We Can Rise Above
BY RABBI HERSHEL SCHACHTER
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 apostate, he realized he had to flee Spain as his life was now in grave danger. He fled to Eretz Yisrael and gave a very long derasha on Rosh Hashanah covering all of the topics of the yom tov. He addresses a fundamental question in that derasha: how did Chazal know the Aseret Yemei Teshuva are days of judgment, since this concept never appears in Tanach?
Rambam quotes Midrashim which say that Adam HaRishon was created on the sixth day of creation, instructed not to eat from the tree of knowledge, violated the instruction, and was judged and punished, all on the same day – and was chased out of Gan Eden. At that time, Hashem told Adam HaRishon that just as He judged him on that day, so too, in all the future generations, all of his descendants will be judged on that day, Rosh Hashanah. The Ramban concludes that this tradition did not originate with Moshe Rabbeinu at Har Sinai, but rather with Adam HaRishon.
The Torah tells us that Adam was created b’tzelem Elokim, in G-d’s image. The Meshech Chochma explains that having a tzelem Elokim implies that each of us has free will. Many psychologists do not believe in free will, but it is one of the most important principles of Judaism.
Every morning we say to G-d that “the soul that You implanted in my body was given to me in a pure state.” We do not believe that because of “original sin” all human beings’ souls are tainted. We are born with a pure soul and we only taint it if and when we sin. The commentators wonder what the significance was of recording the story of the tree of knowledge in the Torah if it is not 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 chapter in Chullin, the Ramban quotes a fascinating Midrash. The prohibition against eating from the tree of knowledge was only a hora’at sha’ah, a temporary prohibition. On that Friday morning, Adam HaRishon was told that he would be permitted to eat those fruits on Friday night; it was only prohibited to him for a few hours! 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 that he has to wait a week or two. When we slaughter an animal, we do not eat from the meat right away, but rather 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 Jewish people have learned the lesson of self-control.
The Torah describes the ten commandments as being charut – engraved – on the tablets. The Mishnah in Pirkei Avot comments that the verse is implying that real cheirut, real 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 free will. They are enslaved by their yetzer hara and have not at all 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 be truly free people who exercise their free will.
“Fortunate are you, O land, whose king is a free man [ben chorim], and your princes eat at the proper time, in might and not in drinking” (Kohelet 10:17). The Zohar explains that the verse is praising Eretz Yisrael, whose official King is Hashem, the One who gives freedom to human beings. He is the one who enables human beings to train themselves in self-control and to not be enslaved by their yetzer hara, and thereby be able to exercise their free will in a more complete fashion.
During this season of the year, Hashem makes Himself more readily accessible than all year long. The prophet Yishayahu encourages us to search out Hashem specifically during the Aseret Yemei Teshuva. May we all seize that opportunity before the holy day to come closer to Hashem Who created the entire universe from nothing, and by coming closer to Him we will strengthen our free will to make reasonable and balanced decisions in life by exercising our self-control.
May we all have a g’mar chatima tovah.
Rabbi Hershel Schachter is the Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS).