When Rosh Hashanah Doesn’t Fall: D’var Torah for Rosh Hashanah
Why can Rosh Hashanah never commence on a Sunday, a Wednesday, or a Friday? Our sages taught us to remember this with the saying ‘lo adu rosh’- Rosh Hashanah, that is Rosh, cannot commence on ‘adu’, that is alef, daled and vav, corresponding to Sunday, Wednesday and Friday.
The reason they give for this is as follows, if Rosh Hashanah commenced on a Sunday, then Hoshanah Rabbah would then take place on a Shabbat and we would need to break Shabbat, God forbid, in order to beat our willows on that day. So, for the sake of Shabbat observance on Hoshanah Rabbah, Rosh Hashanah doesn’t start on a Sunday. Rosh Hashanah doesn’t start on a Wednesday because that would mean that Yom Kippur would take place on a Friday. And if Yom Kippur is taking place on the Friday, how are we going to adequately prepare for Shabbat? It would be impossible! Similarly, Rosh Hashanah doesn’t start on a Friday because that would mean that Yom Kippur would be on a Sunday – and how can we spend Shabbat knowing that we are going from Shabbat straight into a fast day?
What I find absolutely fascinating is that Rosh Hashanah is our new year. It is a great day. It is a day of judgment. It is a time when Hashem judges us, our communities, our people and the entire world. And yet, we are focusing more and giving greater priority to Shabbat, something which happens week in and week out! Here again our tradition demands that we give greater priority to regular over irregular. So, as we come into Rosh Hashanah this year and as we look forward to this wonderful occasion, let us guarantee that we do not only have a special Rosh Hashanah, let us make every Shabbat special. Let us make every day special in order to celebrate the great gift of a Torah way of life that Hashem has given to us to practice always.
Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova.
