Question of the Week
I am feeling really down about Rosh Hashana this year. I can't believe we will be in lockdown and not allowed to go to shul. I have never missed a High Holidays in my life. I just won't be the same at home. How can I do this with joy?
Answer
It is indeed a huge challenge we face. Our hearts are heavy with the thought that shuls will lay empty, devoid of the usual crowds flocking to pray together, silent of the sounds of communal singing, shofar blowing and children playing.
But there is a message of hope in all of this. I came across an incredible teaching from three hundred years ago, that can be read as a direct message to us today. It comes from the great soul doctor and healer of broken hearts, the Baal Shem Tov. Here are his words:
"If people would only know how good it is to spend Rosh Hashana at home, the Rebbe would be left alone without even a minyan to pray with him. But it says in the book of Proverbs: 'The king is glorified in a crowd of people', so Chassidim put themselves aside and gather together, all for the sake of G-d's glory."
This is astounding. The Baal Shem Tov is saying that the most powerful Rosh Hashana would be one you celebrated in your own house. The only reason we make big public gatherings is to increase G-d's glory. And so we should. When possible, we congregate in shul, not for our sake, for G-d's sake. But don't think you can't have the holidays at home. In some ways, that is even higher than being with the Baal Shem Tov for Yomtov.
It seems that this year, G-d is putting His own glory aside, to give you the experience of an elevated Rosh Hashana at home. T he High Holidays energy that normally happens in shul is being transported to your place.
This may happen only once in a lifetime. Indeed we hope so, as we want to be back in shul very soon. But in the meantime, let's get ready to bring down Divine blessings for the new year, into the very place where we need it most - our homes.
Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Moss
Source:
Siach Sarfei Kodesh 1:471
Note: You could argue that the Baal Shem Tov meant that people would be better off attending their local shul rather than travelling to the Rebbe. However, in his times, most Jews lived in rural areas, often without a minyan. They would travel to their Rebbe in town for Rosh Hashana. The Baal Shem Tov seems to be addressing these Jews too. And the suggestion that the Rebbe wouldn't even have a minyan implies that even those who lived near the Rebbe would stay home if they knew how powerful it is...