Part II
The Shloh says that the simonim of Rosh Hashonoh do not have any absolute reference. Their entire purpose is to awaken us to teshuvoh. The simonim in and of themselves mean nothing at all, and everything is dependent upon man himself. The author added that when a Jew sees the simonim on his table he can interpret them in either a beneficial or a harmful way. This is actually our own situation on Rosh Hashanah: it can be interpreted in the same two ways and it is our task to pick the right one.
Part II
A well-known saying of R' Yisroel of Salant zy'a further enhances this moral. R' Yisroel asked why on Yom Kippur night we say Boruch Sheim Kevod Malchuso Le'olom Vo'ed out loud as the mal'ochim do, although directly beforehand we have eaten and drunk, whereas right after Yom Kippur — after we have not eaten or drunk for a whole day and are actually even more like mal'ochim — we say Boruch Sheim in a whisper, as we do during the whole year. It would seem that we should do just the opposite.
If we look at man during both times when he says Boruch Sheim we can reconcile this difficulty. On the night of Yom Kippur, although he has eaten and drunk, a Jew is engrossed in his preparations for the avodoh of this holy day and is kodosh and tohor. On Motzei Yom Kippur, although he has fasted for a whole day he is soon to sit down to a good meal. Man himself is the same on the night of Yom Kippur and Motzei Yom Kippur. He did not turn into something else. The only difference is the taharoh in what he is doing and the kedushoh in his intent.
Our mussar mentors have taught us that this applies to the intent of Hashem's entire Creation. This immense Creation, with all its endless galaxies, was created so that a Jew would raise his eyes to Heaven and thank and praise his Creator for it.
We understand clearly from the above that just as our mentors, according to the tradition passed down to them from chachomim of previous generations, stressed that man is in the center of the creation and is its main performer, so they taught us to be realistic and not fool ourselves. It is easy for man to make his whole spiritual preparation for Rosh Hashanah the eating of a fish's head (a simon) or his whole avodoh for Yom Kippur doing kaporos on a chicken. The truth is that this minhag kaporos has nothing to do with his real kaporoh. The poskim write that these matters are intended to awaken man to do his own kaporoh. He must think that what was done to the chicken was fitting to be done to the sinner himself (see the Ramban at the beginning of Vayikra, who writes that this is the intent of the korbonos too). If he does not awaken to teshuvoh he has not accomplished what these spiritual activities are intended to do.
R' Yisroel keenly defined such an absurd situation. When a Jew reads Krias Shema he is supposed to crown HaKodosh Boruch Hu as King over the four corners of the world and above and below. The only problem is that sometimes he forgets to crown HaKodosh Boruch Hu as King over himself too!
The aim of studying mussar is for man to be able to see his spiritual appearance clearly. The inborn nature of man is to look at himself positively, without any criticism. From HaRav Salant brilliant lights burst forth, enabling man to examine himself from new angles, x-rays the penetrate to portray his defects correctly, laser beams that do not leave any hidden corner misrepresented. Such critical appraisal is of the utmost necessity, despite its being extremely unpleasant.
*
The entire world has been shaken this last year, both by natural disasters and especially by social upheavals. We have experienced storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and global warming. There have been economic shocks, general political instability, fear of terrorist attacks all over the world, and a deterioration of personal security because of the increase in crime. All these are actually Hashem's vehicles to arouse man from his slumber. A Jew who is guided by dvar Hashem must properly examine and discern what has been happening.
Two eminent non-Jewish personalities were privileged to have sons-in-law who were gedolei olam: Lovon (who was also Bilaam, as is written explicitly in the Targum Yonoson Ben Uziel in parshas Pinchas), whose son-in-law was Yaakov Ovinu, and Yisro, whose son-in-law was Moshe Rabbenu. When Yisro heard about the many marvelous miracles Hashem did in Egypt — "Yisro, the priest of Midian, Moshe's father-in-law, heard of all that Hashem had done for Moshe and for Yisroel His people, and that Hashem had brought Yisroel out of Egypt" (Shemos 18:1) — he came to the conclusion that "now I know that Hashem is greater than all gods" (v. 11). Yisro, who searched for the truth from one side of the world until the other, reached the inevitable conclusion.
For the sake of Lovon-Bilam, Hashem even changed the way He had created the world, making Bilaam's donkey speak to him like a human. Furthermore, Hashem showed him ten clear signs that He did not want him to curse Yisroel, as cited in the Aderes Eliyahu of the Vilna Gaon zt'l. But Bilaam still feigned innocence before the mal'och, stating that "I have sinned since I did not know" (Bamidbar 22:34). The result: Bilaam's evil advice has remained infamous for eternity.
These two were alike in that Hashem "spoke" to both of them. Yisro sincerely wanted to digest the message, but Bilaam purposely prevented himself from understanding it. Shutting one's eyes and ears is a hallmark of the talmidim of Bilaam throughout the ages. That is the message that Bilaam passed on to the world. That is Bilaam's Torah: events do not mean anything to us, they do not have anything to do with us.
The turnabouts and vicissitudes of life help us, during the yomim noraim, to do our avodas Hashem with a feeling of greater nearness to our Creator.
The posuk "I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine" (Shir HaShirim 6:3) traditionally teaches us how close Hashem is to us during Elul. Perhaps we can also explain that this means that Hashem has made all these upheavals in the world especially for me.
For me Hashem has caused such drastic universal changes, ranging from the now-crippled economy to devastating floods and catastrophic hurricanes. All this is included in "my Beloved is mine." This hanhogoh of HaKodosh Boruch Hu is aimed at helping me communicate with my inner essence, my deepest emotions; it is designed to help me realize that "it is Hashem's kingdom" (Tehillim 22:29).
