Shut your eyes tight and think: What is closest is first.
Myself, my parents, children, siblings, the neighbors in my
building, those who attend the same shul, acquaintances of a
greater radius — street and neighborhood, fellow
Jerusalemites (or whichever city I live in). Period.
Our country does not stop at the boundaries of our city
eruv. There are still many more people in many cities
in Eretz Yisroel, for example: Holon, Bat Yam, Carmiel,
Dimona, all the thousands that fill the streets of the many
cities and towns. In short, all of Eretz Yisroel.
Think of all the hundreds of millions living in the U.S. Even
our extended world does not stop at Monsey and Boro Park.
There are millions in the C.I.S. and billions in China, with
dozens of millions in Arab countries surrounding us. Let us
not forget Europe, with England, France, Germany, Switzerland
and so on. At this point, the numbers become too huge for us
to assimilate. In order for us to grasp them in our mind, we
must begin with people we know, like relatives, and multiply
this many, many times over until the vastness begins to sink
in.
All of these people, without exception, will be standing in
judgment a few days from today, for they are all Hashem's
servants!
In all of these near and far places, people are born and they
die. They become ill and recuperate. They grow rich and
become impoverished. And each and every person is taken into
account. Very meticulous records are kept, and the forecast
for the prospective year will be recorded this coming week,
"For it is a statute unto Yisroel, an ordinance for the G-d
of Yaakov."
What is dominion? A situation in which, "Without your
permission, no one shall lift a hand or foot," as Pharaoh
said to Yosef. Kingship is involvement in every possible
area, power over every aspect of life. Anything that carries
on without the knowledge of the government constitutes
treason, even if it involves a single citizen or an isolated
event. Anything that happens without government sanction
represents something autonomous within the kingdom, which is
a contradiction to absolute royal power and therefore,
illegal. The King of the world rules over everything.
It would therefore be inane to depict Rosh Hashonoh in a
limited scope that involves us alone, be it a suggested match
for a child or some business deal in the offing, even a
health problem. Rosh Hashonoh encompasses a world scale, a
master plan for the entire planet, the whole universe, in
fact, implicating billions of people and events. One must
stretch one's imagination to be able to begin to grasp this
magnitude.
This does not in any way lessen the personal judgment to
which every individual is subject. There is no conflict of
interests but a unified scan that encompasses everything in
its vast panoramic sweep. "All are surveyed in a single
scanning." Like sheep, collectively, but also individually,
each one measured on his own merits as well as representing a
citizen in his country, a member of the world. What he is and
what is his capacity and influence.
Shall his yoke of responsibilities be lightened or
ameliorated through easier conditions, economic or otherwise,
or shall tests and hurdles be erected in his path?
Such thoughts should serve us to prepare ourselves for the
central prayers of the day. "And thus shall You impose Your
fear, Hashem our G-d, upon all of Your works, and Your dread
upon all that You created." We must step out of the confined
circle of our immediate environment and begin to broaden our
context of reference.
"Over all of Your works." Ourselves and our children,
first of all, that we learn to `know Your name' and to study
Your Torah for its own sake. But we must also pray for all
those unknowing secular Jews whom we meet on the bus, at the
clinic, or anywhere, or the many children who are not
privileged to have a Torah education and who don't know Whom
to fear — we pray that You impose Your fear upon them
so that they, too, will grasp the meaning of "Shema
Yisroel," that they, too, begin to believe, and to keep
the Torah.
"And Your dread upon all that You created." Upon the
Arabs, too, the ones who scheme evil against us, who torment
us, who inject uncertainty and fear in our daily lives and
impose their terror upon us. Let them begin to fear You. May
the Iranians, the Syrians, and all of Your creatures, fear
You. Not only should they be afraid to harm us, but they
should have G-d-fear instilled in them. Would that all
mankind bow before You, all the millions in American and
Russians, the billions in China and everywhere. Would that
the whole world be filled with knowledge of Hashem and that
all peoples bow down in total submission before You. We must
exercise our imaginations to such a grandstand choreography
of divine worship.
"And all shall become a single bloc to perform You will
with whole heart." Stretch your powers of dramatization
and creativity to conjure up such a reality. Everyone, the
entire conglomeration of tongues and races and outlooks
— everyone in our splintered country, G-d-fearing and
otherwise, all those in the lands at military odds with us,
all peoples fighting against one another in various countries
throughout the world at large, all the member nations of the
United Nations — may they all convene for one purpose
only:
"To do Your will wholeheartedly." Not for the sake of
war and peace, not for technological and economic reasons,
not for the world market, not for money or power or honor.
One subject alone should be that which unifies all into a
world body. Away with competitive organizations, away with
coalitions and oppositions. One Single Bloc, one united unit.
For only one purpose: To do Your will with whole heart.
Is this scenario possible? Certainly.
"Just as we know, Hashem our G-d, that dominion is before
You." We know the truth already now, that this is how it
is and how it can and must be. There is nothing besides Him.
His dominion reigns ubiquitously; it is Supreme. Strength is
in His hand and might in His right. What then?
Not everyone realizes it. But is this cause for it to seem
preposterous, G-d forbid? In one fell moment of divine
revelation, all of mankind can awaken can begin to see?
"I will pour My spirit upon all flesh." Suddenly, all
will internalize the truth. Suffice a single shaft of light
to put everything into a proper perspective, to overshadow
all petty considerations and make them vanish into
nothingness. And only the one true reality will remain and
reign: To do Your will with whole heart.
The heavens already relate the glory of Hashem, and the
entire creation silently shouts that "One G-d created me."
But most people have their eyes blindfolded, and this is how
the world looks when viewed through a film that screens the
truth. But "Suddenly, the Master will appear at His palace."
Abruptly, the enlightenment will burst forth and the entire
world will suddenly believe the truth — if they survive
and merit that event.
This is what we must pray for - that it happen speedily and
in our day. "And so, impose Your fear..."
