Achieving a Sweet New Year | Rabbi Eliezer Zeytouneh

We are now in the days of Elul, of יום הדין, of Yom Kippur, the days that are going to determine what lies ahead of us in the next upcoming year. The Gemara in ביצה, writes on דף טז עמוד א׳ that everything that we’re going to make, all of the financial success is contingent on those 10 days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. On the holiday we say to Borei Olam: Borei Olam please, עמוד מכסא הדין ושב על כסא רחמים Stand up from the throne of judgment, and sit on the throne of compassion. Which really means, we’re telling Borei Olam: Borei Olam, please, we know that you don’t ignore anything, but don’t focus on my flaws, on my inadequacies, on my mistakes. Focus on the Chesed I did, on the charity I did, on the kind words that I did, on the Mitzvot that I perpetuated. Focus on the positive. And the question is, what can I do to ensure that Borei Olam focuses on the positive more than the negative, that focuses on the רחמים, more than the דין? Well, R’ Chaim Shmuelevitz writes that the Inyan, the idea of מדה כנגד מדה, measure for measure, is not a system of reward and punishment. It’s the way Borei Olam runs His world. It’s not retribution and awards. It’s the way G-d conducts his creation. And therefore, if I don’t look at things that are forbidden, if I make sure that I watch my eyes from looking at things that I may not look at, then I could tell Borei Olam: Borei Olam, מדה כנגד מדה, ה׳ יתברך Don’t look at the prohibited things that I have done. Take a focus at all the wonderful things that I committed, the times I put on Tefillin, the times that I prayed, the times I did Chesed, my Shabbat table, the way I deal with my children, and by doing so, Borei Olam, I know You don’t ignore, but give me patience. Please, give me a little time. Allow me to adjust my life. Focus on the רחמים, on the compassion. And by doing that, בעזרת ה׳, we will be זוכה to a wonderful, wonderful year, a שנה טובה ומתוקה.