sentiments for peace and do what it takes to transform them into a reality.

For our nation to remain strong and healthy, we must as a nation, strive toward harmony; the politics of self-destruction that we witness, the charges of acrimony leveled against one another must come to an end. For the forces of evil can only triumph if we are a house divided.

The time has come for our nation as a whole to start giving one another the benefit of the doubt—even when we might suspect the other person, or political party is sometimes undeserving of our optimism. The spirit of unity that we showed immediately after 9/11 can invigorate us anew, provided we remember what we each share in common. The alternative is ruination and self-defeat.

The angels ask, “Almighty God! When does Rosh Hashanah begin?”

May each of us prove worthy of creating a new vessel for God’s infinite blessings.