The Talmud teaches that there is actually a better Hallel than our Hallel! The title of this other Psalm of Hallel is Hallel Hagadol – The Great Hallel. Why is it considered the Great Hallel? Rabbi Yochanan explains that because the Psalm develops from one great idea to another and as it reaches its peak it praises God “Who provides bread for all flesh”. We praise God for His unlimited strength, for his role in history, for His great miracles, and for His awesomeness, and yet we consider His attention to each individual as the quality most deserving of praise.

Rabbi Joshua ben Levi explains the title of The Great Hallel as based on its 26 verses, which correspond to the 26 generations of humanity before God gave the Torah – when we were granted the ability to earn existence – when the world existed entirely on God’s abundant mercy. The Maharal explains that it is not coincidental that the numerical value of God’s Ineffable Name – which represents His Unlimited Mercy – is 26.

When do we sing Hallel Hagadol – The Great Hallel? The Talmud tells a story of Rabbi Tarfon: There had been a long drought in Lod and the community fasted every Monday and Thursday pleading for Divine Mercy. One day they fasted and it began to rain before noon. Rabbi Tarfon instructed his community to “eat, drink and celebrate a holiday!” Everyone went to celebrate, and towards evening they sang The Great Hallel.

The Rashba , alone among all the Rishonim – early Halachic authorities – rules that Hallel Hagadol should always be recited in response to such a miracle. However most of the other Rishonim rule that we recite The Great Hallel only if the miracle occurred on the day we were fasting! We do not recite Hallel Hagadol if we fasted for rain on Monday and it only began to rain on Tuesday. We only recite Hallel Hagadol if you experience that moment in which your prayers are answered. We do not recite the Hallel if the positive response to our prayers is not immediate. We sing Hallel Hagadol when we immediately experience the power of our prayers with their direct cause and effect.

These authorities hold that Hallel should be sung in a moment of heightened experience of God’s care, attention and love.

Application:

• Practice singing Hallel, without a blessing, when you experience an immediate response to a prayer so that you begin to associate it with that feeling.

The Music of Halacha: The Focus of Hallel Part One

The Music of Halacha: The Forms of Hallel Part One & Part Two

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Hallel as Sanctification

Rabbi Daniel HaBavli derives the Biblical obligation to sing Hallel from a different verse: “You shall not profane My holy Name, and I shall be sanctified amongst the Jewish people. I am God Who sanctifies you.” (Vayikra 22:32) The prohibition against profaning God’s Name is that we shall not allow a vacuum to exist around God’s Name. If we do not sanctify God’s Name we allow a vacuum to develop. We create a Chilul – a vacuum – whenever we do not grow. The only way not to profane God’s Name is to sanctify it. Why does the verse add, “I shall be sanctified”? This is teaching a special Mitzvah to sanctify God’s Name. There is no greater way to sanctify God’s Name than with the Hallel. This is the Biblical source of the commandment to sing Hallel.

“Holy, Holy, Holy, God, Master of Hosts, whose Glory fills the earth.” The Targum of Yonatan ben Uziel explains the three expressions of Holy as, “Holy in the highest heavens the abode of His Presence, Holy on the earth the product of God’s strength, and Holy forever and ever.”

The Maharal points out that we find all three levels of sanctity in the Hallel:

“May the Name of God be blessed from now and forever,” corresponds to the third Holy: “Holy forever and ever.”

“From the rising of the sun until its setting God’s Name is praised,” corresponds to the second Holy: “Holy on the earth the product of God’s strength.”

“God is exalted above all the nations, His Glory is on the heavens, “ corresponds to the first Holy: ““Holy in the highest heavens the abode of His Presence.”

The Maharal continues by pointing out that these three levels of holiness are repeated throughout the Hallel. The Hallel is constantly referring to one level of Holiness or another.

The Zohar Harakia also teaches that the obligation to say Hallel is Biblical. He bases this on the verse, “In the fourth year of a vineyard or tree, the fruit of the tree shall be holy Hilulim” (Vayikra 19:24) – Hilulim is the plural of Hallel. He teaches that you should say Hallel when your tree produces fruit in its fourth year and that will make it holy. Hallel is the process of taking what you have and sanctifying it.

The Jerusalem Talmud derives from the word “Hilulim” that you should make your fruit holy by singing Hallel just as you sing when you make an offering in the Temple. Sing Hallel when you eat a fruit and sanctify what you are about to eat. We do this by making a blessing. The Jerusalem Talmud understands a blessing as a miniature Hallel.

“The servants of God shall praise God, praise the Name of God.” We are praising God for two reasons: The first reason is that now we are no longer the servants of Pharaoh but the servants of God. Whenever you praise God for a specific reason you should also praise God’s Name because God is God. Don’t limit yourself by the immediate reason leading you to sing Hallel: The immediate thing you are celebrating, whether a fruit or a miracle, should be a trigger to praise God because God is God. If I take something good that happened to me as a trigger to praise God, I am sanctifying the fruit or the experience that triggered the praise.

You are taking your gifts and sanctifying them. You are changing your existence. You are going from earth to heaven and then to eternal existence: The three levels of Holy.

It is interesting to note that we derive the power of a blessing from a verse in the Hallel: “The heavens belong to God and the earth is given to man.” When do we make the earth ours? When we make a blessing.

The Talmud teaches that Israel sang the Hallel as they brought their Paschal Offering. How did they know that they should do that? The Talmud answers with a question: “Can you imagine a Jew bringing a Paschal Offering and not singing the Hallel? Can you imagine a Jew shaking a Lulav and not singing Hallel?” The joy of taking a Lulav naturally leads us to sing Hallel!

The Music of Halacha: The Focus of Hallel Part One

The Music of Halacha: The Forms of Hallel Part One & Part Two

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“Moshe Rabbenu is the opener of all gates. But Aharon haKohen brings us inside. Succos we live Inside. Simchath Torah we can go out into the world again – after being Inside we can go anywhere in the world, because we shall always remain Inside.”

“In Your behalf, my heart has said, ‘Seek My Presence’, Your Presence, God, do I seek.” (Verse

“My soul thirsts for the Lord, for the Living Power, when shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:3) For what do you thirst? I do not thirst for food, or drink. I thirst to see Your Presence. (Midrash Tehillim 42:2)

This is our chance to focus on our spiritual lives and realize that what we most desire is to seek God’s Presence, which is so accessible during these days.

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The unique feature of Rosh Hashanah this year is, of course, that we only

blow the shofaron the second day of Yom Tov. On Shabbos, however,

*Chazal *(Rosh

Hashanah 29b) ruled that we must refrain from this important mitzvah because

we are afraid “*shema ya’avirenu daled amos b’reshus ha-rabbim*” – lest

someone carry the shofar in the public domain and thereby violate the

Shabbos. This phenomenon occurs every few years and, in fact, just three

years ago the first day of Rosh Hashanah also fell out on Shabbos.

HaRav Yaakov Ettlinger (*Minchas Ani*,pp. 482 – 486), one of the giants of

19th century German Jewry, has a remarkable essay on this phenomenon where

he points out a striking historical pattern.

R. Ettlinger notes that, according to his calculation, some of the worst

tragedies in Jewish history occurred during years in which Rosh Hashanah

fell out on Shabbos. He maintains, for example, that the destruction of both

the first and second *Beis HaMikdash* took place in such years.

On the other hand, he also determines that some of the greatest events in

our history – such as being forgiven for the sin of the golden calf,

inaugurating the *Mishkan*,and entering the Land of Israel for the first

time – also transpired in years where Rosh Hashanah came out on Shabbos.

Why is it that events of such extreme – good or bad – tend to take place

during years when Rosh Hashanah and Shabbos converge? R. Ettlinger suggests

the following powerful explanation.

Shofar is more than just a mitzvah, it is also a lifeline. The sound of the

shofar connects us to the spiritual heroism of *Akedas Yitzchok * and, at

the same time, has the unique ability to “bring” our prayers “*lifnai

v’lifnim*,” to the holiest of heavenly abodes.

We arrive at Rosh Hashanah each year *fa’shmutzed *and sullied by the sins

of the past year and therefore, more than just an obligation, we *need* the

shofar; we desperately need the *zechus*, the great merit, of the shofarto

bring us a new year of blessing.

But what happens when we can’t blow the shofar? What will save us this year?

R. Ettlinger answers that Shabbos can be our *zechus*.

It all depends on how we observe Shabbos over the coming year.

If we carefully observe all of the *mitzvos *and are punctilious in avoiding

the prohibited activities, then Shabbos itself will be our *saneigor*, our

greatest advocate, and usher in a year of great *beracha*.

But if, on the other hand, we aren’t careful in our observance of Shabbos

then we look like fakers. After all, we didn’t blow the shofar because we

were so worried about perhaps, maybe – “*shema ya’avirenu*” – violating

Shabbos; if we fall short in keeping Shabbos over the coming year then it

appears as if our concern on Rosh Hashanah was actually nothing more than a

convenient excuse not to blow the shofar. Such behavior not only leaves us

bereft of the merits of both shofarand Shabbos, but is also a *kateigor*, an

indictment against us of such gravity that it could even lead to the worst

of catastrophes.

And this, maintains R. Ettlinger, is the explanation of the “all-or-nothing”

pattern of Jewish history during years in which Rosh Hashanah fell out on

Shabbos. When we lived up to the demands of Shabbos we merited great

blessing; when we didn’t we paid a difficult price.

It’s important to stress, as well, that technical compliance with all of the

*halachos *of Shabbos – by no means a simple feat – isn’t enough. Beyond

behavior, it’s also a question of attitude.

*Chazal * teach us that we were given Shabbos as a “*matanah tovah*,” a

special gift from God. Similarly, the Chafetz Chayim used to compare Shabbos

to a wedding ring given to symbolize *Hashem’s *special love for *Am Yisroel

*. When Shabbos coincides with a holiday – as it does this Rosh Hashanah -

we repeatedly add the word “*b’ahavah*,” with love, to our prayers, because

Shabbos represents the special love that *Hashem * has for the Jewish

people. And, *lehavdil*, like any other relationship, love expressed must be

reciprocated, and therefore we must observe Shabbos with similar love and

passion.

Unfortunately, I am afraid that too often we lose sight of this critical

dimension. We are increasingly careful about the dos and don’ts, but on this

Rosh Hashanah we must ask ourselves: Do we truly appreciate the beauty of

the Shabbos? Are we genuinely excited for Shabbos? Do we sincerely love

Shabbos?

When observed with passion, Shabbos has the power to recharge our spiritual

batteries and the potential to generate unlimited blessing.

Without the full merit of shofar this year, R. Ettlinger teaches that it is

Shabbos which will determine our success. May we be worthy of this challenge

and may the new year be one of great blessing, filled with health and

happiness, for all of us, the Jewish people, and the entire world. Shanah

Tovah.

When Poskim (Halachik authorities) have a safek (doubt) about the correct interpretation of a law, there are various formulas by which to resolve it. It is unusual that the Poskim decide to accept all possible interpretations requiring us to practice the law in all of its permutations. Yet in determining the required sounds from the shofar, this is precisely what they have done.

The Torah makes reference to Rosh Hashannah as a Yom Teruah. Teruah is clearly the musical sound produced by a wind instrument. Elsewhere when the Torah talks of the sounds to be blown on the Yom Kippur of the Yoveil year, it refers to a Shofar Teruah implying that the instrument to be used to create the Teruah sound is a Shofar. But what are these musical notes called a Teruah? What does a teruah sound like?

Unkelos translates teruah as yevvava, a cry. So now we know the sound to be made by the shofar is a crying sound. This still leaves us in doubt, because there are two distinct sounds of crying: one can sob and one can wail. Since we have no clear indication which of these two sounds the teruah is, the gemarra decided that we should blow all permutations: a) a wail, that we call shevarim; b) a sob, that we call teruah; and c) a combination of both that we call shevarim-teruah. The gemarra also learns that before and after every teruah (in its different forms) there should be a long unbroken sound of the tekiah.

We use all permutations because the cry of Rosh Hashanah is not just one cry, it is a process of crying in all its evolving forms. It starts with a confident and optimistic cry of triumph, the tekiah. Then it moves into the wail of the shevarim, and breaks into the heartfelt sob of the teruah. It ends with the combination shevarim-teruah. Each cry is preceded and followed by the triumphant tekiah. If we hear these sounds in the right order and in the 100 different phrases determined for each day of Rosh Hashannah, we have technically filled the Torah’s commandment to listen to the Shofar.

But “hearing” is more than the passive absorption of sound into the brain. The word Shemiah that we use in the beracha for the shofar as well as in the famous first sentence of the shemah, is more than hearing. Shemiah is listening, paying attention. What is it that we should listen to, what emotions can the music of the shofar transmit to us?

A cry more than any other sound, elicits emotion. It is hard to hear the cry of a person; adult, child or infant, and not be moved. But some cries are not made out aloud. Sometimes you need to listen to a person’s soul to hear them cry; you need to look into their eyes, see into their hearts, and feel their pain. We often turn away from the cries of others because it is too painful to listen, probe and respond.

We don’t only turn away from the sobs of other. Sometimes our own souls sob and cry out, but our heads are too cluttered with noise to hear them. Personally, the sounds of the shofar are pathways to the sounds of my own soul. They cause me to pause, to hear, and to listen intently. Is my soul crying out? Is it sobbing quietly to itself without me paying any attention to it?

As I concentrate my attention on the depths of my own soul, I hear a faint echo of the shofar’s sounds deep inside me. I hear the triumphant tone of the Tekiah as my soul sees a cosmic picture of an ideal world of Divine presence, peace and justice. It recognizes my potential contribution to that vision and it shouts out a triumphant affirmation, a bright and clear Tekia. Then it sees the cosmic reality, so different from the cosmic ideal. And my soul begins to wail in harmony with millions of other Jewish souls. It wails over a Jewish world that has become superficial and void of deep meaning. Over the study of Torah that too often lacks majesty and relevance. It wails over the practice of Torah that too often denies the essence of deracheha darchei noam (the ways of the Torah are ways of wellbeing and pleasantness). It wails for a world where halacha is ritual rather than service, and learning is an academic endeavor rather than emersion into Divine Intelligence. It wails for unrealized potential. It wails for a world so lost, it wails for the injustice it sees. All around it.

Then the wail becomes a self-focused sob. My soul sobs when it sees how much greater I could be than I am, how much more impactful, how much wiser, how much kinder. It sobs for the love I could have shown and haven’t for the time I could have used and didn’t. It cries for wasted opportunities.

And then, slowly, the sobbing subsides. My soul has noticed that I am hearing it, it realizes that its sobbing has moved me to tears too. The sobbing stops when my soul sees that I feel compelled to make changes in the year ahead and commit to those changes, that I will do what I can to bring the world a little closer to its ideal, and my life a little more dedicated to Avodas and Kiddush Hashem. Once again my soul lets out a triumphant cry: tekiah.

Was that my soul I was listening to, or was it the shofar expertly blown in the shul in which I am davening? I can’t really tell. By this time the sounds of my soul’s cries and those of the shofar have fused. I feel at one with the shofar, at one with the souls of all the other Jewish people pouring their hearts out in prayer. I feel at one with my G-d.

The Chafetz Chaim had an interesting approach to the Talmudic statement that “Whoever forgets the Torah he has studied has forfeit part of his eternal life.” (Chapters of Our Fathers 3:8) It is commonly understood to refer to someone who does not constantly review what he has learned.

The Chafetz Chaim once visited a Polish village and met an 85-year-old man, who had witnessed a royal visit more than 80 years earlier. The elderly man could not remember much of his life, but he recalled each and every detail of the king’s visit. He described the royal clothes down to the smallest detail. He remembered every word that the kings said when he spoke to the villagers.

The holy rabbi remarked how remarkable it was that a man, who was having difficulty remembering anything from his life, was able to recall so much of something he had witnessed a very long time ago. “The event was so important and precious to him that he never forgot a single detail of something that happened when he was 5 years old. People remember things that are significant to them. We only forget Torah we studied because we did not appreciate the preciousness of what we were learning. That is why it is considered as if he forfeit part of his eternal life: Because he did not adequately appreciate and honor what he was studying at the time he was learning!”

In Zichronot we speak of how God remembers all that we do, think and say. This implies that all of those things are precious enough to God to remember.

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“It is as difficult for God to provide for all our immediate needs as it was for Him to split the Sea.” (Pesachim 118a)

Just as the Splitting of the Sea was a miracle of the totally unexpected, so too, our needs are provided from a place that is completely hidden and unforeseen. (The Chozeh of Lublin)

We face the coming year with a sense of mystery: Who knows what to expect? We focus on the verses of Zichronot – Timeless Connections – in order to recall how we have always survived on the unanticipated and startling surprises sent by God.

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I was putting the final touches on my first Yom Kippur sermon in my new synagogue. I wanted to begin with an acknowledgment that I hurt people even though I had only been there for a month or two, and I wanted people to learn to ask for forgiveness. I was writing, “Request for Mechilah – forgiveness – on my notes and the phone rang.

A friend was calling: “Rabbi, it is the custom that the rabbi begin his Yom Kippur sermon by asking everyone in the congregation for forgiveness.” I thanked him and hung up. I stared at my sermon notes, wondering what to do. When I decided to ask for Mechilah it came from my heart. I wasn’t going to do it because it was the custom of my predecessors. My friend had put me in a difficult position. I did not want my congregation to think that a request for forgiveness was only pro-forma. I wanted them to believe it was real. What was I to do?

Eighteen years later, just one of many congregants, I privately corrected the rabbi for an Halachic error. He thanked me and easily acknowledged that he was unfamiliar with those laws. I was so impressed by his natural willingness to recognize the gaps in his knowledge that I told the story at my Shabbat table.

My intentions were to praise him, and yet, the story included that he did not know certain Halachot. I had spoken Avak Lishon Harah – the dust of Lishon Harah about him. I immediately went to his home to ask his forgiveness. “Rabbi, I came to ask for forgiveness for…” and before I could finish my sentence, he said, “I forgive you.”

It was a strange experience. I did not feel that I had successfully repaired anything. He responded before I could even generally describe my sin against him. It was my problem, not his. It was another experience that confused me about the process of asking for forgiveness before Yom Kippur. People treat it as pro forma that everyone will forgive them. I always wonder how seriously people desire forgiveness, meaning to repair their relationship with me and how much they simply want to assuage their own guilt.

Yesterday, one of my children, who has not spoken to me in more than two years, called to wish me a Shana Tova – a Good Year. “Thank you.” “You sound confused.” “I am happily surprised to hear from you.”

“I have nothing to explain to you.”

My child spoke and I appreciated the pre-Yom Kippur “Please forgive me” ceremony in a new way: When my child insisted that there was nothing to explain, the child was saying that there was nothing to fix. When we observe the pre-Yom Kippur “Please forgive me” ceremony we are acknowledging that there is something to repair.

Had my child made that simple acknowledgment, my child would have healed more than two years of torture and suffering. “I have nothing to explain to you”, only made it worse.

So, I openly acknowledge that I have much to repair in many relationships. There are the calls I haven’t returned in a timely fashion, if at all. There are times I am not available to help. I may speak sharply when teaching or answering a question. I am often impatient.

Please know that I understand that I have much to repair and I want to fix all I humanly can. So, please forgive me.

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Confessions: Introduction

Ashamnu

Bagadnu

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