BaKeseh Lyom Chagainu: The Hidden Joy of Rosh Hashanah

Topics

• "Tiku VaChodesh Shofar": The Opening of Rosh Hashanah
• Why Is Rosh Hashanah Called "Our Festival"?
• A Yom Tov Whose Meaning Is Concealed
• Elkanah's Aliyah: Returning Lifnei Hashem
• "Mimaamakim": What Hurts a Yid Deep Inside?
• The Shepherd's Staff Can Be a Comfort
• "U'Seruas Melech Bo": The King Is with Us
• "BaKeseh": The Joy Hidden Beneath the Judgment
• Two Explanations of the Chasam Sofer
• Conclusion: A Chag That Belongs to Klal Yisrael

Transcript

## "Tiku VaChodesh Shofar": The Opening of Rosh Hashanah

The pasuk says: **"תקעו בחדש שופר בכסה ליום חגנו. כי חק לישראל הוא משפט לאלהי יעקב"** (Tehillim 81:4–5).

We say this before Shemoneh Esrei at Maariv on Rosh Hashanah. On Shabbos, at that point in the *davening*, we say **"ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת"**; on the other *Yamim Tovim* we introduce the festival with **"וידבר משה את מועדי ה'"**. And on Rosh Hashanah we say **"תקעו בחדש שופר בכסה ליום חגנו"**. It is a kind of *pesichah*, an announcement of the character of the day. It gives us a picture of what this Yom Tov means.

So let us learn this pasuk carefully, *rabosai*. First of all, the Torah calls Rosh Hashanah **"חגנו"**—our festival. It is a *chag*. Rosh Hashanah is not merely an occasion for fear; it is a genuine **Yom Tov**.

The Tur discusses whether people should greet one another on Rosh Hashanah with the ordinary Yom Tov greeting **"מועדים לשמחה"**. On one side, the very term *chag* should make that appropriate. Yet we do not ordinarily use that expression on Rosh Hashanah, because these are *yemei eimah veyirah*, days of awe and trembling.

That tension appears in the question of **Hallel**. Why do we not recite Hallel on Rosh Hashanah? Chazal contrast the joyful song of Hallel with the day of judgment, when the books of life and death are open before Hashem (Rosh Hashanah 32b). We are standing in judgment; we do not conduct ourselves as on an ordinary festival.

But does that mean there is no *simchah*? Certainly not! The Shulchan Aruch says explicitly concerning Rosh Hashanah: **"אוכלים ושותים ושמחים ואין מתענין"**—we eat, drink, and rejoice, and we do not fast (Orach Chaim 597:1). Nechemiah tells the people, **"לכו אכלו משמנים ושתו ממתקים"**—go, eat rich foods and drink sweet things (Nechemiah 8:10).

So we have a *gevaldige shaylah*. On the one hand, **din**, **pachad**, and **eimah veyirah**; on the other hand, **chag** and **simchah**. Both are true. But what exactly are we celebrating? What is the *Yom Tov* of Rosh Hashanah?

## Why Is Rosh Hashanah Called "Our Festival"?

Think about the other *Yamim Tovim*. Pesach is a *chag* because the Ribbono Shel Olam took us out of Mitzrayim. What a tremendous *simchah*! Shavuos is the *zman* of *Matan Torah*. Sukkos commemorates the protection of Hashem—the **Ananei HaKavod**—and is called **"זמן שמחתנו"**.

But what happened on Rosh Hashanah that makes it a *chag*? We call it a **Yom HaDin**. A person is going to stand before the Judge of the entire world! What is the reason for *simchah*?

And I have an even stronger *kashya*. Why does the pasuk say **"ליום חגנו"**, *our* festival? It could simply have said *leYom Chag*, a festival day. Why emphasize **chageinu**?

First we have to understand why it is a *chag* at all. Once we understand that, we will understand why it is **our** *chag*, and perhaps why its *simchah* is so particular to Klal Yisrael.

There is another word in the pasuk demanding explanation: **"בכסה"**. What does that mean? Something **covered**—*mechuseh*—concealed.

Chazal ask: **"איזהו חג שהחדש מתכסה בו? הוי אומר זה ראש השנה"**—which festival is celebrated when the moon is concealed? Rosh Hashanah (Rosh Hashanah 8b). Rashi explains the connection with the new moon. At the beginning of Tishrei, the *levanah* is not visible in the way it is around the middle of the month.

So the pasuk identifies the day by saying that the moon is concealed. Fine—that tells us the calendar date. But what is the Torah—or rather Dovid HaMelech in Tehillim—telling us by emphasizing this unusual expression? Why is **concealment** part of the opening description of Rosh Hashanah?

On Pesach and Sukkos, the moon appears around the fifteenth of the month. On Rosh Hashanah it is hidden. If we only needed a date, there are simpler ways of saying the first of Tishrei. The *lashon* **"בכסה"** seems to tell us something about the nature of the day itself.

*Rabosai*, I think we have to say that the **mahus of Rosh Hashanah** is itself, in some way, *mechuseh*. Its deepest meaning is hidden. When we understand what is concealed, we will understand the *chag*—and why it is **chageinu**.

## A Yom Tov Whose Meaning Is Concealed

The Ramban on Vayikra 23:24 discusses the Torah's expression **"זכרון תרועה"**. The Torah tells us about the *teruah*, but many of the things we identify with Rosh Hashanah are not explained there openly. Think of our entire *avodah*: *Malchiyos*, *Zichronos*, *Shofros*, the *tefillos*, the shofar. Yet the Torah describes the day in such a restrained and hidden manner.

The Ramban discusses the mystery and significance of this Yom Tov. Some *mefarshim* also associate the element of concealment with not revealing our preparations to the *Satan*. But don't confuse the different approaches; the precise attribution of every explanation needs its own *mekor*.

I always wondered about a *kashya* on that last approach. Chazal say that when the shofar sounds, the *Satan* becomes confused or frightened. But this happens every year! Wouldn't he have learned what we do by now? I am not going to pretend I have a complete answer to that. It is a different *sugya*.

What I want to examine tonight is a deeper *taich* in **"בכסה"**.

We said Rosh Hashanah is a day of *mishpat*. Can you imagine someone facing a terrible court case and announcing that it is a holiday? The seriousness is real. And yet the Torah calls the day **"חגנו"**.

Here is the *yesod*: **The Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah is that we stand before the Melech.**

All year we may feel distant. We become caught up in our own affairs, we drift away, we lose the sense that we are standing before the Ribbono Shel Olam. Then Rosh Hashanah comes, and we return. **We stand before the King.** That itself is the *simchah*.

The Torah says in Parashas Nitzavim: **"אתם נצבים היום כלכם לפני ה' אלהיכם"** (Devarim 29:9). You stand today, all of you, before Hashem your G-d. Chazal and later *sefarim* understand the **"היום"** here as alluding to Rosh Hashanah. The precise Zohar reference cited in the *shiur* still needs to be identified.

What is **"אתם נצבים היום"**? The whole day is about **standing lifnei Hashem**. We have the *zechus* to come back, to be before the Ribbono Shel Olam.

Now you can begin to understand the *simchah*. If someone has been far from his King and is finally allowed to come home, to stand before Him again, what joy could be greater than that? Even when the meeting includes judgment, the closeness is a gift.

Let us see this in a beautiful Chasam Sofer.

## Elkanah's Aliyah: Returning Lifnei Hashem

The beginning of Sefer Shmuel tells us about Elkanah and his family, their visits to the Mishkan, and the great *tefillos* of Channah. Chazal teach **"בראש השנה נפקדה חנה"**—Channah was remembered on Rosh Hashanah (Rosh Hashanah 10b–11a).

I saw a beautiful *kashya* in the *derashos* of the **Chasam Sofer**, discussing Elkanah's going up to the place of the *Mikdash* or Mishkan in connection with Rosh Hashanah. The speaker cites a derashah for the twenty-seventh of Elul; the precise volume and printed page require checking.

What is the *kashya*? The Torah gives the obligation of **aliyah laregel** three times a year. There are **shalosh regalim**. Where do we find an obligation to go up on Rosh Hashanah? It isn't one of the *regalim*!

The *Chasam Sofer* considers the accounts and an alternative *Midrash* connecting the visit with another festival. But in the approach he develops, there was no **chiyuv** requiring people to ascend on Rosh Hashanah. They went because they **wanted** to be there.

What moved them? They wanted to be **lifnei Hashem**. They wanted to return to the Ribbono Shel Olam in the place of His service. Groups of Yidden voluntarily went to be close to Him.

Do you hear what this tells us? Those Yidden understood what Rosh Hashanah is. It is not merely a day on which I must worry about my personal judgment. It is a day on which I want to stand before the King. And that desire itself moves a person.

Now return to **"אתם נצבים היום כלכם לפני ה' אלהיכם"**. We are standing together before Hashem. That's the *aliyah* of Rosh Hashanah.

And now I want to explain something else about returning to Hashem. During the **Aseres Yemei Teshuvah**, many have the *minhag* to say **"שיר המעלות ממעמקים קראתיך ה'"** (Tehillim 130) in the *davening*.

What does **"ממעמקים"** mean, and why is that the *pesichah* to a *mizmor* about *mechilas avonos*? It will bring us to the inner meaning of the *simchah*.

## "Mimaamakim": What Hurts a Yid Deep Inside?

Dovid HaMelech says: **"שיר המעלות ממעמקים קראתיך ה'"**—from the depths I called to You, Hashem (Tehillim 130:1).

What are these **depths**? The *Metsudas David* understands the expression in relation to the depths of suffering and distress. The Ibn Ezra speaks of the depths of **galus**. The *Malbim* is presented here as emphasizing an inward depth—the depths of the *lev* and the *nefesh*. We should look inside the actual commentaries to establish their precise expressions.

But here is my *kashya*. This *mizmor* is not merely a cry from someone in trouble. It says **"אם עונות תשמר יה אדני מי יעמד"**—if You preserve a record of sins, Hashem, who could stand? And at the end, **"והוא יפדה את ישראל מכל עונותיו"**—He will redeem Yisrael from all their sins (Tehillim 130:3, 8).

So why does asking for forgiveness begin specifically with **"ממעמקים"**? What do the depths have to do with *avonos*?

I saw a beautiful explanation brought from **Rav Hutner** in a *kuntres* called *Yerach HaEisanim*. The exact printed location needs confirmation, but the *yesod* is extraordinary.

A Yid can feel that something is missing inside him. There is a restlessness, a sense of emptiness. He may not know how to explain it. There is something deep within his *nefesh* that hurts.

What is that missing thing? **The closeness to the Ribbono Shel Olam**. Our *avonos* create distance. A person feels that distance even when he cannot give it a name.

So Dovid HaMelech says **"ממעמקים קראתיך ה'"**. I am calling to You from the deepest place in my heart. Why am I calling? Because I am missing You. **"אם עונות תשמר ... מי יעמד"**. I need *mechilas avonos*, because that is what will bring me back.

Now we can understand the different explanations together. There are the depths of personal *tzaros*. There are the depths of *galus*. And there is the depth of a person's own *nefesh*. These are not necessarily unrelated. At their root is the cry to return to Hashem.

And the *mizmor* ends with **"והוא יפדה את ישראל מכל עונותיו"**. What a *pidyon* that is! Redemption from the separation created by sin, redemption through returning to the Ribbono Shel Olam.

**This is the Yom Tov of Rosh Hashanah.** We return. We come back to stand before Hashem. Even before we discuss the verdict, the return itself is a source of tremendous *simchah*.

## The Shepherd's Staff Can Be a Comfort

So we have the *yesod*: the *simchah* of Rosh Hashanah is that a Yid comes back **lifnei Hashem**. That is the greatest happiness. You can have *din*, *eimah*, and *yirah*, and still have this extraordinary *simchah*.

There is a *mashal* attributed to the **Dubno Maggid** that explains the pasuk **"שבטך ומשענתך המה ינחמני"**—Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me (Tehillim 23:4).

Imagine a sheep that has wandered away from its shepherd and flock. It is lost, frightened, and alone. Then suddenly the shepherd finds it. Perhaps the shepherd gives it a sharp tap with his staff, as though to say, "Why did you wander away?" You might think the sheep should be upset by that blow. But at that very moment the sheep is overjoyed. **The shepherd has found it.** It has been brought back to safety.

Now listen to Dovid HaMelech's words: **"תעיתי כשה אבד בקש עבדך"**—I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek Your servant (Tehillim 119:176). The sheep needs the shepherd to seek it and find it. It wants to be brought back, even if that means being corrected.

This is what the *mashal* teaches about Rosh Hashanah. Yes, the Ribbono Shel Olam judges us. Yes, the *mishpat* may be frightening. But whose judgment is it? **Our King's. Our Father's.** We have returned to Him.

The *pachad* is real, and the *simchah* is real. We rejoice not in the possibility of suffering, *chas veshalom*, but in having found our way back to Hashem.

## "U'Seruas Melech Bo": The King Is with Us

The Torah says: **"ה' אלהיו עמו ותרועת מלך בו"** (Bamidbar 23:21)—Hashem his G-d is with him, and there is the *teruas Melech* among him.

What does **"תרועת מלך"** mean? Rashi says **"לשון חבה ורעות"**—an expression of affection and friendship. The *teruah* is a sign of closeness to the King.

Other explanations emphasize a *teruah* of **simchah**, like the rejoicing accompanying the coronation of a king. The speaker associates this with the Meiri and other *Rishonim*, though the exact passage must be checked.

Do you hear how these two explanations fit together? **Chibah**, closeness, and **simchah** are not two separate things. When the King is with us, there is a *simchah*. When we proclaim His Kingship, we are rejoicing in being close to Him.

Some *gedolim* were particular that the *tekios shofar* be approached with a feeling of *simchah*, because the shofar is not only a reminder of *din*. It is a proclamation: **the Melech is here**. We are privileged to be His people.

Now I think we can explain **"בכסה ליום חגנו"**. The answer to our *kashya* is beginning to emerge.

## "BaKeseh": The Joy Hidden Beneath the Judgment

We started with a *shaylah*: Why does it say **"בכסה ליום חגנו"**? Why *mechuseh*, concealed? And why **"חגנו"**, our festival?

Now hear the *teretz*. **The chag is hidden beneath the outward appearance of judgment.**

From the outside, Rosh Hashanah looks like a day of *mishpat*. A person is being judged; how can he celebrate? But on the inside, a Yid feels something that isn't visible to the eye. **He is standing before the Ribbono Shel Olam. He has come home to his King.** That closeness is a tremendous *simchah*.

That is **"בכסה"**. The *simchah* is *mechuseh*, covered. It is deep inside. And that is **"חגנו"**—the special *chag* of Klal Yisrael, who recognize the inner joy.

The next words of the pasuk are **"כי חק לישראל הוא"**. A person looking only at the *din* may not understand the joy. But the Yid knows what it means to be *lifnei Hashem*. It belongs to our relationship with the Ribbono Shel Olam.

Now let me show you another expression that bothered me for years. In Sefer Nechemiah (8:10), the people are told to eat rich foods and drink sweet things, because **"קדוש היום לאדנינו"**—the day is holy to **our Lord**. Why does it say **"לאדנינו"**, holy to Hashem? Wouldn't we have expected it to say *kadosh hayom lanu*—the day is holy **to us**?

I always wondered about that *lashon*. This is **our** Yom Tov. Yet the pasuk emphasizes that it belongs to **Hashem**.

There are teachings in the Zohar that criticize a person who comes before Hashem concerned only with his personal requests, like someone constantly demanding, *hav, hav*—give, give. The exact context and application to Rosh Hashanah need to be checked, but the *mussar* is powerful: a Jew must not reduce the day of Hashem's Kingship to a list of his private needs.

Now we come to a beautiful *Chasam Sofer*. On the one hand, he says, this is a **Yom Nora, Yom Din uMishpat** for all creatures. On the other hand, a person should serve Hashem on Rosh Hashanah with joy, *deveikus*, and even **tears of simchah**, not with depression.

And that makes another *kashya*! If the *mishpat* is real, why would the *Chasam Sofer* emphasize *simchah*? He gives two remarkable explanations in his *derashos*. I want to say them over, because this is the heart of our whole *shmuess*.

We must distinguish a *bechiyah* that comes from sorrow and brokenness from a *bechiyah* that comes from closeness, *deveikus*, and *simchah*. Those are very different experiences.

And we return again to Nechemiah's words: **"כי חדות ה' היא מעזכם"**—the joy of Hashem is your strength (Nechemiah 8:10). That joy is not a contradiction to standing in judgment. It can be the very strength with which we stand before the King.

## Two Explanations of the Chasam Sofer

The first explanation attributed to the **Chasam Sofer** is that a Yid stands before Hashem with **bitachon**. We are being judged, of course. But we are like children who trust their father and hope to emerge from *mishpat* with mercy. The speaker quotes a derashah for the twenty-seventh of Elul and stresses that tears of *tzar* and despair are not the same as tears of *simchah* and *deveikus*. We rejoice because we are confident in the Ribbono Shel Olam's mercy.

The *Chasam Sofer* connects the idea with **"אל תעצבו כי חדות ה' היא מעזכם"** (Nechemiah 8:10). Do not be depressed. Your *simchah* and trust in Hashem give you strength. In that approach, the *simchah* shows our **bitachon** that the judgment will be for good.

But I saw a second explanation, and *rabosai*, it is a *hafla va'fele*. A tremendous *chiddush*.

Rosh Hashanah is not only **Yom HaDin**; it is **the coronation of HaKadosh Baruch Hu**. It is the day we proclaim Hashem as our Melech.

So what does a Yid say? "Ribbono Shel Olam, I certainly have personal needs. I am being judged. My *parnassah*, my health, the welfare of my family, everything is in the balance. I have every reason to come and beg for myself."

**"But today something is more important to me than my own *mishpat*: Your malchus."**

I want to rejoice in the coronation of the King. I do not want to allow my fears to take away from **Yom Chedvas Hashem**, the joy of proclaiming His Kingship. The speaker quotes the *Chasam Sofer* as saying that a Yid is willing to set aside his preoccupation with his personal verdict rather than diminish the joy of the King's coronation.

Do you hear what a Yid is saying? "I have a *mishpat*, but I am more concerned about Your *kavod*. **מלוך על כל העולם כלו בכבודך**—reign over the entire world in Your glory."

And the *Chasam Sofer* teaches, as presented in this *shmuess*, that such a display of selflessness can itself arouse tremendous **rachamim**. When Hashem sees that Klal Yisrael is more concerned about His honor than about its own requests, that brings a special *zechus*—more, in this description, than many acts of fasting.

Now the words of Nechemiah become extraordinary: **"כי קדוש היום לאדנינו."** Not just *lanu*, for us. The day belongs to the Ribbono Shel Olam. **It is His coronation.**

And that explains our original *kashya*: How can we rejoice on a day when the books of life and death are open? Precisely because we are standing before our King, and His malchus matters more than our private worries.

That is a **simchah** that cannot necessarily be seen from outside. It lies deep in the heart of a Yid. **"בכסה ליום חגנו."**

And notice the *tefillos* of Rosh Hashanah. Again and again, the theme is **Malchiyos**, proclaiming Hashem's Kingship. The *avodah* is not merely to present a list of what we want. It is to say: **Ribbono Shel Olam, be the Melech of the world.**

*Rabosai*, this is an unbelievable *yesod*. It's hidden, *mechuseh*, but this is our *chag*.

## Conclusion: A Chag That Belongs to Klal Yisrael

Listen to the words of our *tefillos*: **Melech, Melech, Melech**. We return again and again to the Kingship of the Ribbono Shel Olam.

That is **"בכסה ליום חגנו"**—the concealed joy of our festival. A Yid sets aside his own preoccupations and rejoices that Hashem is our King.

And when the Ribbono Shel Olam sees Klal Yisrael come before Him with such love and *bitachon*, our prayer is that He should grant us a **din tzedek**, a favorable judgment, and a year of **brachah ve'hatzlachah**.

**"תקעו בחדש שופר בכסה ליום חגנו. כי חק לישראל הוא משפט לאלהי יעקב."**

May we merit to stand *lifnei Hashem* with true *eimah*, true *yirah*, and the deep *simchah* of **Malchus Shamayim**.