Rosh Hashanah renews life through Torah

בנ"י צריכין לשמוח בר"ה שמתחדש העולם.

Bnei Yisrael must rejoice on Rosh Hashanah, when the world is renewed.

The Sefas Emes opens that Rosh Hashanah is a time of simchah, for it is when the entire world is renewed.

ולכן יש קצת חירות כי הטבע משכח הפנימיות.

And therefore there is a measure of freedom, for nature causes one to forget the inner dimension.

The renewal brings a release from the deadening pull of "nature," which makes a person forget the penimiyus, the inner life-force.

והוא מטובת הבורא ית"ש שמתחדש החיות בכל ר"ה שלא להיות נטבע בחומר הגשמיות.

And it is from the goodness of the Creator, may His Name be blessed, that the vitality is renewed every Rosh Hashanah, so that one should not become sunk in coarse physicality.

Hashem's kindness is that He renews the life-force each year so a person is not swallowed up in the heaviness of the material world.

וכן בכל יום הקב"ה מחדש בטובו מעשה בראשית.

And likewise every day the Holy One, in His goodness, renews the work of creation.

This renewal happens daily as well — Hashem constantly renews maaseh bereishis.

וע"ז מברכין ברכת יוצר והמעריב.

And about this we recite the blessings of "Yotzer [Or]" and "[HaMa'ariv] Aravim."

The morning and evening berachos before Shema praise Hashem for renewing the cycle of light and darkness each day.

כי שינוי מעשה בראשית גולל אור מפני חושך וחושך מפני אור הכל עדות על הבורא שהוא מנהיג העולם.

For the changing of creation — "He rolls away light before darkness and darkness before light" — is all testimony about the Creator, that He governs the world.

The constant turning of day into night and night into day bears witness that Hashem actively directs and renews the world.

ובנ"י משבחים על זה כי הוא מסייע לעבודת הבורא.

And Bnei Yisrael praise Him for this, for it assists in the service of the Creator.

We give praise because this daily renewal supports and enables our avodas Hashem.

ובר"ה מתחדש ביותר כל ההנהגה של ימי השנה החדשה ונק' ר"ה שבו מאיר המוחין ושורש כל הימים.

And on Rosh Hashanah, all the conduct of the days of the new year is renewed to a greater degree; it is called "Rosh (head) Hashanah" because in it the "mochin (higher mind)" shines and the root of all the days.

Rosh Hashanah is the "head" of the year, the source from which the entire year's flow of vitality and guidance emanates, like the head from which the body draws life.

ובאמת זה מיוחד לבנ"י שנקראו ישראל לי ראש שכל התחדשות של ר"ה בשבילם הוא.

And in truth this is unique to Bnei Yisrael, who are called "Yisrael — li rosh (Yisrael, Mine is the head)," for the entire renewal of Rosh Hashanah is for their sake.

The name "Yisrael" is read as containing "li rosh"; the renewal of the "head of the year" exists for the sake of Bnei Yisrael.

ונק' ראשית כמ"ש עיני ה' אלקיך בה מראשית השנה.

And it is called "reishis (beginning)," as it is written, "the eyes of Hashem your God are upon it from the beginning (me'reishis) of the year" (Devarim 11:12).

Rosh Hashanah is the "reishis," the beginning-point upon which Hashem's providence rests for the whole year.

וכמו כן בנ"י נקראו ראשית והיא המשכת החיים.

And likewise Bnei Yisrael are called "reishis," and this is the drawing down of life.

Bnei Yisrael, too, are "reishis," and their role is to channel and draw down chayus (life-force) into the world.

כי עלמא דין עלמא דמותא וצריכין להמשיך חיים מן השורש כמו שחיות כל הגוף נמשך מן הנשמה שבראש.

For this world is a "world of death," and one must draw down life from the source, just as the vitality of the whole body is drawn from the soul that is in the head.

Olam hazeh is by nature a "world of death"; life must be continually drawn from its root, as the body's vitality flows from the neshamah seated in the head.

ואיתא במד' אמור דיש ב' בחי' להמשיך החיים.

And it is brought in the Midrash on Parshas Emor that there are two ways to draw down life.

The Sefas Emes now introduces the Midrash's two paths for drawing chayim.

דרך חיים תוכחות מוסר ע"י יסורים ועץ חיים הוא ע"י התורה ולכן המשפט בר"ה להמשכת החיות.

"The way of life is the rebukes of mussar" (Mishlei 6:23) — through suffering; and "a tree of life" — through the Torah; therefore the judgment on Rosh Hashanah is for the drawing down of vitality.

One path to life is yissurim (suffering that rebukes and corrects); the other is Torah, the "tree of life." The din of Rosh Hashanah is itself directed toward drawing down life for the year.

והתורה נותנת עצה לבנ"י להמשיך החיים ע"י התורה.

And the Torah gives counsel to Bnei Yisrael to draw down life by means of the Torah.

Torah offers Bnei Yisrael the preferable route: to receive life through Torah itself.

ולא ע"י יסורים.

And not by means of suffering.

By choosing the path of Torah, one need not draw life through the painful path of yissurim.

והוא ע"י השופר שרומז לקבלת התורה:

And this is through the shofar, which alludes to the receiving of the Torah.

The shofar of Rosh Hashanah recalls the shofar of Har Sinai, hinting that we draw life through accepting the Torah rather than through suffering.

Summary: Rosh Hashanah is a joyous renewal of the world, freeing a person from the deadening grip of "nature" — like Hashem's daily renewal of creation, which testifies that He governs the world. As the "head" and "reishis" of the year, it is the source from which the year's vitality flows, and it exists for the sake of Bnei Yisrael, also called "reishis," whose task is to draw life from the Source. There are two ways to draw down life — through suffering or through Torah — and the shofar points to the path of Torah, so we may receive life without yissurim.