Timeless Torah

It seems only appropriate that we establish our credentials for participating in the services this Rosh Hashana. I say that because I can guess what you’re thinking, “It’s not that I’m so religious or pious, but after all it is the HIGH Holidays!”
If that sentiment is one that you usually associate with, reanalyze your position in the light of my latest premise: Everyone has religion.
At some point in time, each and every individual asks him or herself the following questions. What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? How am I different from all the other animal species? Often these queries are motivated by specific events, such as tragedies or moments of challenge. Maybe you haven’t asked these difficult and philosophical questions since college when you sat around at night contemplating other issues besides the immediate future. Eventually, we can even say inevitably, these matters will one day occupy your thoughts.
Over the course of years you will develop answers. They may not seem to you as such because you have never articulated them in that form, but they are your guides. Incrementally, we organize our lives around this unspoken system of ours. We even create rituals to mark our belief in it. ( Note the health conscious individual who would never miss his morning workout.) We spend our time reading the Bibles of that system and are so consumed by them that we cannot tolerate someone disturbing us while we are studying our daily devotionals. (“Hey son, could you ask me later. Right now I’m reading the Wall Street Journal.”)
In that sense, if I may be so bold to say, our personal system is our rELIGION, that’s religion with a small r. It should also be noted that many of us are not monotheistic. We worship many religions. First and foremost, we’ve replaced the Almighty with the almighty dollar. In addition, we pay tribute to the gods of fashion, political correctness, and a host of other deities. Simply put, we’re pagans.
But regardless of what systems you turn to, its authority is man made. Conversely, Judaism, especially as it is expressed on Rosh Hashana whose theme is the annual coronation of G-d as our King, is predicated upon a Divine authority as its moral cornerstone.
I have often seen that during moments of crisis, many of these man-made religions fail us when we need guidance most. Judaism however has the remarkable capacity to help us order our lives by offering particularly persuasive and enduring answers. As a moral compass, this ancient religion of Abraham and Moses constantly displays the crucial coordinates of right and wrong. For those of us who have faith in an absolute set of rules, the very thought of venturing out into the world without its cardinal values and ideas is equivalent to plunging into a raging ocean sans ship.
That is why you are reading this Timeless Torah, and more importantly joining your friends and community in prayer. You have seen what happens to our youth who choose to depend on instinct, luck, or hope for Jewish survival. The stats are in and they are pretty ugly.
Your participation in the collective Shofar blast of our people is like a bullhorn on a river bridge informing the fogbound vessels that it is safe to go on through. We know that our tekiahs are not in vain. We know you’re listening. After all you may be a pagan, but you’re sure no atheist.
There’s something special about the holiday prayers. Its words and melodies stir the heart. Each and every phrase is pregnant with meaning. One of its more renowned verses, recognized but unappreciated for its depth hails from King David’s Psalms. Quoted in the High Holy Day evening prayers it states, “ - Blow the Shofar at the moon’s renewal, at the time appointed for our festive day.”
The first half of the sentence, “Blow the Shofar at the moon’s renewal” is a poetic term for the first day of the lunar month, when the moon becomes slightly visible again. The moon’s emergence, to be progressively illuminated by the sun, summons Israel to irradiate itself anew with G-d’s light and rise forth from its period of spiritual darkness. This of course is accomplished when we “blow the shofar” which awakens us from our spiritual slumber.
The second half of the verse, “ - Appointed for our festive day,” utilizes the Hebrew word  which is related to the word , covering. As the Talmud explains that while all other festivals occur during the month when the moon is clearly visible, Rosh Hashana is always at the beginning of the lunar cycle when the moon is hidden (hence the word, covered).
What King David seems to be emphasizing is the hidden element of Jewish New Year. Simply stated, Rosh Hashana, like all other Jewish holidays, contains within it the Biblical mandate of, “ - You shall rejoice in your holidays.” Nonetheless the joy of the High Holy Days is muted and its festive spirit veiled beneath the exterior of serious judgment.
In fact, historically speaking a major factor contributing to the commandment of rejoicing was absent on Rosh Hashana. At all other holidays, be it Pesach, Shauvos or Succos, Jews from around the country were directed to make their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There, they would renew old acquaintances, participate in the Temple services and partake of the holiday’s many offerings. On the High Holidays however, the people were not required to undergo this uplifting experience. Naturally, this would adversely affect the accompanying joy.
Yet despite that fact, the shofar, in its own inimitable fashion transported the Jewish soul to the innermost sanctum of the Holy Temple. This is in keeping with the insight of our Sages that the shofar enjoys the same status and significance as artifacts used in the Holy of Holies (Rosh Hashana 26A). A destination never reached by any pilgrim.
There is a very profound insight from all of this. At certain times in our life we feel closer to G-d. We have journeyed spiritually and we perceive our Creator from a particularly close vantage point. But then, there are moments when we feel distant, remote and disconnected. It is the Shofar’s blast that gives us the strength to fly beyond the barriers of time and space and find ourselves in the innermost recesses of the Holy Temple.
So while Rosh Hashana externally lacks the festive presence of the holiday spirit, listen closely to its shofar’s message. It cries out that no matter how far we may seem to be, we are never alone.
Can there be a greater Simcha than that?