Rosh Hashanah: the descent of the year's binah

איתא במשנה בר"ה כל באי עולם עוברין לפניו כבני מרון שנאמר היוצר יחד לבם המבין אל כל מעשיהם.

It is taught in the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 16a): "All who come into the world pass before Him like bnei maron (sheep before a shepherd / one by one), as it is said: 'He who fashions their hearts together, who understands all their deeds'" (Tehillim 33:15).

On Rosh Hashanah every person passes individually before Hashem in judgment, and the Mishnah anchors this in the pasuk describing Hashem as the One who forms all hearts and grasps every deed.

כי הנה נקרא ראש השנה שבו יורד מוחין ובינה על כל השנה כמ"ש מורי זקני ז"ל בפ' בינו שנות דור ודור שיש בינה מיוחדת בכל שנה ושנה.

For it is called "Rosh Hashanah" (the head of the year), because on it mochin (higher consciousness) and binah (understanding) descend for the entire year, as my teacher and grandfather, of blessed memory, explained on the pasuk "Understand (binu) the years of generation after generation" (Devarim 32:7) — that there is a unique binah for each and every year.

As the "head," Rosh Hashanah is the source from which the whole year draws its mind and understanding. The Chiddushei HaRim taught that each year carries its own distinct binah that flows down on this day.

וז"ש המבין אל כל מעשיהם פי' שהשי"ת נותן בינה לכל המעשים.

This is the meaning of "who understands (ha'meivin) all their deeds" — that Hashem grants binah to all the deeds.

The word ha'meivin is read actively: Hashem is the One who imparts understanding into all of a person's actions, infusing them with the year's binah.

וממילא יש משפט מי שיזכה לקבל הבינה והמוחין היורדים בר"ה לעולם וז"ש תקעו בחודש שופר כו'.

It follows automatically that there is a judgment as to who will merit to receive the binah and mochin that descend into the world on Rosh Hashanah, and this is the meaning of "Blow the shofar at the new moon…" (Tehillim 81:4).

Since this fresh understanding is descending, the judgment of the day is essentially over who is fit to receive it. The call to blow the shofar relates to this granting of the year's mind.

ליום חגינו.

"…on the day of our festival (chag)."

The same pasuk calls Rosh Hashanah a chag — a day of festivity.

כי באמת הוא חג ושמחה.

For in truth it is a chag and a day of simchah (joy).

Despite being a day of judgment, Rosh Hashanah is genuinely joyous, because of what is being given.

כי חוק לישראל שמתחוקק בו חוקים ודרכים חדשים ומצד זה משפט לאלקי יעקב.

For "it is a chok (statute) for Yisrael" (Tehillim 81:5) — that new chukim and new pathways are engraved on it; and from this aspect "it is a mishpat (judgment) for the God of Yaakov" (ibid.).

On Rosh Hashanah fresh statutes and spiritual pathways for the year are engraved (the root of chok). The "judgment" is bound up with this engraving — determining the new ways set for Yisrael.

היוצר יחד לבם הוא ע"י כ"ב אותיות התורה גי' יח"ד שזה הוא השורש של כל הברואים ושורש זה מייחד ומחבר הכל ובזה כולן נסקרין בסקירה אחת:

"He who fashions their hearts together (yachad)" — this is through the twenty-two letters of the Torah, whose numerical value equals "yachad" (22), for this is the root of all created beings; and this root unifies and joins everything, and through it all are reviewed in a single glance (niskarin bi'skirah achas).

The twenty-two letters of the Torah — gematria of yachad (together) — are the common root of all creation. Because everything is bound together in that one source, Hashem can take in and judge all hearts "together," in a single comprehensive glance.

Summary: On Rosh Hashanah, the "head of the year," fresh mochin and binah descend for the entire year — a unique understanding for each year. The judgment of the day is over who will merit to receive this new mind and the new spiritual pathways (chukim) engraved upon it, which is why it is both a day of mishpat and a true chag of simchah. And because all hearts share one root — the twenty-two letters of the Torah, gematria yachad — Hashem fashions and reviews them all "together," in a single glance.