As Rosh Hashanah approaches, it is appropriate to understand the questions a person is asked when standing before the Heavenly Court *Torah, service, redemption—the six questions encompass the life and mission of a Jew in this world, on the condition that fear of God precedes all of them * And why do we say so many praises in the Rosh Hashanah prayers?
As the Days of Judgment approach, it is appropriate to return to the words of the Talmud (Shabbat 31a), which summarizes the six questions a person is asked when standing before the Heavenly Court: “Rava said: When a person is brought to judgment, they say to him: Did you conduct your business dealings faithfully? Did you set aside regular times for Torah study? Did you engage in procreation? Did you anticipate salvation? Did you engage in the wisdom of Torah? Did you understand one thing from another?”
The Question About Work: “Did You Conduct Your Business Dealings Faithfully?”
“Did you conduct your business dealings faithfully?”—that is, did you work diligently, faithfully, and honestly, and did you conduct your financial affairs with integrity? This is the first question, because working for the sake of settling the world and providing for one’s family is the first and most basic task of a person. For from the beginning, when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, He created it incomplete, in order to give man, who was created in the image of God, a place to partner with Him in settling and perfecting the world. Therefore, even while he was in the Garden of Eden, before he sinned, man was destined to work. As it says: “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to work it and to guard it” (Genesis 2:15). Likewise, our Sages instructed: “Love work” (Avot 1:10), and as Rabbeinu Bachya wrote: “He comes to caution regarding work—that he should love it, whatever work it may be and whatever work comes his way, because it is a good trait that removes the disgrace of idleness, and it is the very reason for a person’s existence and life in this world.”
But it is not enough for a person to work; he must work faithfully. He should not waste time during the hours in which he has undertaken to work, and he should complete his work on time and at the proper standard of quality, as he committed himself to do. In addition, he must separate terumot and ma’aserot from his produce, and in other professions, he should give ma’aser kesafim—a tithe of his money. If he conducted himself in this manner, he will be able to answer: Yes, I conducted my business dealings faithfully.
“Did You Set Aside Regular Times for Torah Study?”
The mitzvah of Torah study is equal to all the mitzvot (Peah 1:1; the Jerusalem Talmud there; and the Babylonian Talmud, Moed Katan 9b). There are two reasons for this:
A. Without Torah study, it is impossible to know how to fulfill the commandments of the Torah, and live according to its values.
B. The mitzvah of Torah study is the loftiest mitzvah, because it is fulfilled through the highest part of a person—the intellect.
Therefore, one must establish regular times for Torah study every day and every night, “and that time should be fixed, so that he should not cancel it even if he thinks he will make a great profit” (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 155:1).
“Did You Engage in Procreation?”
The third question is “Did you engage in procreation?”, because after a person has taken care of his physical existence through work, and his spiritual existence by establishing regular times for Torah study, his mission is to add life to the world. And so it was said to Adam and Eve: “And God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). As our Sages said in the Mishnah: “The world was created only for procreation, as it is stated: ‘He did not create it to be empty; He formed it to be inhabited’” (Gittin 41b).
By fulfilling this mitzvah, a person follows the ways of God. Just as God created the world and sustains it, so a person gives birth to children, cares for them, and raises them. In this way, he becomes a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, as our Sages said: “There are three partners in a person: the Holy One, blessed be He, his father, and his mother” (Niddah 31a).
The more a person loves the life that God has given him, the more he wants to add life and fulfill the mitzvah of “be fruitful and multiply” in the most ideal manner, and he is very happy with the children that God has given him.
“Did You Anticipate Salvation?”
Israel was created to follow the ways of God, and bring redemption to the world. Therefore, every Jew should always anticipate salvation coming in his lifetime, and he should act according to his ability to bring it about. The redemption, as explained in the Torah, the Prophets, and the words of our Sages, begins with the ingathering of the exiles and the settlement of the Land, and continues with the establishment of a magnificent educational system, helping those in need, maintaining a judicial system, and ultimately the rebuilding of the Temple and bringing blessing to all the families of the earth.
The anticipation of salvation and bringing redemption and blessing to the entire world is a unique characteristic of Israel, as God said to Abraham our father: “Go forth from your land… and through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1). Therefore, on Rosh Hashanah, instead of praying only for his own and his family’s health and livelihood, the main focus of his prayer is the revelation of God’s glory in the world, and His redemption. And when Israel puts aside their suffering and concerns itself with His honor and the revelation of His kingship, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to the angels: “See My beloved children, who put aside their suffering and concern themselves with My honor” (Zohar, Part III, 22a). In this way, Satan’s accusations, which seek to cause Israel to be eliminated from the world, are silenced, and Israel merits a new year in which they advance another step toward rectification and redemption.
It is appropriate to add that anticipating salvation is connected to the mitzvah of procreation, as our Sages said: “Just as Israel were redeemed from Egypt in the merit of their being fruitful and multiplying, so too they will be redeemed in the future in the merit of their being fruitful and multiplying. And from where do you know this? Know that this is so, for Israel will not be redeemed unless they are fruitful and multiply and fill the entire world, as it is stated: ‘For you shall spread out right and left, and your offspring shall inherit nations and they shall settle desolate cities’” (Eliyahu Zuta 14).
“Did You Engage in the Wisdom of Torah?”
After a person has fulfilled his basic obligation to himself through work and establishing regular times for Torah study, and has also fulfilled his mission to add blessing to the world by bringing the next generation into being and by anticipating and acting for the sake of redemption, there is a need to add another level, so that everything will be done in the deepest and clearest manner possible. This is the subject of the next two questions, which concern deep Torah study.
“Did you engage in the wisdom of Torah?”
That is, did you strive to delve deeply into the Torah in order to understand it thoroughly? However, when attempting to delve deeply, one can sometimes be inclined toward convoluted and distorted pilpul. Therefore, the question is: “Did you engage in the wisdom of Torah?” As the Maharsha explained: “Meaning, a person should not engage in empty pilpul, but rather his intention should be to engage in pilpul with intellect, wisdom, and knowledge.”
“Did You Understand One Thing from Another?”
After a person has understood the Torah in depth, he can learn additional things from it to guide the world in all other areas of life. As our Sages said: “And derive from it counsel and practical wisdom, understanding and strength” (Avot 6:1). Through this, the anticipation of redemption can become a reality, because through delving deeply into Torah and understanding profound matters from within it, it is possible to elevate the individual, the family, society, the People of Israel, and the entire world.
In other words, through establishing regular times for Torah study, a person merits being connected to the Torah and generally following its path. But only if he understands it in depth and, through his study, understands one thing from another, will he be able to bring blessing and redemption.
Fear of God Is a Prerequisite for Everything
Our Sages added that even if a person answers positively to all six questions, only if “the fear of God is his treasure” will all the good deeds he performed endure and be beneficial. But if he does not fear God, all the things he accomplished will not endure.
“This may be compared to a person who said to his agent: Bring me a measure of wheat up to the attic. He went and brought it up for him. He said to him: Did you mix a kav of chumton [salty earth used to preserve it from worms] into it? He said to him: No. He said to him: It would have been better had you not brought it up” (Shabbat 31a).
This is because without fear of Heaven, all the good deeds and the regular and profound Torah learning will ultimately be nullified.
As Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa said: “Anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom will endure; and anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, his wisdom will not endure. He would say: Anyone whose deeds exceed his wisdom, his wisdom will endure; and anyone whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, his wisdom will not endure” (Avot 3:9). Likewise, they said: “If there is no wisdom, there is no fear; if there is no fear, there is no wisdom” (Avot 3:17).
Therefore, Torah scholars, like all of Israel, within the time they devote to Torah study, should devote time to the study of faith and ethics, so that they can continue to grow in faith, fear of Heaven, and refinement of their character traits.
Preparing for the Rosh Hashanah Prayers
Q: Why do we devote so much time in prayer to praising God? It seems as though God greatly desires that He be praised all the time. Does this not diminish Him, making Him appear like a leader who seeks honor?
A: The praises do not benefit God at all, for He is complete in every way, and therefore He needs nothing, nor does He derive any benefit from our praising Him. Moreover, it is impossible even to express a small portion of His greatness, because He is beyond all boundaries and definitions (see Berachot 33b).
However, by reciting God’s praises, we ourselves are elevated and enlarged and merit fear of Heaven. Our spirit is lifted toward infinite expanses, and our soul encounters the wisdom and beauty found in all of creation. Just as writers and poets, composers and musicians, painters and artists are filled with joy and exaltation when they succeed in portraying the beauty of creation in all its components, so too—and even more so—the person praying is filled with greatness, delight, sensitivity, understanding, and spiritual elevation when he stands before God and recites His praises.
Through this, he connects himself to the purpose of creation: to add light, truth, and goodness to all creatures, and he continues in his prayer to bring an abundance of blessing to the world.
Therefore, as an introduction to all prayers and requests, we begin with praises of God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything within them. This is the purpose of Pesukei DeZimra, the wondrous songs of King David in the Book of Psalms. And this is also the purpose of all the sublime piyyutim and prayers composed by the great scholars of Israel throughout the generations concerning the splendor of creation, and God’s governance of the world.
This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper and was translated from Hebrew.
