Rosh Hashanah: Controling Our Destiny | Rabbi Moshe Tuvia Lieff

Rosh Hashanah is the judgment day of the world. Why does Hakadosh Baruch Hu judge the world on the anniversary of its creation? In fact, why are we judged the first day of the new year? We should be judged over the past Mitzvos, Aveiros, misdeeds of the previous year. Why on Rosh Hashanah is there no אשמנו? No על חטא? Where’s the Teshuva on Rosh Hashanah? The only birthday in the world that's recorded in the Torah is the birthday of Pharaoh, And on that day, he judged his realm. Pharaoh thought he was a deity. He thought he created Mitzrayim and the Nilus. So on that day, the anniversary of his מלוכה, he judged the world. The שר האופים he hung, the שר המשקים he reinstated. And the question is why? The Aveira of the שר האופים paled in comparison to the שר המשקים. שר האופים baked 1,000 loaves of bread, and unfortunately, in one loaf there was a pebble. And in Pharaoh’s pastrami sandwich, in that slice, there was a pebble. An insignificant Aveira, transgression. שר המשקים was derelict in his duty. He's supposed to be using the ostrich plumes to fan the flies away from Pharaoh, and he's distracted, he's texting, he's emailing. And a fly falls into Pharaoh’s personal cup, and then he drinks it and the fly is doing the backfloat in his mouth. So why in the world is the שר המשקים reinstated and the שר האופים hung? It has nothing to do with the heinous crime of the past. It's all about the future. Who does Pharaoh need for the realm? אופים, there were a thousand bakers. משקים, nobody could make that elixir, like the wine of the שר המשקים. Hashem judges us What are we going to accomplish for next year? It has nothing to do with the past. There's no Teshuva, there's no על חטא. It's a commitment שתמליכוני עליכם. When a person takes a moment and he seizes that moment, carpe diem, he seizes the day, he seizes the moment, and he controls his life, his eyes, his desires, then Hashem judges him at that point. Forget about the past, he's a Tzaddik. That's the take away of Rosh Hashanah. Seize the moment, seize the day. Control that moment, and you control your destiny. By looking away and refusing to give in, we secure our future.