Rosh Hashana: The Holiday of Universalism and Chosenness

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Rosh Hashana is the holiday of judgment.  It is the Yom Ha’Din.  Rosh Hashana is the holiday of the shofar.  It is the Yom Teruah.  Rosh Hashana is the holiday of remembrance.  It is the Yom Ha’Zikaron.  But often overlooked is that Rosh Hashana is the day when we struggle with the relationship between particularity, our election as the chosen nation, and universalism, how we are all one with rest of humanity.  On the one hand, we believe that we have an exclusive covenantal relationship with God.  Throughout the Torah God tells Avraham Avinu that He will have a special relationship with him and his descendants.  God tells Moshe that Bnei Yisrael will be a “segulah mi’kol ha’amim,” a treasured possession distinct from all the nations.  We are the chosen people.

 

At the same time, the Tanach includes more inclusivist notions with broader society.  When Shlomo Hamelech builds the Beit Hamikdash, he prays for a universalistic vision of:

 

וְגַם֙ אֶל־הַנׇּכְרִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֛ר לֹא־מֵעַמְּךָ֥ יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל ה֑וּא וּבָ֛א מֵאֶ֥רֶץ רְחוֹקָ֖ה לְמַ֥עַן שְׁמֶֽךָ׃

 

 “Or if a foreigner who is not of Your people Israel comes from a distant land for the sake of Your name— 

כִּ֤י יִשְׁמְעוּן֙ אֶת־שִׁמְךָ֣ הַגָּד֔וֹל וְאֶת־יָֽדְךָ֙ הַחֲזָקָ֔ה וּֽזְרֹעֲךָ֖ הַנְּטוּיָ֑ה וּבָ֥א וְהִתְפַּלֵּ֖ל אֶל־הַבַּ֥יִת הַזֶּֽה׃

 

 for they shall hear about Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm—when he comes to pray toward this House, 

 

אַתָּ֞ה תִּשְׁמַ֤ע הַשָּׁמַ֙יִם֙ מְכ֣וֹן שִׁבְתֶּ֔ךָ וְעָשִׂ֕יתָ כְּכֹ֛ל אֲשֶׁר־יִקְרָ֥א אֵלֶ֖יךָ הַנׇּכְרִ֑י לְמַ֣עַן יֵדְעוּן֩ כׇּל־עַמֵּ֨י הָאָ֜רֶץ אֶת־שְׁמֶ֗ךָ לְיִרְאָ֤ה אֹֽתְךָ֙ כְּעַמְּךָ֣ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְלָדַ֕עַת כִּֽי־שִׁמְךָ֣ נִקְרָ֔א עַל־הַבַּ֥יִת הַזֶּ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּנִֽיתִי׃

 

 oh, hear in Your heavenly abode and grant all that the foreigner asks You for. Thus, all the peoples of the earth will know Your name and revere You, as does Your people Israel; and they will recognize that Your name is attached to this House that I have built.

 

One of the goals of the Beit Hamikdash was to unite the world to pray to and revere God.  At the end of Sefer Yeshayahu (66:18-23), the Navi speaks of God gathering all the nations:

 

וּבָ֖אוּ וְרָא֥וּ אֶת־ כְּבוֹדִֽי:

and they shall come and shall see my glory

 

וְהָיָ֗ה מִֽדֵּי־חֹ֙דֶשׁ֙ בְּחָדְשׁ֔וֹ וּמִדֵּ֥י שַׁבָּ֖ת בְּשַׁבַּתּ֑וֹ יָב֧וֹא כָל־בָּשָׂ֛ר לְהִשְׁתַּחֲוֹ֥ת לְפָנַ֖י אָמַ֥ר יְקֹוָֽק:

 

From new moon to new moon, and from sabbath to sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before me, says the Lord.

 

And at the send of Sefer Zechariah (14:9), the Navi famously prophesizes about a time of

 

וְהָיָ֧ה יְקֹוָ֛ק לְמֶ֖לֶךְ עַל־כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יִהְיֶ֧ה יְקֹוָ֛ק אֶחָ֖ד וּשְׁמ֥וֹ אֶחָֽד:

 

And the LORD shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one LORD with one name.

 

In these passages we promote a universalized worship of God.  We invite all people regardless of ethnicity and religion to worship the One True God without necessarily assimilating into our religion.  Malka Simkovic, a Professor of Jewish Studies who authored a book entitled, “The Making of Jewish Universalism:  From Exile to Alexandria,” writes that at the end of the Second Temple period, a new type of Jewish universalism, ethical universalism, emerged in a number of Jewish texts.  These texts emphasized the commonality of all mankind, that we must take care of the poor and we are responsible for each other.  Indeed, we find passages throughout our halachic literature which reflect these ethical values.  And the question often becomes how do we envision this relationship in theory and in practice?  Are these concepts of chosenness and universalism compatible or competing concepts?  

 

I think that these questions come to the fore in the holiday that we celebrate today, Rosh Hashana.  One of the hand, Rosh Hashana is a uniquely Jewish holiday.  There is nothing universal about this holiday in the Torah.  God tells us, the Jewish people, in Parshat Emor that the first day of the seventh month is a holiday, a “zichron teruah,” and we may not engage in any work.  On the surface, this is a particularistic holiday.  Yet, the Midrash connects this holiday with universalism.  The Midrash in Pesikta D’Rav Kahana (Chapter 23) states:

 

תני ר' אליע' בעשרים וחמשה באלול נברא העולם. ואתיא דרב כהדא דתניא בתקיעתא דרב זה היום תחילת מעשיך , נמצאת אומ' בראש השנה נברא אדם הראשון. 

 

Rabbi Eliezer taught: The world was created on the twenty-fifth of Elul. This is in keeping with the spirit of the Shofar service of the rabbis in which it is written, “zeh hayom techilat ma’asecha…” This day marks the beginning of creation… Adam was created on Rosh HaShana.  

 

According to the Midrash, Rosh Hashana is the birthday of mankind.  In the davening we say, “hayom harat olam,” today is the creation of the world.  Furthermore, the Mishna in Masechet Rosh Hashana (1:2) states that:

בראש השנה כל באי העולם עוברין לפניו כבני מרון

 

On Rosh Hashana, everyone in the world, not just the Jews, but all of mankind is judged and passes by God like sheep.  Chazal clearly view this holiday as a universal holiday.  We want to sing “Happy Birthday Mankind” with our Jewish and non-Jewish neighbors alike, but there’s just one problem.  Nobody ever sent them invitations about the birthday party.  No paperless post, no evite, nothing.  Jews alone celebrate humanity’s birthday.  And not only does mankind not get an invitation to the party, but they don’t receive the subpoena to appear in court on the day of their trial.  The whole world is being judged, but less than one percent of the population knows about it.  Ninety-nine percent of the world has no idea that they are being judged today.  Don’t you think we should tell them?  That is the tension of Rosh Hashana.  Rosh Hashana seems to be characterized as a universal holiday by Chazal and yet only Jews celebrate and observe the holiday.  

 

What’s more peculiar about this holiday is that if Chazal really wanted to demonstrate how universalistic this holiday is, being the birthday of mankind, being the day when everyone in the world is judged, you would think that we would de-emphasize our chosenness on this holiday.  But Chazal, in their infinite wisdom and humor, I may add, did just the opposite.  They told us to read the following two stories from the Torah on the two days of Rosh Hashana:  On day one we read about how Yishmael is banished from Avraham’s house and on day two we read about how Yitzchak is brought up as a sacrifice for God and is spared at the last moment.  Both stories are stories of chosenness and not universalism.  The first story is a story where we push away the non-Jew.  Yishmael is sent away.  The second story highlights the chosenness of Avraham and Yitzchak and the special relationship that was created between them and God through the akedah.  Why do we read these two stories of chosenness on a holiday that seems to be characterized as one of universalism? 

 

Maybe the holiday of Rosh Hashana is actually designed to provide guidance as to how we can deal and resolve the tension between chosenness and universalism in our own lives.  Avraham Avinu is known as the father of ethical monotheism.  He preached to the world both the value of monotheism and that God is the source of our standards of morality through ethical principles.  Chazal say that he was active in preaching already in Charan before he reaches Eretz Canaan and the Rambam (Hilchot Avoda Zara 1:3) states that Avraham had tens of thousands of followers.  He was a very successful kiruv professional.  And yet, God tells Avraham that only once he circumcises himself will he be called Avraham, signifying that he will be an “av hamon goyim,” or a father of a multitude of nations.  Let’s try to understand this Divine message.  God is telling Avraham to do something physical which will separate him from the rest of humanity and it is this act of separation, not his embracing kiruv work until now, which will earn him the title of “av hamon goyim,” of a father of a multitude of nations. 

 

You can imagine how confusing this message was to Avraham.  In fact, Chazal (Breishit Rabbah 46:3) read between the lines a conversation between Avraham and God:  

 

אמר עד שלא מלתי היו באים ומזדווגים לי תאמר משמלתי הן באין ומזדווגים לי, אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא אברהם דייך שאני א-לוהך, דייך שאני פטרונך, ולא לך לעצמך אלא דיי לעולמי שאני א-לוהו.

 

Avraham said: ' Before I circumcised myself, men came and joined me [in my new faith]. Will they come and join me when I am circumcised?'" 'Abraham,' said God to him, ' let it suffice you that I am your God; let it suffice you that I am your Patron, and not only for you alone, but it is sufficient for My world that I am its God and its Patron.' 

 

Avraham is  nervous that his new status will jeopardize his kiruv operation and God’s response is that God’s relationship with Avraham is more important and despite Avraham’s new separate status and new relationship with God, God will still be the patron of the world.

 

God’s message to Avraham is that the greatest impact that we can make on the world is by first separating ourselves and dedicating ourselves to God.  God chooses someone who has a universalistic impulse, Avraham Avinu, who loves everyone and anyone and cares for everyone and anyone.  He even prays for his ideological arch-enemies Sodom and Amora when he discovers that they will be destroyed.  This is the person, the one with the universalistic impulse, that God will select to separate himself and his family from the rest of the world.  This is why Yishmael and Hagar are sent away on day one of Rosh Hashana and then on day two Avraham and Yitzchak dedicate themselves fully to God during the akeda story.  This is how we impact the world.  And even though we separate from the world, it doesn’t mean that we reject the world.  Even in the first day’s story, when Hagar and Yishmael are sent away, the angel tells Hagar about Yishmael ’כי לגוי גדול אשימנו׳  – for I will make a great nation of him.  We believe in the greatness of the humanity, even as we separate from humanity.

 

Avraham teaches us the steps to resolve the tension of chosenness and universalism.  Step one – have a universalistic impulse.  Step two – separate and engage and dedicate ourselves to our uniqueness.  But there is a step three.  

 

I read something beautiful that Rabbi Ari Kahn wrote.  At the akeda, when Avraham and Yitzchak leave the young men who accompanied him to the place of the akeda, Avraham tells them (Breishit 22:5):

 

שְׁבוּ־לָכֶ֥ם פֹּה֙ עִֽם־הַחֲמ֔וֹר וַאֲנִ֣י וְהַנַּ֔עַר נֵלְכָ֖ה עַד־כֹּ֑ה וְנִֽשְׁתַּחֲוֶ֖ה וְנָשׁוּ֥בָה אֲלֵיכֶֽם:

 

Stay here with the donkey; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come back to you.

Rabbi Kahn writes:  “Those last words, "and come back to you," cannot be ignored. Avraham encapsulates a unique religious experience in this short statement, and we should take note of every element: This awesome religious experience would not be complete until Avraham came down the mountain and shared with others his epiphany, his feelings and his enlightenment. Avraham would have the greatest impact on the two men he left behind only after parting ways, dedicating himself to the more particular religious experience at the summit, and then returning to their company. Similarly, for the Jewish People to have an impact on the world, we must first disengage, separate ourselves, and fully explore our unique relationship with God.”

Avraham Avinu understands that the way that we engage the world is not by rejecting the world, but by separating from the world, immersing ourselves in a world of Torah and then re-engaging the world.  

Do you know what the danger of chosenness is?  It’s that we think that we are better than non-Jews and we dismiss the rest of the world.  Do you know what the danger of universalism is?  It’s that we determine our values based on secular society and think that their values are our values.  But I don’t look at the dangers of each approach.  I look at our opportunities.  To be an Avraham Avinu Jew, we love everyone and embrace everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike, but then we recognize that we are unique, and we immerse ourselves in our Jewish values and in Torah and mitzvot in a meaningful and passionate way and we emerge from this immersive experience armed to share our values with the world.  We learn the laws of lashon hara and we teach the world how to speak.  We immerse ourselves in tefilla and see God as a parent who loves us no matter how far we stray, and we teach the world to be better parents who love and care about our children no matter what they do.  We immerse ourselves in a meaningful Shabbat observance and we teach the world the value of family, reflection, mindfulness and transcendence.

How does the world celebrate the New Year?  It is said about Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt, the Apta Rebbe, that on the secular New Year, he used to wish everyone he greeted with a “Shana tova!” They asked him, why should we be blessing each other at the non-Jewish holiday?  He would respond with a smile, that their New Year is the last day of judgment for us. When God sees how the non-Jews are celebrating the beginning of their new year with frivolity and drunkenness, He remembers how we the Jews stood on Rosh Hashana, draped in our Talleitim, standing with awe and fear, listening attentively to the shofar, and then He quickly tears up the terrible decrees in place for the Jews, in its stead writing for them a Shana tova u’metuka, a happy and sweet New Year.  You see, we can even teach the world about how to truly celebrate a New Year.  We separate ourselves, immerse ourselves in what Rosh Hashana is all about and then we share it with the world.  To be an Avraham Avinu Jew, we must immerse ourselves in our unique divine heritage, but we must also be the most ethical and caring people and the least racist and hateful people in society, caring about both Jews and non-Jews alike. God expects no less from us.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev explains that had David Hamelekh written tiku shofar bachodesh in Tehillim, then the obligation would be to sound the shofar in the beginning of the month of Tishrei, but tiku bachodesh shofar is not simply telling us when we blow the shofar, but how we blow the shofar – bachodesh – with a sense of newness, with a sense of excitement.  Elsewhere David hamelekh says shiru lo shir chadash – sing a new song to God and that’s what the sound of the shofar should be – a sound of chodesh – of something new, of something fresh.  When we hear the sound of the shofar today, let us ask ourselves what new immersive inspirational Jewish experiences will I tackle this year?  Will it be more attention and focus when I come to shul to daven?  Will it be my Shabbat table?  Will it be immersing myself in learning about how to improve my midot, how I treat other people?  And once we do that, then v’nashuva aleichem – then let us re-engage with the rest of the beautiful world that God created and be that light unto the world that we were meant to be.