Feeling Hashem’s Kingship

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

The Sages teach (Rosh Hashana 16a) that on Rosh Hashana, Hashem commands, “Say the verses of Kingship before Me so that you crown Me as King over you.” The Alter of Kelm asks: Hashem is already the King! Why does He “need” us to make Him King over us? Indeed, Hashem was King even before there were any people to make Him king, as the piyut of Adon Olam states, “He has reigned before all creatures were created.” What difference does it make if we make Him King?

In truth, the Alter explains, Hashem is asking that we make Him king over ourselves, and this is not so easy. Making Hashem our King is feeling that He is king with every fiber of our being. All of our limbs, senses, and thoughts should be used only to fulfill Hashem’s will.

Rav Chaim Friedlander would note that this requires preparation. One cannot simply jump to such a level, no matter how inspired he may be at the moment. Making Hashem king over ourselves takes work.

The first step is to accustom ourselves to recognizing that Hashem is with us at all times. Were we to live with this idea at the forefront of our thoughts, it would affect our decisions. Indeed, the Rama (Shulchan Aruch 1:1) tells us that placing Hashem before us always is crucial in Hashem’s service. He explains that one does not behave the same way in private as he does in the presence of a great individual. This is a fact we can all relate to—we all act differently in the presence of a great person. Thus, if we are conscious that we are always in Hashem’s presence, it will surely improve our actions. The more we do this, the more we are on the way to making Hashem king over ourselves.

Rav Friedlander tells us that another way to prepare to crown Hashem is recognizing that everything is His—our bodies, our families, all our possessions, and everything in the universe. Hashem is behind all that transpires in this world. Everything that is now, everything that will happen in the coming year, and the World to Come—all of this is in His hands.

When we realize this, we will understand that it is wise for us to nullify our will to His. Even if we would feel a desire for something that goes against Hashem’s will, we would not actually want it. Our understanding of what we stand to lose overcomes the thought of gaining some fleeting pleasure. It is not worth it. This can be compared to a factory worker who depends on his job. One day, he is offered a free ticket to a ball game. The worker knows that taking off from work for such a reason will cost him a large chunk of his salary, and possibly even his job. He will literally not desire to go to the ball game.

This can help explain an obscure Midrash (Vayikra Rabba 29:4). The Midrash tells us that when the Jews blow the shofar on Rosh Hashana, Hashem “rises from His throne of glory and sits on His throne of mercy.” The Jews blow a shofar, and such an awesome change takes place in the world? Why is this?

Rav Yehonasan Eibeshutz (Yaaros Devash) explains that blowing the shofar demonstrates the nullification of our will. The shofar represents the call to judgment, and the prosecuting angels cannot speak against us until we blow the shofar. If so, we can cause Rosh Hashana’s judgment not to occur, and yet, we blow the shofar. We do this because blowing the shofar is a part of making Hashem king (in His role as judge, as it states (Mishlei 29:4), “the King establishes the world through judgment”). This is our sole concern—not our own wellbeing, but His Kingship. Such self-nullification on our part moves Hashem to rise from His throne of glory and sit upon His throne of mercy.

Rav Chaim Kamil notes that we should concentrate with all of our mental faculties on making Hashem King over us. If we do so, he says, Hashem will make miracles for us! As a source for this, Rav Kamil would cite the statement of the Tur: normally, one comes to his own trial dressed in black, and he does not groom himself. This arouses the pity of the judge. In contrast, the Jews dress in their best. They wash, shave and celebrate on their day of judgment, because they are confident that Hashem will make a miracle for them.

How can this be? What happened to fearing Hashem’s judgment on the day that the Books of Life and Death are open before Him?

Rav Kamil explains this based on the Nefesh HaChaim (3:12), which relates the well-known segula of concentrating intently on the idea that ein od milvado—there is nothing besides Hashem. All other “powers” are in fact nothing at all, and only Hashem matters. Even in times of immediate danger, concentrating on this idea has been known to save the endangered. If a Jew accepts Hashem’s kingship upon himself with every fiber of his being, putting all of his concentration into it—he can reach the level of ein od milvado, that there is no other power in the world. He will entirely subjugate himself to Hashem. By doing this, he can merit a miraculous handling of his judgment on Rosh Hashana.

When the Nazis invaded Poland, the Brisker Rav and his son were away from Brisk. They tried to make their way to Vilna. This was a dangerous three-day journey by horse-and-carriage. Somehow, they managed to evade the eyes of Nazi inspectors. However, the last hundred yards or so to reach the train station needed to be traversed by foot. Suddenly, when they were almost there, a group of Nazis cornered the Rav, demanding to know where he was hiding weapons or valuables. Just as soon as they began searching the Rav, another officer came along and ordered them to stop. The Rav then continued to the train station.

Years later, the Brisker Rav would explain: “Throughout the journey, I was concentrating intently on Hashem’s Oneness: ein od milvado. As we reached the train station, though, I began to relax, thinking that I had already made it to safety. At that moment, the Nazis began confronting me. I quickly resumed concentrating intently on ein od milvado, and the other officer came and sent them away.”

May we be zocheh to fervently accept Hashem’s Kingship, and merit miracles on Rosh Hashana!