Malchiyos Zichronos Shofaros and the three loves

ענין מלכיות זכרונות שופרות שתמליכוני עליכם יעלה זכרוניכם לפני בשופר.

The matter of Malchiyos, Zichronos, and Shofaros — "that you crown Me as King over you, that your remembrance ascend before Me, by means of the shofar." (Rosh Hashanah 16a)

The Sefas Emes introduces the three central themes of the Rosh Hashanah tefillah — kingship, remembrance, and the shofar — through which Bnei Yisrael accept Hashem's malchus.

הוא לקבל כל אחד מישראל על עצמו בר"ה עול מלכות שמים.

This is for each member of Bnei Yisrael to accept upon himself on Rosh Hashanah the ol malchus Shomayim (yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven).

The essential avodah of the day is that every individual personally take upon himself the yoke of Hashem's sovereignty.

והיא למסור נפשו בג' עבירות ע"ז ג"ע וש"ד.

And this means being ready to give one's life regarding the three cardinal sins: avodah zarah (idolatry), gilui arayos (forbidden relations), and shefichus damim (bloodshed).

Full acceptance of Hashem's kingship implies a readiness for mesirus nefesh in the three areas for which one must give one's life rather than transgress.

והם בחי' בכל לבבך נפשך מאודך.

And these correspond to the dimensions of "with all your heart, your soul, and your might." (Devarim 6:5)

The three cardinal prohibitions align with the three expressions of love for Hashem in the Shema: heart, soul, and might.

קבלת עול מלכות הוא נגד ע"ז וזכרונות נגד ג"ע ושופרות נגד שפיכות דמים כי בצלם אלקים עשה [את] האדם.

The acceptance of the yoke of kingship stands against avodah zarah; Zichronos against gilui arayos; and Shofaros against shefichus damim — "for in the image of God He made man." (Bereishis 9:6)

The Sefas Emes maps the three sections of the Mussaf onto the three cardinal sins. Shofaros opposes bloodshed because the shofar recalls that man is made b'tzelem Elokim, and to spill blood is to deface that Divine image.

ובכל לבבך הוא ג"כ עבודה שבלב כי בע"ז עונשין גם על המחשבה כמ"ש תפוש את בני ישראל בלבם.

And "with all your heart" is likewise the avodah of the heart, for regarding avodah zarah one is punished even for a thought, as it says, "to seize Bnei Yisrael by their hearts." (Yechezkel 14:5)

Avodah zarah corresponds to the heart because it is uniquely a sin of the inner mind — even a stray idolatrous thought is held to account, since idolatry is fundamentally a matter of the heart's allegiance.

ואמת כי ענין ע"ז אין לו שיעור וכפי עבודה שבלב אדם כך נקרא אצלו עבודה זרה דבר שזרה לו כו'.

And in truth the matter of avodah zarah has no fixed measure: according to a person's avodah of the heart, so is defined for him what counts as "avodah zarah" — that which is "foreign" (zarah) to him, etc.

The Sefas Emes plays on "zarah" (foreign): idolatry is anything alien to one's true bond with Hashem. The higher one's inner avodah, the more refined the standard — what is utterly foreign and forbidden to a great person may differ from what is so for another.

ובכל נפשך הוא הרגשת הנפש והוא בחי' זכרונות ג"ע כידוע.

And "with all your soul" is the feeling of the nefesh, which is the dimension of Zichronos and of gilui arayos, as is known.

The nefesh, the seat of life-force and desire, corresponds to Zichronos and to the realm of arayos, where the soul's deepest drives are at stake.

ובכל מאודך הוא תיקון כ"ד שחוץ מאדם והוא קנאת איש מרעהו.

And "with all your might (me'odecha)" is the rectification of all that is outside of a person — namely, the envy of one man toward his fellow.

"Me'odecha" is read as one's possessions and external goods. The tikkun here is to overcome the jealousy between people that arises over property and standing — the root that leads toward bloodshed.

וכפי מה שמוסרין כל מאודו בעבור ה' על ידי זה נכנס בכלל ישראל וניצול משפיכות דמים ואביזרייהו.

And to the degree that one surrenders all his "might" for the sake of Hashem, through this he enters into the klal of Yisrael and is saved from bloodshed and its associated sins.

By giving over even one's possessions and worldly drive for Hashem, a person uproots envy, joins himself to the community of Klal Yisrael, and is thereby protected from the sin of shefichus damim and everything connected to it.

והוא עיקר התפארת ישראל אשר בך אתפאר:

And this is the essence of the glory of Yisrael — "in you I will be glorified." (Yeshayah 49:3)

When a person nullifies his self-interest and envy for the sake of Hashem and binds himself to Klal Yisrael, he becomes the vessel of the tiferes through which Hashem is glorified.

Summary: The three berachos of the Rosh Hashanah Mussaf — Malchiyos, Zichronos, Shofaros — embody the acceptance of ol malchus Shomayim, paralleling the three cardinal sins and the three loves of the Shema: "with all your heart" (against avodah zarah, the avodah of the mind), "with all your soul" (against arayos, the realm of the nefesh), and "with all your might" (against bloodshed, by uprooting envy over possessions). Surrendering all of these for Hashem binds a person to Klal Yisrael and makes him the glory through which Hashem is exalted.