Rosh Hashanah -how to guarantee that our prayers will be answered

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s talks are known throughout the Jewish world. They combine chassidic teachings and philosophy, along with tips for a better life. We have collected pearls from his teachings that are relevant to our daily lives. This week he speaks about Rosh Hashanah.

The Torah section of Behalotcha has this verse: "If you go to war in your land against an adversary that oppresses you, blow a blast with trumpets to be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies." (Num. 10:9) The Maggid of Mezerich explained that the word for “with trumpets” (b’chatzotzrot) is a combination of two words b’chatzi tzurot - “half forms.”

What “half forms” is the Maggid referring to? If such a great Torah sage says this, there must be a deep meaning here.

We believe that the following explanation elucidates this matter. It is well known that the 248 positive commandments and 365 prohibitions of the Torah correspond to the 248 organs and 365 ligaments in the human body. We see that the Torah corresponds in some way to the human body. 

Every commandment that a person fulfills, he strengthens the organ that corresponds to that commandment. Inversely, any sin that a person commits weakens the corresponding organ in the human body. A person’s organ may look healthy and whole, but inwardly it may be dead because the person didn’t fulfill the commandment that corresponded to that organ.

This is the implied meaning of the word b’chatzotzrot. We tell God that we are blowing trumpets before Him because we are “half forms”: Master of the universe! We blow the shofar before You knowing that we are only “half forms.” We are not complete. We do not fully keep the Torah and its commandments. That is why we are weak and are only a “half form.”

A person is only complete and all his organs are complete when he fully observes the Torah and commandments.

Every person is a creation of God's hand, and has a corresponding spiritual power above. To the extent that a person fulfills commandments, it gives him life and empowers and elevates him. The vice versa is also true. If a person does not fulfill commandments, his corresponding spiritual power will decay and die. It is risky if a person who lacks completeness comes before God on Rosh Hashanah because completeness is the most important of a person’s virtues.

Our holy rabbis say that when a person dies, an angel comes and asks him his name and many people cannot remember their name. The Arizal says that in that case, four angels grab the person like four people who are each shaking a corner of a tallit. Each angel grabs the person’s hand or a leg and they thrash the person in his grave until he remembers his name. This painful suffering is called chibut hakever ('thrashing of the grave').

The Ohr HaChaim in the Torah section of Vayelech asks why would a person forget his name? What does it even mean that a person “forgets” his name?

A person's name has great significance. It represents his energy force and represents his individuality. The Gemara relates (Yoma 83b) that Rabbi Meir was particular to interpret people’s names because you can tell a person’s essence from his name. A person's name may also be associated with bad things and bad forces, since if he does not walk in God's ways, his name will evince bad associations and negative manifestations.

When a person walks in God's ways, his name is greatly exalted and forms holy associations. He remembers his name on the day of death because it is fully associated with him. But a person who doesn’t walk in God’s way has an empty body - a “half-form” like the shape of trumpets. He doesn’t remember his name on the day of death, because he is not connected to his name or his rectification. He has to go through great torments and the “thrashing of the grave” to remember his name.

God created and sent down each person to the world in a complete form. A person must guard what God gave him, his name with their holy associations, and his organs which each have a commandment that corresponds to it. At the end of his days, a person is expected to return the deposit he received complete. When a person sets out on his path in life and he sins here and he sins there, he does bad things and does not follow in God’s ways, he begins to lose his spiritual organs until loses his complete form and turns into a “half form.”

A person has to guard his complete and holy name and his organs have to do all the commandments. He should do all he can so every commandment and its corresponding limb will be complete. For example, the eyes correspond to the commandment of respecting a father and a mother, so a person who respects his father and mother will preserve his eyes. A person should be careful with every commandment because they protect his body and ensure it remains whole and will not, heaven forfend, be damaged and end up as a “half form.”

On Rosh Hashanah, when a person stands before God, he asks God to have mercy on him "with trumpets and the sound of a shofar" (Psalms 98:6). He begs God to remember that he is a half-form and not complete and should have mercy on him specifically because he is a “half-form.” The shofar awakens God’s mercy and reminds Him that despite our sins, we are good internally. We love God and seek His mercy and forgiveness despite being “half-forms” and not complete.

May you all have a Happy New Year and may all our prayers that we recite with humility and self-effacement bring us the mercy and favor of the Master of all.

This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel