Understanding Slichot | Rabbi Yossi Goldin | September 9th 2025

We're beginning our learning after a very tough day yesterday. So of course the learning that we end up doing today should be memory of those who were sold as this war. Of course, Hashem should give the guidance to our leaders to uh to make the right decisions and this should be successful. Thank you. Okay. Um so nice to see everybody. We're getting back to our regular regular schedule time. Last last week we were during my my father's song, my father's dad today. Um, and as I mentioned, I wanted to spend these few weeks really um, taking advantage of the opportunity to continue to learn more about connected to the time of the year that we find ourselves in. So this week and and next week actually this do a two-part series on feel like are um which are going to begin this mot that comes from why we start when we start why they start and start when they start but I feel like tend to be something that is very much a part of this year but this time of the year but it's also somewhat not as understood the text is a little harder to understand. There's a lot of jumping around. We're doing a lot of different things during this quote. So, what I'd like hoping is that through this week and next, we'll gain a deeper understanding um to this quote that we're saying. And uh this week we're going to spend more time on the on the history of this meaning understanding the the the the source for the different um for the different customs regarding when to say when to start saying and next week my hope is that we'll actually open up this and and really try to understand the structure of themselves. What are we doing? What are we saying? Uh which I hope will lend more meaning to the to this to the saying of themselves. We this should we say it for a long time because start begins on a Monday evening. We start before. Yes. So the spartic the spartic spartic felat in general is very different than than I think what you're referencing the question was asked it seemed like if I understand correctly what you were saying is that the spartis had a situation where one person was saying everything out loud and everyone else was either saying it along or just joining in at certain times. So the truth is that is that is just to touch upon this quickly that is how used to be many many years ago because the masses didn't didn't know didn't know how to read or didn't there was no text and the purpose of the kazam the purpose of the shri board was that he would say all the words the masses who didn't have a text in front of them this before there was a printing press before everyone was as educated as as we are today and and they didn't have the books so one person would say it everyone else would listen and say amen or would would would join to make certain parts Um now at least certainly in the Ashkenazic world now that we have sidu so what we often do is everyone says it to themselves but we kind of every paragraph we kind of try to do it together. So let's say the Ashkanazi know during the the beginning section. So we'll we'll say it to ourselves and we'll say and was in the last the last line out loud to kind of make sure that we're on pace together. The more the custom of the scaring is that they is that even for regular the will say everything out loud. He says everything out loud. He'll say it all. He'll say it all out loud and everyone does tend to say it with him. But they say they say it together with him as well. But it's a different type of a feel in general. Spartic tila has a very different vibe than an Ashkanazic tila. Uh many people feel that the start has more of a communal vibe to it because everyone's kind of saying it together as opposed to Ashkanazic where we're saying it ourselves and just joining at different times. Uh there people prefer that that kind of I think what you're referencing is just simply the style of which is general one person says it out loud and everyone else will say it with him or just join in at times depending on you know their their education and their I'm not even sure how >> yeah that's that's how that's how many dysartic I mean when I was growing up I grew up in Engle New Jersey they start as well I didn't go there that often but I always used to walk in and feel like it was I felt like I was walking into a totally different world uh definitely definitely different different vibe different personalities it's a but so yes and and and and and we'll we'll talk about it in a second but as well aside from the fact that what you're referencing is just the way that for for Spartan tend to be in general world the overall atmosphere and the style of the code are different with Ash and with and with but we we'll get to that so let's start let's start from the very beginning the question that I wanted to understand is where does where does the idea of start when does it when does it initially originate when do we start to say many of us are familiar with the fact that this started begin to say whereas have a bit of a contrive we have whole thing well it's got to be four days. It can always start Shabbat, but it's got to be four days before um before Shabbat. Where does all of that come from? That's what I'd like to do to do today. So, we'll start with with with source number one. Um source number one is is theor of the initial the first time that the concept of seem to appear are amongst the is the generation right after the the generation right after the the authors of the and in a number of different places in the text of the we have a reference to the concept of adding certain spots around the time of I brought for you here this is the uh who has it. There's a a sitter text text of the actual it's one of the first authentic texts of the of the sided not totally identical what we say today but it has a general uh it has a general sense of what we have what we have today there is a debate regarding how much of it is actually from and how much of it is might have been added in later generations but we're going to not get into that debate today look at source number one so references something called he calls ashit sedar ashit Oops. during the 10 days between we add on we have the custom to do that today nowadays as well and we get up early every day before dawn and we have special requests that we ask for for for mercy and he doesn't reference exactly what is said at least not yet later He does reference it a little bit a little bit different than the text we have today. Interestingly enough, he doesn't call it. He calls it seder ashar. What is sedar ashar? Anyone know what ashar means? >> The early morning. Exactly. Ashar is a reference to the early morning. The the night is divided into three different sections different. And the one that refers to the section right the last few hours of the night is called. So in many earlier texts it's not called it's called a reference to the time when it is normally said but we see this idea also being also being mentioned in the Rambam as well. This is codified by the Rambam in source number two. Uh here the rabb was just describing the time of the importance to continue to to add to our says the ine number two even though are beautiful always. So says the during the 10 days between it is even it is even more powerful and it is accepting immediately as the says you should search out Hashem where he can be found. We saw this last week as well. So this shows us that the 10 days between are uniquely powerful and and have and have a tremendous opportunity within them. Continues the Ram in a different in a different section. Therefore, while whereas all year round, a person needs to always look at it as if a person needs to basically be approaching life with the sense of I have even amount of and I have an even amount of that my right now right now the scale is even and I need to also see it as if the whole world is on this balance right now. Half half and half and half a to the point that you should take responsibility and feel responsibility that if I do one that could put the balance in the wrong direction whereas if I do one mitzvah I'm able to put the balance in the in the right direction for the entire And then you would cause yourself and the world uh salvation and and being saved that by doing this one thing he was able to to to to tip the scales in the favor for the world. Then says the Ra and here again he's referencing specifically the time period that we're going to be talking about now. is because we're supposed to feel this sense of not just personal responsibility but communial responsibility that the actions that I do don't just impact me but they impact the entire world. Therefore says says the Rambam Israel in general has the mean that specifically during the times of they do extra they do extraim more so than the rest than the rest of the time when this is the time when we're being judged we should really make an extra effort to do extra mitzvot extra and to and to be involved in in in doing good. And then he adds And the is for us to get up in the middle of the night during these 10 days. And what we would do is get up in the middle of the night and we would be ding and saying special all the way until until sunrise. It's a good question. I'm not sure. I don't remember. I I'm assuming it's a reference to some kind of specialt but um but I'm not sure. I mean literally the word kibush is cut meaning is mean something entirely different. question. >> Okay, good. You're hinting you're you're pointing to a very very good point. Meaning right now, so what we've seen so far in the gon in the Rambam is all we've seen is a reference to which days. Okay. Meaning made these are unique unique days and historically it seems that during the time of the gon and what the Rambam is talking about was that it was generally done or at least the we've seen so far referenced just doing it during chuva. However many of us might be thinking wait a second but we start well before that either at least a week before a few days before a month before. Where does that come from? So the truth is is that if you look in different other places in the Gonim you see other other minhagim that were quoted uh we'll see soon one one min is in the Abu Dh which he's one of the rishonim but he quotes a minhug that they would start in on on the 15th of el 15th of el never saw that minug before but that's one minhug that people start and and we're going to see soon that we have different minhagim the start on roesh and we have the minhug also to start earlier where does that where does that come So question or comment. Yeah. >> Uh I was just curious as far as the going back to uh the cops as the individual. So uh are we talking about only Jews or the entire world has uh this uh notion that there could one one era could bring them closer to that one mitzvah could bring them. >> It's a very good question. Um my understanding of what the Rambam is referring to here um if I understood it correctly is I think he's referring to the whole world. Meaning I think he's referring to basically understanding that now again what the judgment is like for the non-Jewish world and how that works. Meaning we do believe that Rashana Rashana is a day that is meant to be not just for God. It's we we say and we talk about how God's kingship is not just over the Jews but is over the entire world. Um here the Rambam is basically saying that we have a certain responsibility to feel like the entire world rests on our shoulders. Now that doesn't mean that it should become a crippling sense of responsibility but it should feel like a certain accountability that the things that we do don't just impact us. They certainly impact our the way I would say this is different there's different circles just like the things that we do impact our loved one our our immediate family more than they impact our community. I think the same thing is true when it comes to the Jewish world versus the versus the rest of the world. the things that we do, the impact that we have on the world certainly impacts our our immediate family, that it impacts our our extended family, that it impacts our community, that it impacts the the Jewish people. And then I think we also believe that it impacts the the greater world. And I think the Rambam jumped to that to the to the more extreme because he was trying to highlight the sense of accountability that we should that we should be feeling. That's my understanding of it. In terms of Hebrew, I'm not sure. It's a good it's a it's it's a it's it's it's a good question. Um so the Ramba so where where does it where does the minhug to say starting earlier develops so look at source number four we're going to jump to the to see practically the quotes both opinions and then we're going to understand where this minha comes from source number four says the we have the min to get up in again which means early in the morning to start from all the way until okay now we're not what we're not going to talk about today is the timing of when to say as we noted the ideal time is certainly early early morning right before um right right right right right right right right before sunrise or if you can't do it then the other ideal time would be certainly at some point after uh midnight meaning during the period of between midnight and and early morning. What if someone can't do that? There certainly is an understanding nowadays that if people aren't able to, you can say it early or how early can you say it. I don't want to get into all of those details. I want to just focus on the minhug of when we start saying it. So we see here in the and this is also mentioned in a few places in the to start. Why? So the first thing we have to realize is that if we start and we end when do we end saying when's the last day that we say how many days does that come out to? 40 days. So 40 days. So before we even get into the to to the which what 40 days they are the the symbolism of 40 days if we think about it has tremendous amount of significance where else do we see the symbolism of 40 days >> the excellent anywhere else anyone else what there's a there's a concept regarding 40 days >> exactly 40 that we that we believe that again without getting into this issue but there is a concept that that after 40 days is when a fetus is considered to have developed enough to be to be to be considered hakically in many areas significant. What does that show us? If we put all those together um we have another another thing by the way is a mikvah mikvah needs how much needs how many how much water 40 the concept of 40 if you put it all together represents a concept of creation rebirth creation okay the baby is created after 40 days Moshe went up to Hari for 40 days initially that was the creation of Ben Israel the creation of receiving the Torah the concept of Ben Israel being created the marble the marble for 40 days symbolized in that case a recreation. The world was destroyed and was now being recreated. The mikvah 40 days, the mikvah itself symbolizes rebirth and recreation. The concept of it being 40 days. So, so already before we even get to what those 40 days actually were, the concept of 40 has a tremendous amount of significance and means a lot. If we think about it, when we're talking about this period of time, we are now in a period of time where we're looking to ourselves go through a certain rebirth or a retransformation, an improvement on who we are, a building of who we are. And so 40 makes a lot of sense. But it makes even more sense when we think about historically what these 40 days what these 40 days were. If you look in the Mishnaba in source number five, the Mishnabur explains why specifically. So first the first the Mishna Bur explains why specifically we do it in the morning because this is a cabalistic idea that at the end of the night God is as it were traversing in this world. meaning that that that cabalistically that is the time when of the day when God is closest to us and that that's why it's a unique opportune time to be saying this and that why why there are many people who are very mid that should be said specifically during the period of time towards the end of the night before the before the day begins at raton and says the bur it is a time of of why is the to start specifically from Roshesh Allah Moshe because that is when Moshe went up in order to accept the second set of the second set of the of the tablets. What happened ones? So says the Mishnub something very very interesting. He's actually referencing a medish. Moshe was about to go up. Let let let's even take a step back and set the scene. Okay, we're talking about the period of time right after the sin of Okay. So is sin. Mosha went up. Mosha went up to receive the Torah. He was up there for 40 days. During that period of time is Moshe comes down. What is the first thing he does when he comes down? He breaks the tablets. What day? What what was the date of that? As many of us know that is right. That is one of the things that happened on Shivas. One of the reasons we fast on the 17th of Tamuz. Moshe then holds the people accountable. He people certain people get killed. Mosha then announces at least this is according to most opinions. Mosha then announces that I'm going to go back up to heavens. Why? To achieve a certain amount of to ask God to forgive you. And according to most opinions, Moshe then goes up hari for another 40 days. At the end of those 40 days, Moshe comes down. Have they been forgiven? God agreed not to kill them, which I guess is considered a certain sense of forgiveness. But we don't yet know what kind of relationship is going to exist between between Moshe and between God and and and and bene Israel at that point in time. Moshe is successful in stopping God from from killing the nation which is definitely a success but the level of relationship is there going to be forgiveness still unclear. Then God commands Moshe come back up and get the second set of loot. When was that commanded? When did Moshe go back up? So according to Kazal that happened onesh Moshe goes up for another 40 days. The third set of 40. that set of 40 days he comes down on >> Yum Kipper and that is the day when Ami is fully understand and God announces I have forgiven you. we are able to now move on and to and to repair our relationship and because that is the day when God announces when Amishel becomes or understands and realizes that this that now God has forgiven them that has become the national day of forgiveness and that's why on Yum Kipper Yum Kipper to us represents the day of signific of of forgiveness because the first forgiveness that God ever gave to the Jewish people happened on on Yum Kipper and so if we understand that whole background it makes a lot of sense when would we start we'd start when Moshe verse goes up. Moshe is going up. Now, by the way, what what what what the Mishnaba points out. If you look, just skip for one second to source number six, I brought you the medish that the Mishnaba is quot Mishnabura is quoting the Medish in source number six says the following. I want you to come up the mountain and when you go up I want you to sound the chauffar. Why are they sounding the chauffar now? Why sound the chauffeur right before he goes up says the medish. Why did they why did God insist that they sound the chauffar on Mosha's going up a second time? Because they want what happened last time according to Kazal? Why did what was one of the main reasons for the sin of the ael was because bene miscalculated when Moshe was due to return and part of that had to do with when did he go up exactly was he going to was they were one or two days off in order to be clear on when Moshe is going up and ensure that Benet Israel do not sin again and miscalculate when he's supposed to go down says God what do you need to do make it very clear blow the chauffar announce to everybody when you're going up in order to show hey this is what's happening don't make the same mistake now it's not just a mistake of calculation it's also a mistake of how you're going to approach these 40 days how do you think amuse were approaching these 40 days >> scared >> scared a lot of unknown a lot of things happening right now these 40 days for Amy Israel were days when they had no idea what their relationship with was going to be like they knew that they were they were not going to be only a certain amount died and God wasn't going to wipe out the nation but there was a lot of fear a lot of unknown I would imagine I don't know for sure I would imagine these are days when Amish was hopefully going through a state of and so these 40 days historically represent days of and chuva and therefore it's most appropriate say that these 40 days would be the days that ami Israel choose to start saying because we're going to go we're going to recreate that process says as we approach Yom Kipur hopefully culminating with that experience of Yom Kipur of Hashem saying just like he said to Am Israel 40 40 days or many many years ago yes I see a question or a comment I think >> it's not written in the Torah uh I this is the first the where does mid get it from so the midash does mention here I don't think that's written also I'm not sure this is to be very very honest I when I noticed this in the midash I've learned these sources many of these sources before I did not notice it until this year. According to many, by the way, it says here, if you look, let's keep going for a second. In the midash, >> we say yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That part we do say that. Yes. So, so, so the puzz says, so I think that's the reference to the to the concept that he went up to with the sound of but then look what it says right after that. So it says here what it's really referencing I think is is even but even more than that if they blew the chauffar when mosher ra went up in kesh according to many opinions this is the reason we start blowing the chauffar kesh right many people wonder why we blow the chauffar start blowing the chauffar on kodesh so many of us are familiar with the idea of to do chuva to confuse the satan that's the that's a different med I don't want to get into all the details now But this is another source for the concept that why do we start blowing the chauffeur on kodesh every single year because that's what they did when Moshe went up on kodesh. That was something that I that I didn't realize until until this year. I think it's it's fascinating. Okay. So what we've what we've done is we've basically now understand the sparti minogard makes a lot of sense. 40 these 40 days symbolize chuva. They symbolized. These are the first 40 days. The the first 40 days that Amisil experienced in the midbar. These 40 days were days when their relationship with a bar was fragile and unknown. And they experienced this concept of going through a period of unknown and not knowing what's going to be. And I imagine would be safe to assume it was a period of chuva and felah. And so to commemorate that, we also go through that process ourselves every every single year. Interestingly enough, the Mishnabura, just going back to the Mishnur and source number four, number five, excuse me. If you look at source number five, uh, at the end of the the second line, just to it's just interesting. Um he also the the the the Mishna Buru also references some hints to this idea to the idea of starting oneshul and there's a hint to this idea of starting because the says vidi so many of us know that is the rash of okay so says the if you take the sote that there's a concept not just of the be the first letter but if you took the last letters So the last letters of anodi the same four words that reference also reference theatria is me. What's me? 40. So therefore, it's a reference to eldo because during these 40 days, these are times of unique closeness to and just like your heart is close to him, then your beloved is and if you turn to Hashem during these 40 days, hopefully your beloved will turn to you. That's the idea of anote are and the sote are a reference to 40 to 40 days. And then he adds the o another hint to this idea the p says hashem and hashem will literally means circumcise but it means hashem will uh will will will bring close your heart. And it says the words are el and therefore he points out that this is this is again a hint to the idea that if we're talking about a relationship with we're looking to to to bring close our relationship with barafu that starts on on on roesh on roesh elo. So that's that makes a lot of sense and and everything we've been saying makes in terms of understanding this farting hug I think I think seems to to make a lot of sense. The question is yes >> why ah >> well I can give you well we can make a lot of jokes about that. Okay. Uh the most popular ones we'll just make and then and then we'll move on. The most popular ones are the reason why the Spartan need 40 days of chuva is because they ate kitodon pesa. >> That's the classic example, right? They need to do chuva for eating kit on pesak. We Ashkanazim didn't eat. We don't have as much to to ask to ask for uh okay the other way the other way to say it is simply that I mean and this is my own uh is I don't know if Ashkanazm are built to get up that early for 40 for 40 days. Um spartim you know these guys they get up like 6 like 5:30 6 o I mean and I have to admit I I I personally am not an early riser. I know many astron risers and and and I kavote to them getting up for dafomi and but the jo I mean it's it's a very very good question. different communities developed different minhagim and now I want to try to understand at least understand a little bit more where the minhagenazim came from why it wasn't accepted I I I don't know um like like there's a whole range of minhagim regarding the various communities and um and and the different minhagim just developed that way okay so what about the ashkanazic minhug so the ashkanazic minhug is based on two concepts and we're going to see the sources inside in one minute but just to understand it it's based on two conditions the two conditions are. Number one, we always start our on Shabbat. We'll get to why that is. That's one condition. And the other condition is it needs to be at least we need to have at least four days of before Roshash. Okay? Because of those two conditions, it will vary from year to year exactly when we start saying. So for example, if Rosh were to fall out on a Wednesday or a or a Thursday or a Friday, a Thursday or Friday, then we would start we would start saying on Shabbat before Rosh Shah if Rosh Shah falls out like it does this year on Monday or Tuesday where we wouldn't have enough time if we started the Shabbat before to have four days of we therefore start the week before. So now we have an extra week of slot uh which on the one hand is a little bit more challenging in our sleep schedule but on the other hand it's more of an opportunity to to come to Rosha Shana fully prepared for for for Roshana. So look at source number seven. Source number seven is the is the Mishnaba trying to understand where this custom comes from and the Mishna says the following alum. So why so first the is trying to deal with four days. Why do we have to have at least four days of of before? What's what's the symbolism of four? So he says the following. He brings two answers. There are many people that historically would fast all 10 days of very hard to do that right and I don't know how many people do that nowadays but historically that was done as a sign of how important these days are. By the way, the one min that does still remain at least as more common is there is a minhug to fast on air of Rosh Sha. That is a min that is relatively new. Uh that is not relatively new. That is that has that that has stayed but many people but the min nowadays is not to fast the whole day of rash but is to fast until of rush. Um as a symbol of we are entering a period that is more that that that is important that has remained the the to fast not so familiar. I'm sure there are people who do it but it's it's much more it's much more rare. If you do have that to to fast 10 days of all there are always going to be four days that you can't fast. What are those four days? What are those four? There are always going to be four that you can't fast on. You can't fast on the two days of rash shah. You can't fast on shabbat shuva. And yum kipur. We know that you're not allowed to fast. In fact, there's more of a minhug and a mitzvah to to eat an era of yum kipur. So therefore, there are four days during which you would have wanted to fast, but yet you were unable to. And therefore says the says the sorry and therefore oh sorry not sorry the second line the middle of the lineash in order to symbolize and to make up for those four days that we weren't able to fast on era of roshash during therefore we start we want to make sure that we're not going to you could say well then we should fast those four days but Okay. But at the very least, we're going to do something different. We're going to do something special. We're going to begin we're going to at least begin the process of preparing for at least four days before in order to make up for for those four days. Now, this isn't said in the By the way, it is true though that it's not just that you can fast on those days. What else don't we do on those days? We don't say we don't say we don't say on Shabbat. Um is a short. So I wonder if part of the idea of saying the four days before is not just because you can't fast but because those are days during a service you made chuva when ostensibly those are days we wanted to say we wanted to say and we don't and therefore we have to have the four days the four days earlier >> we do on rash >> very very long ones >> um on rashash shana itself I don't I don't >> oh er of rash shana we do of rashana we do but not on rashash shana itself meaning there are three and a half days that we don't really say dura the two days of rash we don't say we do we have long ding a very different feel a different very different type of ding on we don't say and is a very short one again this is my own understanding I'm just I'm just adding it on that it's not just that we don't fast during those days but we also don't really say and I wonder if the that we say the minimum of four days is a way of making up for those for those for for those four days if you look three lines down uh oh sorry continuing at the end of the second line and then he says says, "And then the Mr. Bur says, "And why do we always make sure to say it once Shabbat?" We're going to get to this uh in a little bit as well. Why mot Shabbat? He says, "It's a very simple. It's just because we want to have consistency. We want to always start on the same day makes it easier for people to remember. Always starting on m Shabbat. And therefore, in order for that to be easy to remember, we always start on mote Shabbat." I think there's more to it, and we'll get to that hopefully soon. But that's the Mishnaba's opinion. And then the mish brings another reason for four days. Why four days? There is a concept that before a person brings a kurban in the beta mikdash, he needed to set it aside for 4 days in order to check it. Where do we see this most clearly in the exactly where do we see this most clearly in the Torah is the pesak when and were commanded to separate and separate it on the 10th of the month. Even though the pesak was only brought on this was also truely with other they need to be set aside and checked over the course of of four days says the something fascinating. It says if you look at the usually by most of the corban the corban musf that's brought on most yamim toim the language that's used is you should bring close abanola a special as a musaf the language by rash shah is a different language it doesn't say it says what does mean you should make an okay so you could say this the same idea I'm bringing in says the mission no what it means is it's a lesson We should be seeing it as not just us bringing the sh but we're also bringing >> ourselves ourselves. We should recognize that we are bringing ourselves in front of a bar and Rosh sh and that is what's happening on Roshade continuing the the bottom line on source number seven a person needs to feel as if he is bringing himself to a and Therefore, you need if you're going to be bringing yourself as the corban symbolically, then we need 4 days to check ourselves to make sure to say what blemishes do we have? Are there things that I still need to fix? What are the things that I need to do in order to prepare for Rosha Shaah before I bring myself in judgment in front of a kadoshu? And that's the symbolism says the Mishnaba of the of the four days. So, those are two those are two reasons why we need a minimum of four days. either because the four days represent the four days that we couldn't fast um between between rashan and yum kipur or because it symbolizes the four days of checking symbolically checking ourselves right before we bring ourselves uh as a kurban to to a kadosh baru >> or both no of course of course no they're not they're not mutually exclusive but there is another reason that is mentioned in in the rishonim and that begins with with the in source number Source number six is a is a is a pretty relatively famous and the Mishna discusses the different days of the beginning of the year. There are four times of the year that the that the world is judged. We're judged for the grain. What grain is going to be is going to grow during the year. We're judged. Excuse me. We're going to we're judged regarding uh regarding which what fruit is going to grow during the year all creatures of the world. Everybody passes in front of God like again there's different opinions but the simple understanding is it's like the like the sheep of a shepherd that he brings them together and he understands he understands their actions. And on we are judged for water. >> Oh, you're right. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I misspoke. You are correct. Thank you for that correction. Okay. Now, the riff, oh, sorry, not the riff. Duran in source number seven Shah asked a a fundamental question regarding this Mishna says Dan all the other three out of the four three out of the four rash shah make sense when they fall out they and because they correspond to the various seasons the rash sha pes being the rash for grain makes a lot of sense because that is the r that that is that is when that is the season when the grain when the grain is it it grows sukkot for example makes a lot of sense that it's going the time where we're judged on rain cuz it's the beginning of the of the raining the rainy season. So says the it makes sense. The other three make sense but he says I don't understand for for people why does it why is it look at source number seven why is sh the day of judgment the other things in that the grain and the fruits and the water. They all are judged corresponding to the appropriate season of that of that object because the gar says is the time of the grain is the time of the is the time of the rain. Why specifically on? So then the Ran quotes a a relatively uh also relatively well-known medish that brings significance specifically to Rosham. We actually reference it in our rash. What do we say? We say also we say we say we also say we constantly reference the fact that what happened on Roshana the world was recreated but says the it's not so it's not so simple excuse me in the second paragraph in source number sevenar we can learn this from a medish the medish says hashem Rabzer holds that when was the world created? On the 25th day of now that doesn't fit in with what we said about Roshashana. Why? Because if the world was created on the 25th of Aul, what was created on Roshashana? >> Day six. Man. Man. Man. So look if let let let's now go back to that to that medish please. On source number seven. This medish that says that the world was created on the 5th 25th of that is from from teaches the following on the 25th of of of man the world the world was created excuse me the deraani and it says that follows the following datani dany Why in our do we say that this is the day of the beginning of your creation? Again, these are quotes from our shalom. Right. Right. These are these are excerpts from that during that we talk about how on this day God judges who's going to die who's going to live who's going to have a life of peace who's going to have a life of war who's going to starve who's going to be satiated and and and obviously as I'm saying it the the the these these words take on so much more meaning during the the the what we've been exp- experiencing as a nation the last two years. The concept of rav famine was something that we couldn't have even thought of and now we have hostages who are who are who are mamish uh experiencing that in in such a deep way. The concept of war versus peace was something that was foreign to us until in a at least in a in a in a in a very real way until until recently. Why? So the world was created on the 25th and that fits in with the medish that says that when was man created on on Roshana continues the medish. We're now we're four lines down in the midash. The last word on the line says the midrash the following. It's a fascinating medish. It just describes the the creation of man. The first hour of the sixth day God thought to create man. The second hour God consulted with the that's why the reference according to the midash that's why it says in the Torah on the third hour God gathered the the dirt with which he was going to create manau the fourth hour God gathered it together or brought or you know brought it together with water and and began to uh to make to to fashion in the fifth hour is when he created the uh more of the of the of the form of Adamishono. On the sixth hour, God stood up this creature that he had created. In the seventh hour, he blew in. The eighth eighth hour of day six is when he put him in. The ninth hour is when he commanded him not to eat from the on the 10th hour had already gone against God's command. 11th hour he was judged. Deus is an interesting word I wrote here acquitted. That's the simple understanding. Basically the 12th the 12th hour God basically even though was obviously punished he was also kept alive. So it's relative in the sense that he was acquitted. Therefore, turns to Israel and says the following. Look at the underlined part in the bottom of number seven. This is a sign for your children. Just like you came up with in me in judgment and you left acquitted. So too your progeny, your descendants will come every single year in judgment to me on this day and they will come out acquitted. And so therefore again what what what what says the is why we start on the 25th of El because the first of is when is when man was created which means that when did when did when did when did God create the world? the 25th of Elo and therefore says the that's the source for the minhug of starting a few days before el that doesn't always come out it's a little bit funny that 25th will come out five days before rash as opposed to four days but the the the idea the symbolism here is very very significant and says dan this is why many communities have the muk start on the 25th of el because that is the day that god created the world and we're we say this leading up to rash shah which is the day that god created man the one piece the the One challenge with this and the RA notes this as well is that the opin that that we just we we just implied that everyone agrees that the world was created on the 25th of Elohim and that man was created on Rosh Shah. It's actually a mahlo in the Garra. It's between between uh between and if I'm not mistaken rabbi Yeshua. Rabbi Yeshua believes that the world was created um in the 25th of Adar and man was created in the first day of Nissan and and therefore says the that's why other communities don't say because because of this we have various comm we have various in the communities some say from says the some say from the 25th of Elo and some only begin on Rosh Shah because of the various the various customs. So what we've seen here um is is the three different reasons why we start four days or at least four days before Rosha according to the Ashkanaz either it's because we have to make up for the for the missed days of or sorry the missed days of fasting during our chuva or it's because the symbolism of bringing ourselves as a as a sacrifice in front of a or it's because we the the 25th of was the day that the world was created and that is the most appropriate day for us to begin the process of of if you look here at source number seven um in the introduction to the art school I'm just I apologize for those of you who raised your hands I just for I want to I want to end in in a minute or two so for time we're just going to we're just going to go on Rabbi Sherman who wrote his introduction to the to the art scroll adds an an additional point of what the symbolism is to beginning theot on the day of the creation of the world source number seven according to this comment it would seem that the purpose of is nothing less than to remind us that within our minds and hearts, we must recreate the pristine state of the beginning of creation. What is the message of that first day? When God created the world, it was clear that there was only one power in the universe and that everything from the mightiest galaxy to the tiniest nad owed it owed its existence to him alone. The song of the day of Sunday, the Shir Shaly of Sunday, which was sung in the temple by the Levim and which we recite on our Sunday morning prayers is Hashem's is the world. Hashem, excuse me, um, Hashem's is the world and its fullness. Because, as the Talmud explains, on that day, God created heaven and earth and manifested his sovereignty over the universe. When one recognizes that reality, there is no place for sin. Sin is caused by selfdeception. As the Talmud puts its, no one sins unless a spirit of foolishness enters him. If one recognize without a doubt that there is no power or master but the one God, that only he gives the breath of life and the strength to exist, and that no deed goes unrecorded and unrequited by him, it would be impossible for one to sin unless one were struck by an attack. Sorry, that's a typo of lunacy. Meaning, part of our the reason we sin and our ability to sin comes from a a lack of total awareness of God being the creator of the world and that God is carefully checking everything that we do. on the first day of creation when God's omnipotence was indis indisputable sin was inconceivable by beginning to recite on that day. So the reason we go specifically to that day, the Jews attempt to readt that primeval conviction. We try to go back to that day when God had just created the world to remind ourselves and to bear or bring within us to to highlight within us this understanding and this knowledge that Hashem Hashem created the world. That's why start four days. Why specifically on Shabbat and with this we will end. So we saw that the Mishnab said Shabbat because it's simple. It's one day everyone know everyone knows what it is. I think there's much more there's much more to it. If you look at source number um one second we just pick it source number nine I believe. Source number nine yosher it's a it's a it's a it's a book on on Jewish law I wrote here in the footnote compiled by Rabb Joseph Benos Ben Moshe and he suggests the following says it's most appropriate to start on Sunday. Torah because Shabus brings about a certain sense of happiness and he's going to mention a certain sense of spirituality. We all had we just came from a beautiful meaningful Shabbat. We know that only dwells when a person has a certain amount of happiness. And therefore, why do we start a mot? because we're tapping into the happiness the on the spirituality of Shabbat and using that as a springboard for our and that's why we start with in the it says we start that that that that's one of the ones Shabbat we're referencing the fact that this is that we're starting on Shabbat and R Sherman also adds another another another another point to this and with this we will conclude source number 10 as the Torah and sages stress the Shabbat the culmination of the six days of creation bears witness that God is the creator. So the Sabbath like the 25th of El focuses our attention on the beginning of time and reinforces our responsibility and is it is hoped our resolve to do our share in making the world what it was intended to be. For the Jew is called upon to make the world a better place and the primary way to to to begin is by making himself a better person. Judaism teaches that an individual being is a microcosm of the universe. One's primary duty is to to perfect that universe, his personal one, before moving on to change the rest of society. The confluence of the sha of the shabas and the first day of creation shed light on what the slhot are meant to and can accomplish. They are to create a new world to provide a new resting place for God's presence to prepare us for for the year that we pray will bring the fulfillment of the prophecies for the coming of Messiah and the end of days. It should be the karov.