Featrured Article

 

תהא שנת עשיה ברוכה

“This is the Day of the World’s Conception”

 

The Gemara in Masechet Rosh Hashanah (27a) cites a

well-known dispute between Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi

Yehoshua as to whether the world was created in the

month of Tishrei (Rabbi Eliezer’s view) or in Nissan

(Rabbi Yehoshua’s position). Tosefot ( שם ד"ה כמאן

מצלינן ), citing Rabbenu Tam, explain that in truth,

these two sages do not disagree with each other at

all on this point, and

 אלו ואלו דברי אלקים חיים –

Both statements are the “words of the living God.” In

Tishrei, Tosafot explain, the idea of the world’s

creation came into being ( עלה במחשבה להיבראות ), but

it was not created until Nissan.

 

Our world, which is known as

עולם העשייה ,

the world of “doing” in which we exist and conduct our

affairs, was preceded by a more “internal” world, a

higher, concealed world, the world of thought and

ideas, in the sense of

 סוף מעשה במחשבה תחילה –

The final product is preceded by thought and planning.

We oftentimes are too preoccupied with results, and

less with the causes, the root of the final action. We

are busy with tangible improvements while

forgetting the root cause of it all, without working to

correct our thoughts.

 

Rosh Hashanah is precisely what is name suggests:

the ראש (“head”), the thought, that inspires – שנה

change (like the Hebrew word שינוי ) in how we act

and what we do. We must remember that – הרת עולם

literally, “the conception of the world” – the

thoughts of the mind, are the foundation which we

must address, deal with, and correct even before we

arrive at the לידה , the birth, the manifestation of

those thoughts in concrete actions.

 

Let us always “give birth” after “conception,” and

approach all changes in our lives by first focusing

on the ראש , on our thoughts and mindset, and we

shall בע"ה be inscribed for good life and peace.

 

לשנה טובה ומתוקה

Rav Nadav Levin