Rosh Hashanah renews time above nature

בראש השנה בטלה עבודה מאבותינו במצרים כי עיקר חשכות הטבע הוא הזמן וכיון שבר"ה נשתנה זמן חדש ניטל הסתרות זמן העבר.

On Rosh Hashanah the slave-labor of our forefathers in Mitzrayim ceased — for the essence of the darkness of nature is time, and since on Rosh Hashanah a new period of time begins, the concealments of the past period are removed.

Chazal teach that the bondage in Mitzrayim ended on Rosh Hashanah. The Sefas Emes explains: what makes nature dark and concealing is the dimension of time, which binds everything to cause-and-effect and to what came before. Rosh Hashanah inaugurates an entirely new unit of time; with that fresh start, the concealments accumulated in the previous year fall away — and so the old bondage could end.

ונמשך חיות לזמן החדש ממקום שלמעלה מהטבע והזמן.

And life-force is drawn down to the new period of time from a place that is above nature and above time.

The vitality that flows into the new year does not come from within the natural order; it is drawn from a source higher than nature and time altogether — a fresh chiyus from above.

ואח"כ נעשה הסתר אחר משנה הבאה.

And afterward a new concealment forms from the coming year.

As the new year unfolds, it too gradually develops its own layer of concealment within nature and time — until the next Rosh Hashanah renews everything again. The cycle repeats.

והרד"ק פירש טעם תקיעת שופר לסימן חירות כמו יובל ע"ש:

And the Radak explained the reason for blowing the shofar as a sign of freedom, like the Yovel (Jubilee) — see there.

The Radak's explanation fits this theme: just as the shofar of Yovel proclaims liberty and release, so the shofar of Rosh Hashanah signals freedom — the breaking of the past year's concealments and bondage, and the drawing down of new life from above time.

Summary: The darkness of nature is rooted in time. Because Rosh Hashanah begins a wholly new period of time, the concealments and bondage of the past year are lifted and fresh life-force is drawn from above nature and time — which is why the servitude in Mitzrayim ended then, and why the shofar, like the Yovel, is a sign of freedom.