Rosh HaShana: Apple+Honey, Way deeper than you thought

There is a famous practice to eat Simanim on Rosh HaShana - we take foods of significance, find a relevant play-on-words to the name of the food or how the food looks, and just before we eat them we beseech Hashem to send us only good things in the coming year.

It’s an age-old practice. We’ve been raised since we were little children to sing, “Dip the apple in the honey, make a Bracha loud and clear - A Shana Tova U’Mesuka, have a good and sweet new year!” Dip, eat, (contemplate) and rejoice. This seemingly simple custom contains within it a deep and beautiful significance. Let’s explore.

We know that the apple-honey-dip is not the only ‘Siman’ that we eat on the night of Rosh HaShana. Fish heads, pomegranates, black-eyed-peas, leeks and others are all make predictable appearances on Jewish tables around the world. But there is one characteristic that sets the apple and honey apart. In Shulchan Aruch, all of the relevancies of the Simanim are explicitly described. Pomegranates, for example have a tremendous amount of seeds – the whole inside is jam-packed with them! On this we request from Hashem that He increases our merits like the seeds of a pomegranate. On the fish or goat head (goat-heads are not for the faint-of-heart) we request that God make us heads – significant and thoughtful, and not like tails – brainless followers. The list goes on.

On the apple dipped in honey, like we mentioned before, we ask Hashem for a Shana Tova U’Mesuka - a good and sweet new year. True, apple and honey are a sweet combination. But cotton-candy is sweet too! Strawberries are very sweet. There are endless possibilities, so why specifically this combination? It’s got to be an apple and it’s got to be honey… why? A second question: what’s with the language of a Shana Tova U’Mesuka - a good and sweet new year. We can ask for good or we can ask for sweet. We can split it up into two Simanim! All the other Simanim are requested one at a time! We can ask for ‘good’ on either the apple or honey and for ‘sweet’ on the other! But we need to ask for both together, and we specifically need to dip the apple in the honey, why?

To crunch down the questions: Why specifically apple and honey if the request can be tied to many foods? Why must we specifically bring these two together by dipping one in the other? And why the double-layered request?

Reb Tzadok HaKohen from Lublin answers our questions with a fascinating approach based on the passuk in Tehilim (97:11): “Or Zarua La’Tzadik, U’L’Yishrei Lev Simcha.” ‘Light is to be grown for the righteous and those who are straight of heart will be happy.’ Says Reb Tzadok, this verse contains all of our answers.

The Passuk seems to describe two levels, the Tzadik and the Yishrei Lev, the righteous and the straight of heart. What’s the difference? A second question: The righteous get ‘Light’ and the straight of heart are connected to joy. Why is each reward fitting to each category it is mentioned with?

Let’s begin by addressing the definitions of the two categories listed. Says Reb Tzadok, the first category, the Tzadik does all the right things all the time and none of the wrong things any of the time. On the level of straight-up actions, his checklist is perfect. This doesn’t mean that he’s always enjoying himself, it just means that in the realm of Ma’aseh - deed, he gets straight A’s.

But then there is the second, higher level of Yishrei Lev - the straight of heart. These unique individuals posses all of the positive qualities of the Tzadik but with an important added bonus: the heart. True, they do all the correct things, but even more than that – they love every second of it! They are constantly in the ‘zone’. Always ‘feeling it.’ Those who are “Yashar Lev” – straight of heart – have their heart penetrate straight through everything they do.

So why does the Tzadik get ‘Light’ as a reward? To understand this we need to look back to Bereishis when light was created. The Passuk says, “Vayar Elokim Es HaOr Ki Tov.” ‘And God saw that the light was Tov - Good.’ Rashi says there that God took this original light and hid it away for the righteous to benefit from in the future. This isn’t just light that brightens the physical – this is light that illuminates the soul. This is the radiance of closeness to Hashem. This is the warmth of the World-to-Come. This is the Or HaGanuz - the hidden light: the light for Tzadikim.

There is no doubt that the Tzadik that we described above is worthy to receive from and partake in this light. He does all the right things, and therefore gets the reward he deserves.

But the Yishrei Lev? They not only get the light, but they even enjoy this world on a totally different level. Their world has an added Simcha joy, happiness, wholeness. Why? Because they don’t just do the right actions, they are ecstatic about their Avodas Hashem! Their checklist is complete in the realm of deed, and they get the additional benefit of getting a Geshmak - a spiritual high, an added sweetness in life.

Let’s take the ideas of Tzadik and Yishrei Lev, the concepts of Or and Simcha, and momentarily put them aside so that we can address another issue before tying everything together at the end. Why specifically apple and honey?

The Gemara in Shabbos tells us that Am Yisrael is like an apple tree. Chazal tell us that an apple tree is unique among all trees in that the fruit precedes the leaves. In most cases leaves come as harbingers of fruits that are soon coming. But the apple tree shoots forth its produce before the leaves arrive and announce the arrival of the fruit. This is parallel to how the Jews at Mount Sinai said “Na’aseh - We shall do” before they said “Nishma - We shall listen.” Usually one listens and contemplates before agreeing to action, this listening is comparable to the leaves of the tree. But the Jews shot forth the fruit first – the committed themselves to action without any hesitation.

Thus Reb Tzadok connects the level of Tzadik to the concept of apple. Just like an apple signifies a firm dedication to action at all costs, so too a Tzadik is firmly rooted in perect action.

And honey? Honey is Scripture’s paradigmatic example of sweetness. Says the Passuk in Shoftim, ‘Mah Masok Mi’Dvash? - What is sweeter than honey?’ But what is sweetness really? Sweetness implies that the food is not just physically going down my throat, but I’m getting that extra Geshmak, an added bonus just to make things more exciting.

And Reb Tzadok connects this concept of Dvash to the level of Yishrei Lev. Just like honey gives an extra spike of excitement, so too the Yishrei Lev are living with that extra enthusiasm in their Avodas Hashem!

For this reason we dip the apple into the honey. And for this reason we ask Hashem for a Good and Sweet new year. Because at the end of the day we want both levels. We want to connect the depth of the Apple to the depth of the Honey. We want to do all the right things and we also want to be totally thrilled by it. We want to live lives where we are Tzadikim - lives of Or, lives of Tov and bring it into our hearts, to be Yishrei Lev, to live with excitement, with that added Simcha, that extra Mesikus - the sweetness.

We don’t just ask Hashem for a Shana Tova - a year of Tov, we ask to bind that good to the Misikus. We don’t just want apples; we want to connect them to the honey. A Shana Tova and Mesuka. Apple in the honey. To take the Or Zarua La’Tzadik and bring it into the U’L’Yishrei Lev Simcha. Gevalt.

B’Ezras Hashem, as we start the new year, let’s pray that Hashem gives us the strength to serve Him with joy with excitement and sweetness. That we be empowered to do all the Mitzvos all the time, and do them with a Geshmak. We need to ask Hashem to energize us so that our Avodas Hashem becomes the most exciting thing in our lives.

If we can do this, there is no doubt that we will live lives of meaning (U’L’Yishrei Lev) happiness, moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the redemption!

Shoftim/Elul: Digging for His Merit and Finding Your Own

This week’s Parsha has an interesting emphasis on the concept of Tzedek - Justice. We need to understand the deeper meaning of what Tzedek is in context of the content of the Parsha and see how it is deeply connected to Chodesh Elul as we prepare for Rosh HaShana. Hopefully through a deeper understanding of these concepts we will be able to walk away a new perspective on how to get the most out of these times of Teshuva, of returning to Hashem.

The following is an adaptation of ideas I heard from Rav Sitorsky.

The Parsha opens up with Hashem commanding the Jewish people to appoint judges and officers to ensure order and justice. “Shoftim V’Shotrim Titen Lecha B’Chol Shearecha…V’Shaftu Es Ha’Am Mishpat Tzedek.” - ‘Judges and officers shall you give to yourself in all your gates…and you shall judge the nation in a Judgment of righteousness.’

Let’s point out a few interesting anomalies in the Passuk: For starters, the audience to which the Passuk is speaking to seems to switch half-way. The Passuk begins, Shoftim V’Shotrim Titen Lecha, Judges and officers shall YOU - in the singular – give to yourself. But the Passuk ends V’Shaftu Es Ha’Am Mishpat Tzedek - the whole nation needs to get judged appropriately! If the Passuk stuck to the singular we wouldn’t have the same problem, for if it did we could simply say that the overall singular reference is going on the Jewish people as a whole, but the fact that the Passuk switches in the middle to speak about the masses means that the singular individual spoken about in the beginning of the Passuk is in fact really one guy!

Two Psukim later the term Tzedek arises again. “Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof” – ‘Justice! Justice shall you pursue.’ What is this emphasis of Tzedek that it appears three times within three Psukim and again multiple more times throughout the Parsha?

Now let’s jump to the end of the Parsha. The last concept spoken about in the Parsha is the idea of Egla Arufa. The case is the following. A dead victim, presumably murdered, is found lying out in the fields between two cities. Those who investigate cannot figure out who he is and to which city he belongs. What do we do now? We measure to see which city he closest to and break the neck of a cow in order to achieve atonement.

Here too we need to look a little deeper and ask some questions. The Passuk says, “Ki Yimtza Chalal Asher… Nofel Ba’Sadeh”, ‘When you find a corpse who fell in the field. (What will happen?)’ “V’Yatzu Ziknecha V’Shoftecha” ‘And your elders and your judges shall come out (to the scene)’ And they will take a cow to the river and break it’s neck. They will say to Hashem ‘Forgive your people’.

“Ki Yimtza Chalal” – this word is translated as ‘corpse’ but it means ‘desecrated’ and ‘empty’, how is that relevant here? “Asher Nofel Ba’Sadeh” – Who fell in THE field, why so specific? It would be sufficient to say Bi’Sadeh, in a field! And who are the Ziknecha V’Shoftecha? Lastly, Why do the officiators involved need to request forgiveness on behalf of all of Am Yisrael?! It would be quite enough to ask on behalf of the suspected city to which the Challal was closest! And even that would be a lot, for it was not the whole city that was responsible, rather one person was the murderer!

And surely all of this is connected to the month of Elul, because Parshas Shoftim is always the first Parsha read in this month! Let’s pick out one specific detail of this month. The Arizal explains that Hashem’s name of Yud-Kay-Vav-Kay has twelve possible permutations not including the repeats. He goes further to say that each one of these is associated with a month of the year and attached to each one is a scriptural reference to which the permutation can be derived. For example, our month, the month of Elul’s permutation is Kay-Kay-Vav-Yud and it emerges from the line “U’Tzedaka Tihiye Lanu Ki” The line means ‘And there shall be Tzedeka for us’ and it emerges in that the last letter of each of those four words spells the permutation connected to this month.

But here is that term Tzedek again! How is this reference in the month of Elul connected to the same term used so often in our Parsha?

Let’s begin to answer our questions by understanding a deep and beautiful teaching from the Ba’al Shem Tov.

There is a famous line in Pirkei Avos that tells us that we should not judge our friend until we arrive in his place. The simple understanding is that you will never know exactly what someone has gone through that made him arrive at his current decision, and because you can’t know all the factors, don’t judge him negatively.

The Ba’al Shem Tov offers a mystical understanding. It is know that when we do a mistake, if we, heaven forbid, sin; God can address our mess-up in one of two ways: either He can look upon it favorably and find merit on our behalf, or the harsher option would be unleash the full wrath that the misdeed deserves. The first is kindness and the second is a harsher judgment.

But how does Hashem decide which to use in any given situation? The answer is that Hashem will allow a person to judge himself. How? He will present that person with the sight of someone doing the very same action, which he himself transgressed in the first place. If the man in our case judges the man he sees favorably, then Hashem will judge him favorably in return. But the opposite is also true; if the man in our story looks upon the second man with disdain and judgmentally, so too shall God look upon him, and the strict justice will be delivered in lieu of mercy.

This idea is hinted to in the line we mentioned before. ‘Don’t judge your friend until you arrive in his place.’ The meaning is that any time you are judging your firend it is because you are really judging yourself, you and he are standing in the same place. God has matched up two people who have done the same action in order to determine he best mode of Divine Response.

The rule that we get from here is that the way that we are judged in heaven is a direct response to how we treat our fellow Jew.

And this is the deeper meaning of Tzedek/Tzedaka. Unkelos in Parshas Va’Eschanan defines it as ‘Zechusa’ – Merit in Aramaic. If the goal of all justice is really to find MERIT – then we can begin to tie everything together.

When we say Selichos, when we begin to pray for mercy before Rosh HaShana the very first thing we say is Lecha Hashem HaTzedaka - To you Hashem is the ability to find merit. This is the starting point of all of our requests.

But it really starts from us, for Hashem will only treat us in this way if we treat others in the same manner and this is where Parshas Shoftim comes in.

Why does the Passuk in the start of Parsha switch from singular to plural? We notice that the command to appoint judges and officers applies to the individual, but to the rest of the nation? V’Shaftu Es Ha’Am Mishpat Tzedek. To yourself appoint judges and officers, be very strict, as strict as you want - with yourself. “Shoftim V’Shotrim Titen Lecha.” But when you come to judging everyone else? That is the time to employ Tzedek, V’Shaftu Es Ha’Am Mishpat Tzedek. This explains the general repetition of the term throughout the Parsha as well. A Parsha defined by its qualities of judgment (as evident by its name) needs to have the goal of all justice repeated again and again.

So what is happening by Egla Arufa? The Challal, literally ‘the empty one’ - devoid of spirituality; found randomly murdered, a punishment from Hashem that he certainly had coming to him, who mysteriously cannot be traced to any specific locale – certainly this man has many factors leaning towards seeing him unfavorably.

(This is the meaning of Ba’Sadeh - THE field. What is THE field? The influence of Eisav. Why? He is called Ish Sadeh. This man who fell in the field, it seems that this man seems totally and fully secularized on the outside.) All in all it is very difficult to find merit to this man who died without any clues.

But how do we respond? We send ‘Ziknecha V’Shoftecha.’ And who are they? Rashi tells us that it the Sanhedrin, the highest court from Yerushalayim. Why do we need them, the biggest court we have, to come and investigate? Because Yehshaya HaNavi calls Yerushalayim the Ir Tzedek - the city of Tzedek. Only the biggest judges from the city of merit are able to deal meritoriously with such an estranged man.

Reb Tzadok HaKohen points out that this whole concept of Egla Arufa is teaching us a lesson in Arvus, responsibility for the Jewish people. The highest court from the city which David HaMelech calls Ir She’Chubra LaYachdav’ it’s the city that brings people together – it is they who have the ability to approach the Chalal who has fallen into the Sadeh and find merit, even there. They have the ability to look at this situation and think, maybe Hashem did something to this man to teach a lesson to me, or the Jewish people as a whole! And as such they ask forgiveness on behalf of the entire Jewish people.

And all of this comes down to the fact that we use this Parsha to enter into the month of Elul, the month of “U’Tzedaka Tihiyeh Lanu Ki” – the month that if we can find merit in others, Hashem will find merit in us.

In a world where I am constantly trying my very best to find merit in everyone around me I can make my relationships with those around grow, and through that boost my connection with Hashem. Hashem created all sorts of people around me and He really wants us to get along. It’s a difficult but rewarding task that is truly life-transforming, and it is totally crucial step into making the most out of the Teshuva process.

B’Ezras Hashem we should be Zoche to operate in the world in such a beautiful fashion. For when we begin to place merit on others, Hashem begins to place merit on us. If we can do this then there is no doubt that we will all live lives of fulfillment and happiness, moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the redemption!