All for One

Rabbi Elie Feder PhD

The thought of our own lives hanging in the balance - who will live and who will die, who will have peace and who will have torment, who will be wealthy and who will be poor - is certainly enough to bring us all to a state of deep concentration at some point on Rosh Hashana. But maybe there’s something even more inspiring and more meaningful that we can all aspire for - especially on this Rosh Hashana. 

The centerpiece of Musaf is the brachos of Malchios, Zichronos, and Shofros. Let’s review the basic structure of each of these brachos. Each begins by developing its theme - Malchios: that Hashem is the King of the world; Zichronos: that He is all-knowing; Shofros: that He reveals Himself to man. After developing its theme, each bracha cites ten pesukim from Tanach to support its prevalence in Kisvei Kodesh. Finally, each bracha culminates in a request - Malchios: that Hashem should reign over the whole world; Zichronos: that He should “remember” us for the good; Shofros: that He should reveal Himself to us with His great shofar of redemption. 

Although, we use ten pesukim for each bracha, what’s the minimum amount needed? The conclusion, based on the gemara in Rosh Hashana 32a, is that we need at least three pesukim. Why? The gemara suggests two possibilities. The first is that three corresponds to Torah, Neviim, and Kesuvim. This explanation makes intuitive sense - in order to show the prevalence of each theme in Torah She’bichsav, we illustrate its expression in each segment of Tanach. 

The gemara then offers a strange alternative explanation for the minimum of three pesukim. That is, it corresponds to kohanim, leviim, and yisraelim. While this may sound nice, we are left wondering: What in the world is the connection of kohanim, leviim, and yisraelim to the number of pesukim in musaf on Rosh Hashana? While it’s true that all these groups daven Musaf, why should this determine the number of pesukim? 

Perhaps this seemingly tenuous connection is made to properly direct our attention on this awe-inspiring Judgment Day. The issue is that the thought of judgment often causes us to turn inwards - to worry about our lives, our families, and our bank accounts. As important as these things are, there’s more to Rosh Hashana than our personal fate. There’s the fate of the Jewish nation. And there’s the fate of the entire world. 

Look carefully at the Amida of Rosh Hashana. Does it focus on ourselves? Not at all. The focus involves Hashem’s kingship being expressed in the Jewish nation and in the world at large; it discusses Hashem remembering the covenant and the Jewish nation for the good. The message is that on Judgment Day, we should strive to elevate our attention above ourselves and to think about the bigger picture. 

While we may hesitate to disregard our personal concerns on this all-important day of judgment, this isn’t really necessary. Ironically, the route to improving our own judgment is to (almost) forget about ourselves and instead think about what is truly much more significant - Hashem, His nation, and His world. We should recall that our own success is intimately tied up with the success of the Jewish nation. And we should internalize the fact that our own judgment is in large part commensurate with the degree that we can elevate above our self-centered desires and fears and view them in the context of Klal Yisrael and Hashem’s entire world.  

We can now understand the gemara’s second explanation for the minimum of three pesukim. It teaches us that whether we happen to be a kohen, levi, or yisrael, we should each strive on Rosh Hashana to think about all the Jews in all of these groups. We should think about all our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael and throughout the Diaspora and recognize that whatever group of Jews we identify with, we are all for one common mission - to sanctify the Name of Hashem in this world. While we may each daven in our own shul, we should jointly pray that it won’t be long before we collectively experience that awesome day when “everyone who has breath in his nostrils will say ‘Hashem, God of Yisrael is King, and His kingship reigns supreme over all.’”      

Bio: Rabbi Elie Feder PhD, a Rebbe at Yeshiva Bnei Torah and a math professor at Kingsborough Community College, is the author of Gematria Refigured (2022) and Happiness in the Face of Adversity (upcoming). He is also a co-host of the podcast “Physics to God” and the host of the podcast “Simply Deep.”