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What does it mean to make God king on Rosh Hashanah when He doesn't need our validation? Free will is not merely choosing right from wrong but the power to create reality. When we coronate God as king, we actually empower Him to function as lord of the world—the ultimate expression of love and the true basis of forgiveness on the Day of Judgment.
Rabbi Zweig begins with a deeply personal account of his own journey with Rosh Hashanah, describing decades of experiencing it as oppressive and frightening—filled with dread of judgment, long prayers in an incomprehensible liturgy, and an overwhelming sense of scrutiny. This experience persisted through his yeshiva years in Baltimore until a transformative Rosh Hashanah in Toronto, where he encountered for the first time a service characterized by majesty and uplift rather than heaviness. This shift opened the door to reimagining what Rosh Hashanah is truly about. The shiur identifies a fundamental tension: the month of Elul is framed as "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li"—a love story between God and Israel. Rosh Hashanah itself is called "Yom Teruah," which Rashi (רש"י) defines as a term of endearment and love. Yet the day feels heavy with judgment, and nowhere in the liturgy is there a confession (vidui) or explicit request for forgiveness—those appear only on Yom Kippur. What, then, are we supposed to be doing on Rosh Hashanah? And how can a day of judgment also be a day of love?
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Why does Rosh Hashanah precede Yom Kippur when teshuvah follows judgment? The shiur develops the principle that Rosh Hashanah is not a tally of past deeds but a chance to forge a new identity through malchus. On Yom Kippur, we ask Hashem to wipe away the damage done by the person we no longer are.
Why does Rosh Hashanah precede Yom Kippur, judging us before we've confessed or repented? The shiur develops a fundamental yesod from Yishmael's story: Rosh Hashanah judges not our past behavior but our present willingness to coronate Hashem as king going forward. When Yishmael—guilty of idolatry, adultery, and attempted murder—called out to "Elokim" (not just God but King), he became a tzaddik in that moment, meriting a miracle despite his horrific past.
Parshas Nitzavim 30:11-14
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