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Why does the Midrash depict Rosh Hashanah — a day of judgment — as an expression of divine love? The shiur develops a foundational yesod: Hashem (ה׳) owns us completely through creation and could act unilaterally, but when we coronate Him on Rosh Hashanah through shofar, He voluntarily restricts Himself, entering a covenant that grants us rights and due process. This transformation from ownership to kingship is the ultimate kindness, giving us the dignity of earning our existence rather than living as dependents.
The shiur addresses a fundamental question: how can Rosh Hashanah, a day when we stand in judgment with our lives in the balance, be described as an expression of divine love? The month of Elul is characterized by the acronym "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li" (I am for my beloved and my beloved is for me), suggesting a relationship of love. Yet the atmosphere of the Yamim Noraim seems oppressive and frightening rather than loving. Additionally, the Midrash instructs us to groom ourselves well and not to fast on Rosh Hashanah, contrasting sharply with how defendants normally behave when on trial for capital crimes. Rabbi Zweig begins by analyzing a Midrash on the pasuk "Elohim alah bi'truah, Hashem (ה׳) b'kol shofar" (God ascends with the teruah sound, Hashem with the sound of the shofar). The Midrash explains that through the shofar, we ask Hashem to move from the throne of judgment (Elohim) to the throne of mercy (Hashem). But the shiur identifies an apparent contradiction: if the shofar invokes mercy, why does the first part of the verse suggest that the shofar also brings about judgment? How can the same shofar both inaugurate judgment and transform it into mercy?
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Tehillim 47:6 (Elohim alah bi'truah)
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