Rosh haShana and the Sanctity of the Land

 

Rebbe Natan, the spiritual heir of Rebbe Naḥman of Breslov, presents a detailed exposition of his thesis that the special days of the month of Tishrei: Rosh haShana, the Ten Days of Penitence, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret, are all focused on "revealing the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael, to allow us to merit coming to the Land."

The sanctity of Eretz Yisrael is manifest specifically at Rosh haShana "since the essence of the Land's sanctity springs from the beginning of the year, as Scripture states 'It is a Land the Lord your God cares for. He is always watching over it from the beginning to the end of the year' [Deuteronomy 11:12], meaning that (starting) from Rosh haShana throughout the year, the eyes of God's providence are upon the Land, and the essence of her sanctity derives from the eyes of God."

Beyond this, Rosh haShana is the time of coronating God over His nation and over the entire universe, and "(God's) monarchy is connected to the Land of Israel, which is the prime venue for its revelation." As our Sages taught: "One who resides in the Land of Israel is considered as having a God." [Babylonian Talmud, Ketubot 110b]

Following the conclusion of the amida of the night of Rosh haShana, the cantor and congregation recite chapter twenty-four of Psalms: "The land is God's and the fullness thereof" verse by verse. Rashi comments "The land is God's – the Land of Israel." Based on this, Rebbe Natan writes that the reason the Rosh haShana prayers commence with this Psalm is that "the essential revelation of God's monarchy is within the Land of Israel, therefore, on Rosh haShana, when we are engaged in revealing His monarchy, the central point is to reveal the sanctity of the Land, which is the prime venue for revealing His monarchy." Revealing God's monarchy and revealing the sanctity of the Land of Israel are interrelated.

Rebbe Natan's conclusion is that "On Rosh haShana our prayers must be focused on being privileged to speedily ascend to the Land of Israel, which is the essential venue for revealing God's monarchy.

The three sets of shofar blasts of Rosh haShana, monarchy (malchuyot), memories (zichronot) and shofarot, are also related to revealing the sanctity of Israel.

Concerning malchuyot, as noted, the basic service of Rosh haShana is proclaiming God's monarchy over Israel and the entire world, and Rebbe Natan's above exposition clarifies the connection between God's monarchy and revealing the sanctity of Israel.

The connection between zichronot and the Land of Israel is derived not merely from the Divine declaration "And I shall remember the Land" [Leviticus 26:42], but rests upon a much deeper and fundamental basis. Rebbe Natan avers that memory is intimately related to names. God Himself expressed this parallel when He said to Moses: "This is My name forever, and this is how I should be remembered in every generation." [Exodus 3:15] A name conveys the essence of the object or person which carries that name. For example, if one speaks of an ox, his interlocutor does not require an explanation that the reference is to a bovine which chews its cud, etc. The same is true in speaking of God, "as it were, His name constitutes His memory." Since humans are limited by our inability to perceive the essential qualities of God, we can relate to God only through His name. Thus, the basic remembrance of God's name is in the Land of Israel, whose sanctity emanates from the Temple, which is the primary place where His name is mentioned, since the Tetragrammaton (the explicit name) may be pronounced only within the Temple. For this reason, we find that Abraham called God's name only after entering the Land. [Genesis 12:8] "It is within the Land that we can best connect to God's name."

The set of shofarot blown on Rosh haShana also relates to the Land of Israel, "since the shofar is connected to the ingathering of the exiles, as the verse states 'On that day a great shofar will be blown, and those lost in the land of Assyria will come, as well as those dispersed in the land of Egypt; and they will worship the Lord at Jerusalem on the holy mountain…'"  [Isaiah 27:13], and it is obvious that the exiles will be gathered into the Land. Indeed, the blessing which concludes the blasts of shofarot includes the request: "Our God and the God of our fathers; sound the great shofar for our freedom, raise the banner to gather our exiles. Bring our scattered ones near from among the nations and gather our dispersions from the ends of the earth." Thus, shofarot are primarily about gathering the exiles into the Land, and the sanctity of the Land is most evident when the exiles are gathered into her.

Rebbe Natan concludes that "malchuyot, zichronot and shofarot each convey an aspect of Eretz Yisrael and therefore relate to the Rosh haShana service of "revealing the sanctity of Eretz Yisrael, to allow us to merit coming to the Land."