We know from both Mishnayot and from the piyutim that we recite on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur that this period of the year is when Hashem judges the world. After the Ramban succeeded in a debate with a Jewish meshumad – a Jew who had converted to another religion – he realized that his life was in danger and he had better leave Spain. He fled to Eretz Yisrael and delivered a very long drasha that Rosh Hashanah, covering all of the topics of the Yom Tov. A major issue he raises in that drasha is that the idea of Aseret Yemei Teshuva being the days of judgment never appears anywhere in Tanach. How, then, did Chazal know that these are days of teshuva?
The Rambam quotes Midrashim which say that Adam HaRishon was created on the sixth day of Bereishit, instructed not to eat from the eitz hada’at, violated the instruction, was judged and punished, and was expelled from Gan Eden – all on the same day. At that time, Hashem told Adam HaRishon that just as He judged him on that day, so too in all future generations, all of his descendants would be judged on that day: Rosh Hashanah. The Ramban therefore suggests that Aseret Yemei Teshuva being the days of judgment was not a tradition that Moshe Rabbeinu received at Har Sinai, but rather a tradition going back to Adam HaRishon himself.
The Torah tells us that Adam was created b’tzelem Elokim, in the image of G-d. The Meshech Chochmah explains that having a tzelem Elokim implies that each of us possesses bechirah chofshit – free will. Many psychologists do not believe in free will, but it is considered one of the most important principles of the Torah.
Every morning we say to Hashem in our tefillot that the neshamah You implanted in my body was given to me in a pure state. We do not believe that because of the “original sin,” all human beings’ souls are tainted. We are born with a pure soul, and if and when we sin, we taint it. The commentators ask what the significance was of recording the story of the eitz hada’at in the Torah if it is not directly relevant to us. They explain that the Torah recorded this incident to teach us how a typical human being might fall into the trap of sin.
In his commentary on the first perek in Chullin, the Ramban quotes a fascinating Midrash. The prohibition against eating from the eitz hada’at was only a hora’at sha’ah – a temporary ruling. Adam HaRishon was told that Friday morning that if he waited until leil Shabbat he would be permitted to eat those fruits; it was only for the few hours of erev Shabbat that it was prohibited. The Midrash comments that we ought to dig up Adam HaRishon from his grave, remove the sand from his eyes, and show him how the Jewish people always exercise self-control. If a married woman has not gone to the mikvah, her husband knows he must wait a week or two. When we slaughter an animal, we do not eat the meat right away – we wait until we check the lungs to see if it is treif. When we plant a tree, we know that for the first three years we may not eat any of the fruit, because of the mitzvah of orlah [the prohibition on the fruit of newly planted trees]. The Jewish people have learned the lesson of self-control.
The Torah describes the aseret hadibrot as being charut – engraved – on the luchot. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot comments that the verse implies that real cheirut (freedom) can only be found by those who learn Torah and live a life of Torah. Many people have caused themselves to lose part of their bechirah chofshit – they are enslaved by their yeitzer hara and have not trained themselves in self-control. By giving the Torah to the Jewish people, Hashem gave us the ability to free ourselves from this enslavement and become true bnei chorin – free people – who exercise their bechirah chofshit. The verse in Kohelet praises the country whose king is a ben chorin and declares woe unto the country whose king is a slave. The Zohar explains that the verse is praising Eretz Yisrael, whose official King is Hashem, Who grants freedom to human beings – enabling them to train themselves in self-control, resist enslavement to their yeitzer hara, and thereby exercise their bechirah chofshit more fully.
During this season, Hashem makes Himself more readily accessible than at any other time of year. The prophet Yishayahu encourages us to seek out Hashem specifically during the Aseret Yemei Teshuva. May we all seize that opportunity before the Yom HaKodesh to draw closer to Hashem, who created the entire universe yesh me’ayin – something from nothing – and by drawing closer to Him, strengthen our bechirah chofshit to make reasonable and balanced decisions in life through the exercise of self-control.
May we all have a g’mar chatimah tovah.
Rabbi Hershel Schachter is the Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS).