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 osh
HaShana coincides with the creation of the world,
which conveys the message that we should be ready
for a new start. Teshuva fits into this idea because
in reality it is a creative process - recreating
one. s self.
However
I would like to add a new twist on the connection
between Rosh HaShana and the teshuva process.
Reb Yisroel Salanter, in one of his axioms, states
that to achieve perfection one must acquire Chochmat
HaOlam, wisdom of the world, which means using
one. s understanding of the way the world operates
to benefit one. s road to perfection. When we
talk about the creation of the world there is
much we can learn from the creation itself and
apply to our teshuva process.
The
world is made up of atoms and molecules, tiny
particles that can only be seen under a very powerful
microscope. These seemingly irrelevant particles
are responsible for human life and the functioning
of the world. In other words, all big things are
made up of many small ones. Even success in our
own lives is made up of small steps. The midrash
says that Yehoshua merited the leadership after
Moshe Rabbenu, not so much because he was the
greatest Torah scholar, but because of a very
small and seemingly insignificant action Yehoshua
used to perform. He used to prepare the beit midrash
by arranging the benches before the students entered.
Yehoshua realized that to pass on Torah you have
to take note of the small things because all big
things are made up of their tiny parts.
Similarly,
the Elder of Kelm, the great student of Reb Yisroel
Salanter, allowed only the outstanding students
in the yeshiva to sweep the beit midrash. Once,
the mother of a wealthy student from Germany came
to visit her son and found him cleaning the beit
midrash.
She
went directly to Reb Simcha Zissel, the Elder,
and complained, . Is it for this I sent my son
to yeshiva?. The Elder calmly replied, . The one
who sweeps the beit midrash in Kelm does a world-sweeping
action.. Reb Simcha Zissel clearly wanted to instill
into every student the importance of the small
steps that one must take in order to achieve the
larger goal.
Reb
Shlomo Wolbe, in his sefer Alei Shur, recalls
that when he was being flown to the border of
Egypt in the Sinai to give a class, the plane
began to fly very low as it drew near to the Egyptian
radar. He asked if there was something wrong and
was told, . When you fly low you avoid the radar
of the enemy.. When we take small steps as opposed
to the large ones we avoid the radar of the yetzer
hara. If we do something that seems insignificant
the yetzer hara has no cause to go into battle.
It. s only when we take the big leap that his
antenna goes up. For instance, if we are working
on the problem of anger, and we know that by entering
a specific grocery store we will lose it and become
angry, Chochmat HaOlam says we may want to shop
at a different grocery store. In other words,
avoiding the test is sometimes wiser than trying
to pass it.
When
Rosh HaShana comes around and we awaken once again
to our flaws of the past year, instead of making
drastic changes which in many cases are doomed
to failure, let us begin by making sure that the
small things we do are done in the most perfect
fashion. In mussar we never measure actions by
quantity. Reb Yisroel Salanter used to say that
a large challa as big as a table but with the
end cut off, can. t be used for lechem mishna.
On the other hand, a small whole bulkale takes
precedence over that large challa and should be
used instead. What is truly important in rectifying
our past is taking those small significant steps
which will eventually add up to making a major
difference in our daily lives.
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