What Does Judaism Think

Well, yes and no. Certainly one should purify oneself before entering the Holy Temple, for example. In any quest, there must come a time of preparation. The High Priest had an elaborate preparatory period before the sublime Yom Kippur Temple service. Nonetheless, Rosh Hashana comes first, because it is the MOST important preparation. Praying for a fixed world is even more important that praying for forgiveness and repenting. How so?

Because without the ideal of Rosh Hashana, our ability to repent and be forgiven is hampered. Rosh Hashana teaches us what our mission in life is, both as a nation and as individuals. It is "To fix the world in God's dominion". Repentance has no power if it does not lead us towards advancing that goal. How can I ever create a painting if I have no idea what one looks like? How can we recreate ourselves through repentance when we have not yet glimpsed our true "selves?"

When we get excited about the world of Rosh Hashana, our repentence becomes focused and urgent. We ask ourselves how we can recreate ourselves to better the world we live in. It's no longer about getting rid of guilt for some mental health reason, but rather preparing ourselves for a holy mission. That's why Rosh Hashana is the ultimate preparation for Yom Kippur.

It is the task of each human being to fix his or her corner of the world. We should not be afraid to dream great dreams about what that world will look like, for only through those dreams will we have a chance of achieving it.

A Shana Tova to one and all!

According to the traditional understanding, the Satan shows up on Rosh Hashana with a list of all our misdeeds wherewith to prosecute us. He bases himself on the daily shofar blowings. When we suddenly stop, he gets confused that perhaps he missed the date of Rosh Hashana. Therefore, he does not show up the next day, which in truth is Rosh Hashana, and cannot, therefore, accuse us of anything.

It's a lovely answer, but following its logic, we are left with more questions. Most importantly, why doesn't the Satan figure this trick out already? Year after year, he falls for it. Strange, no? And why does he bother calculating by the shofar? Why not just Google the date of Rosh Hashana?

There are some other answers out there that are clearer. One is that the Satan bases himself on our reactions and fears. If we are blowing the shofar, we must be nervous. We must be going that extra mile because we've really been bad. That encourages him to accuse us even more. When we suddenly stop on the eve of Rosh Hashana, we exude confidence that we've already repented and atoned, and therefore have nothing to fear. That confidence is what confounds the Satan.

I love this answer, because it is so psychologically true and important. What is notable about Rosh Hashana is the absence of "confessional" prayers and petitions for forgiveness for a list of sins. Instead, we pray for global things, such as peace, prosperity, awareness of God and the advent of the Messiah. We remove the focus from sin and put it on to perfecting the world.

The Satan cannot prosecute us if we are allied with God in dreaming of and working towards a perfect world. We've taken the discussion to a level that the Satan cannot reach. It is similar to dealing with a parking ticket when you're a presidential candidate and you have to go to a nationally televised debate. Compared to that, parking tickets are small and unimportant. We basically "out-league" the Satan starting on the eve of Rosh Hashana.

I believe that this explanation can also explain the "confused date" explanation. The Satan deals in parking tickets. He expects that Rosh Hashana will be the mother of all parking ticket hearings, and builds his files accordingly. (He confuses it with Yom Kippur, when we deal with sin. I could even suggest that the Satan expects that Yom Kippur should precede Rosh Hashanam at least thematically.) When we stop the Shofar on Rosh Hashana eve, we are telling him that we don't deal with parking tickets any more. We're running for World-Fixer, and need to prepare for THAT debate, which the Satan can't even get in to.

That's what it means by him being confused, thinking that he missed Rosh Hashana. He's thinking that, if they stopped blowing the shofar, their sins must have been judged and acquitted already. Beyond that, he has no role.

In truth, though, we DO need to deal with the parking tickets. We do it especially on Yom Kippur. Nonetheless, before we do that we must focus on what's IMPORTANT in life and the world. We focus on the WHY of Judaism, the destiny of our nation, before we deal with the HOW, the scorecard of our personal behavior.

So let us put the clear goal of fixing the world and ourselves before us this Rosh Hashana 5770. Then, towards Yom Kippur, we'll bring this into our personal lives by improving our character and behavior accordingly.

A shana tova, a year of Life, Health, Happiness and Prosperity to you and yours!

Firstly, Judaism ABSOLUTELY believes in reward and punishment. And that reward and punishment takes place in the hereafter, for the most part. God is a God of complete and perfect justice, "who taketh not a bribe." Therefore, the bad guys will get their just desserts, as will the good guys get their rewards.

There are all kinds of variations on these themes in the Talmud. There are cases where the mitzvot and good deeds of an absolute evil person are given to the righteous whom he has harmed. And there are cases where one gets credit for having enabled another to do good deeds as well.

It is a complex arrangement, yet it is clear that Judaism believes in life after death and in ultimate reward and punishment.

There is a concept called "Gehinom", which is a form of purification. The Jewish concept of punishment is not eternal damnation. Why should someone be eternally damned if they only transgressed for a lifetime? Rather, there is a period of purification - which can be unpleasant in ways we don't imagine or want to, before we are admitted to the Presence of God in the World to Come.

In this world, however, there is also reward and punishment. It is not absolute, though, as we see eveil people prosper on occasion. The Ramban, a 13th century sage, explains that reward and punishment in this world serve a purpose of maintaining free choice. How so?

If there were no punishment in this world, hardly anyone would be able to resist the temptation to sin. Knowing that there just might be a form of "bolt of lightning" may stay many hands.

If, however, reward and punishment were absolute in this world, with every good deed being rewarded immediately and vice versa, then who would ever sin? Again, no free choice would be possible.

Thus, we are given responsibility and choice. God wants us to choose good willingly, and He keeps the options even for us to truly choose good.