Hilchos Rosh Hashana

Transcription

1 1 P a g e Hilchos Rosh Hashana Elul 1. From Rosh Chodesh Elul until Yom Kippur is a time when H is close to us, so it is easier for us to get close to Him. a. Sephardim say selichos, special prayers, for this whole time. b. Ashkenazim blow the shofar, and also say Psalm 27. c. Ashkenazim also start saying selichos the motza ei Shabbos before Rosh Hashana, or the week before if this is less than four days. i. The reason selichos are said for a minimum of four days is because a korban (sacrifice) must be checked of blemishes for four days before it is offered. ii. When describing the sacrifices of each Yom Tov, the Torah says, Offer a sacrifice. For Rosh Hashana it says, Make for yourself a sacrifice, which could also be understood as saying, Make yourself a sacrifice. iii. Therefore, we try to soul-search in order to purify ourselves before Rosh Hashana, so that we can offer ourselves in the best shape possible. d. The person who leads the davening should be a tzaddik with a nice voice, so everyone will want to do teshuvah. 2. The word Elul symbolically represents the three things a person must do to improve his judgment on Rosh Hashana: teshuvah (repentance), tefilah (prayer), and tzedakah (charity). Erev Rosh Hashana 3. Selichos on Erev Rosh Hashana are extra-long, and it is recommended to fast until midday (1:19). 4. Immediately following Selichos, we nullify vows that we might have made over the course of the year. A person can request nullification only of his or her own vows, or his wife s as well, but only if she made the husband an agent to do so. a. The nullification process consists of making a declaration in a language understood by the speaker that they regret all vows that have made. b. Three males over bar mitzvah sit and listen to the request, and recite a paragraph of nullification three times after the declaration is made.

2 2 P a g e c. The person then makes a declaration that they do not intend to further make vows, and if they do make vows they don t actually mean them. d. If this was not done on Erev Rosh Hashana, it can be done any time, but ideally before Yom Kippur. 5. A person should always do teshuvah right away, and not wait until later. He might forget to do teshuvah, or he might not find the person to whom he needs to apologize. How to Do Teshuvah 6. There are three steps to doing teshuvah for a sin between us and H, and an additional step if we hurt a person: a. Charata (deciding that what we did was wrong), b. Kabbalah al Ha asid (deciding never to do it again) c. If the sin was against a person, we must ask them for forgiveness. d. Vidui (saying to H that we are sorry we did aveiros [sins]) Davening During Rosh Hashana through Yom Kippur 7. Starting on Rosh Hashana, we make several changes to the Shemona Esrei..הקל הקדש of, instead המלך הקדש say, a. We i. If someone forgot to switch, but remembered within two seconds, he can should say, הקדש המלך immediately. ii. If he remembered after two seconds, he should start Shemona Esrei again..מלך אוהב צדקה ומשפט of, instead,המלך המשפט say, b. During weekdays, we c. We also insert four requests for a good judgment, in the first, second, penultimate, and final brachos of Shemona Esrei. (שיר המעלות ממעמקים) 8. In Shacharis, immediately following Yishtabach, we say Psalm 130 verse by verse. Rosh Hashana Night 9. After davening at night, we give each other blessings to be inscribed and sealed in the book of life, Leshana Tova. a. This blessing is only given the first night. Afterwards we say Good Yom Tov. Positive Psychology

3 3 P a g e 10. There are a number of practices that we have on Rosh Hashana (and afterwards) in order to ensure that we have a positive attitude for the new year, so we will be ready to serve H properly and not engage in improper behavior. a. On Rosh Hashana, most people avoid eating nuts. b. Similarly, we avoid eating sour foods (containing vinegar), and some also avoid spicy foods. c. We dip Challah in honey instead of salt. i. Ideally there should still be salt on the table. ii. Many continue this practice through Shemini Atzeres. d. During the night meals, there are many foods which are eaten to symbolically start our year the right way. Before eating each food, there is a special tefillah to say. The foods are as follows: i. Dates (this should ideally come first, but if you prefer something else you may start with that instead) ii. An apple dipped in honey iii. Pomegranates iv. Leek or cabbage v. Black eyed peas, fenugreek or carrots vi. Gourd vii. Beets viii. Fish ix. Head of animal (preferable sheep, but fish heads or tongue are the most practical) e. During the day of Rosh Hashana, we try to avoid sleeping or wasting time. Ideally, the afternoon should be spent in study or prayer. f. We do not mention sin on Rosh Hashana, both to have a positive attitude and to avoid calling attention to the things we have done wrong. Shofar Blowing

4 4 P a g e 11. On Rosh Hashana, there is a mitzvah to hear the shofar. The mitzvah is to hear three sets of Tekiah, Teruah, Tekiah: a long sound, a broken sound, and another long sound. a. The broken sound is supposed to sound like crying. b. How do people cry? i. Some people cry long sobs. ii. Some people cry with short whimpers. iii. Some people first sob and then they whimper. c. We blow the shofar all three of the ways to ensure that we have fulfilled the mitzvah properly. i. The sob is called a shevarim. ii. The whimper is called a teruah. iii. The sob and then whimper is called a shevarim teruah. 12. The ideal time to blow shofar is at Shacharis. When there was a governmental decree not to blow shofar, the spies only spied on the Jews in the morning. Therefore, we pushed off the shofar until Mussaf. a. Even though the decree was nullified, we still blow shofar during Mussaf. 13. We first blow the shofar immediately following the haftarah. We then blow during the repetition of Mussaf, and again during the Kaddish following Mussaf. 14. The total number of times we blow is 100, to annul the 100 cries of Sisera s mother when he failed to come home victorious from his war against Yisroel. 15. Procedure of blowing a. Before we blow, we first recite Psalm 47, Lamnetzeach Livnei Korah Mizmor, seven times. This Psalm is about the greatness of H, how much he cherishes us, and that we use musical instruments (such as the shofar) to proclaim his kingship. b. We then recite a number of verses responsively. The first letters of the verses spell, Kara Satan, or rip up the Accuser, which refers to the ability of the mitzvah of Shofar to nullify the Accuser. c. The Baal Tokeia then recites two blessings, on the mitzvah of shofar and on the fact that we are alive to perform this mitzvah in this new year.

5 5 P a g e d. From the time the Baal Tokeia recites these blessings, it is forbidden to talk about anything which is not necessary. e. If one talked before the first blast, he would need to make the first bracha again. If he talked after that, he would not need to repeat the blessings. 16. Who has to hear it? a. Men have to hear the shofar. b. If women want to hear it, they also get a mitzvah. c. Children who are able to sit quietly in shul are old enough to be educated in the mitzvah of Shofar. 17. The main judgment of Rosh Hashana occurs during the Shofar blowing. One should try to focus on accepting H as King while listening (and throughout the day of Rosh Hashana as well). Tashlich 18. One the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashana we say Tashlich. a. The main part of Tashlich is that we recite some verses which correspond to the 13 Attributes of Mercy of H. b. These verses refer to throwing sins into the depths of the sea. c. Therefore, we go to a place that has running water and fish. d. If one does not say it on Rosh Shana, he may say it until Yom Kippur, or even after. 19. We do not feed animals (other than pets who depend on us for food) on Yom Tov. Therefore, when doing Tashlich on Yom Tov, we do not throw crumbs to the fish. Tzom Gedaliah 20. The day after Rosh Hashana is Tzom Gedaliah. When that day is Shabbos (like this year), we instead fast on Sunday. a. We fast because on this day a Jew murdered Gedaliah ben Achikam, a tzaddik whom the Babylonians had put in charge if Israel. They viewed his murder as a sign of rebellion, and exiled the remaining Jews from Israel. b. The fast here begins at 6:33 am and ends at 8:02 pm.