The biblical designation of Rosh Hashanah as Yom Teru’ah, ‘the Day of Sounding the Shofar’, defines the festival as the annual coronation of God as ‘Sovereign of the Universe’.
Since ancient, and indeed medieval kings and queens acted as judge and jury, it was a natural progression to view Rosh Hashanah as the beginning of a period of judgement during which God the King judges our actions during the year that has just passed.
But, unlike mortal kings, God is also a merciful Ruler, a ‘Parent’ who forgives and pardons. Hence the quintessential prayer of the High Holy Day liturgy, Avinu Malkeinu, ‘our Father our King’.
This prayer allows us to relate to the metaphor of God the Judge and the Merciful. Our tradition teaches us that we must emulate God in our actions and our words.
While we are always ready to judge others and ourselves, we are, unfortunately, reluctant to forgive. This unwillingness to forgive led our sages to stipulate that the person who refuses to pardon a wrongdoer who asks for forgiveness is culpable of transgression (Tanhuma Hukkat 19), is cruel, and is not of the seed of Abraham (Beitzah 32b).
This unfortunate fact was cynically expressed by the American journalist Franklin P. Adams (1881 – 1960): “To err is human; to forgive, infrequent”.
Rabbi Gamaliel Beribbi taught that a person who is merciful towards their fellow creatures will be treated mercifully by heaven and, conversely, one who is not compassionate towards others will not be treated compassionately by Heaven (Shabbat 151b). Just as God is haRahaman, ‘the Merciful One’, so we, God’s creatures, should be merciful.
May the year 5786 be a year of spiritual growth for all of us, a year in which we learn to forgive ourselves and others for the mistakes we invariably make.
May the metaphor of God the Ruler inspire us to control our inclination to bear grudges, and the metaphor of God the Parent motivate us to temper our judgement with compassion, patience and understanding.
As we enter the year 5786 let the words of Mahatma Gandhi (1869 -1948) be ever present in our minds: “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
Wishing you a Shana Tova U-Metukah, a good and sweet year filled with health, happiness, spiritual growth and forgiveness.
May the year 5786 be a year of spiritual growth for all of us.
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