HaRav Shmuel Eliyahu is Chief Rabbi of Tzfat.
The Zohar says that the essence of Rosh Hashanah is specifically in the Land of Israel, as it is written: “The Lord shall reign forever, your God, O Zion, from generation to generation, Hallelujah" (Psalms 146:10). The Zohar’s intention is connected to what is written in Psalms (89): “Fortunate is the nation that knows the teruah; O Lord, in the light of Your countenance they shall walk."
The Zohar (III, 231b) points out that the verse does not say “those who hear the teruah" or “those who sound the teruah." It says, “those who know the teruah" - people who understand the meaning of the teruah. And who are those who know? The wise inhabitants of the Land of Israel: “Such as the wise ones who dwell in the atmosphere of the Holy Land - they are the ones who know the teruah."
And why specifically them? Because they heard the great shofar that releases us from the exile and brings us to the Land of Israel. They did not ignore the call of God as it transpired in many deaf ears during the Second Temple period. They did not doubt God’s Kingship in the world and did not come to weeping over the smallness of the Second Temple when compared to the First. Therefore, they merited to defeat all of their enemies, as it says: “Ask of Me, and I will give nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; like a potter’s vessel you shall shatter them" (Psalms 2).
“Fortunate is the Nation that Knows the Teruah; O Lord, in the Light of Your Countenance They Shall Walk."
Knowing the teruah brings one to the light of God’s countenance. “Who is a nation like Israel, who know the sublime secrets of their Master, to enter before Him and to bind themselves to Him? And all those who know the secret of the teruah will draw near to walk in the light of the countenance of the Holy One, Blessed be He. And this is the primordial light which the Holy One, Blessed be He, concealed for the righteous. Therefore, it is necessary to know it" (Zohar, ibid.).
Everyone who knows the secret of the teruah will draw near to walk in the light of the countenance of the Holy One, Blessed be He. This is the hidden light of the Creation of the world, which the Holy One, Blessed be He, concealed for the righteous. Therefore, it is important to know the secret of the teruah, for it brings life, as it is written: “In the light of the King’s countenance is life" (Proverbs 16:15). This exalted holy knowledge and blessing is available in the special Holy Land which Hashem created for the Jewish People.
Recognition of God - Sanctifying God’s Name Throughout the World
Therefore, from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur we say “the Holy King" and “the King of Justice." The meaning of the words “the Holy King" is God’s Kingship being revealed and sanctified throughout the world. “Holy, holy, etc., the whole earth is filled with His glory."
This is the true Kingship, when “every created being will know that You created it, and every formed being will understand that You formed it." Therefore, we say in our prayers, “Reign over the entire world in Your glory." And this is the spiritual work that we perform within ourselves on Rosh Hashanah.
During the Ten Days of Repentance - The King of Justice
This is the reason why our Sages formulated the conclusion of the blessing with the words “the King of Justice" (HaMelech HaMishpat) and not “the King who Judges" (HaMelech HaShofet). The Sages wanted to hint that the King is revealed through justice - in its being different than the way human judges think. In this way, He reigns in a sophisticated manner over all of the judicial systems in the world.
Today, one who observes carefully can see that God’s Kingship is being revealed more and more through systems of justice throughout the world that continue to improve throughout the generations. The criticism we express over our present secular courts in Israel is also a part of this - in pointing out their shortcomings when compared to Torah law. We all pray that, with God’s help, the following will be fulfilled in us: “And I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning; afterward you shall be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City" (Isaiah 1).
The Virtue of the Land
Our Rabbis explain an important principle: the fact that the Land of Israel did not reveal its goodness throughout our long exile does not indicate any deficiency in the Land. On the contrary, the Land faithfully preserves within itself the goodness and abundance that God deposited within it. It deliberately conceals its potential so that foreign empires will not benefit from its abundant riches. In the meantime, it waits for the Nation of Israel to return to it. Only as a result of the Nation’s return does the Land open its treasures and flourish once again as in days of yore.
Elite Tzaddikim always saw the hidden goodness of the Land of Israel. Not everyone saw the goodness as they did. Just a century or two ago the vast majority of all Jews who emigrated from their places of residence throughout the world went to the American continent. They saw with their eyes only the curtain of poverty that covered the Land of Israel and did not see its goodness. They preferred to establish their homes in the materially blessed lands of exile. In contrast, our Rabbi saw the goodness of the Land and sent all of his finest students there.
Let Him Not Utter Any Negative Word to Disparage the Land of Israel.
Our master teacher, Rabbeinu Yosef Chaim of Bagdad, Iraq, (the Ben Eish Chai), whose Hilulah (yahrtzeit) is celebrated on Elul 13, warned against uttering even one negative word about the Land of Israel, even in its state of destruction. This is because the Land’s great goodness is hidden within it.
He explains this in connection with the Gemara (Tractate Ketubot 112b), which relates that Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi sought to make dwelling in the Land of Israel beloved upon themselves and their students. Therefore, when the sun reached the place where they were studying during the hot season, they were careful to move from the sun into the shade. Likewise, during the rainy season, they would move from the shade into the sun, so that they would not suffer from either heat or cold and thus complain about the climate of the Land of Israel.
In his book Ben Yehoyada, the Ben Eish Chai explains that these righteous men were not themselves troubled by the heat or the cold. Rather, they were concerned for their students, lest they, God forbid, speak negatively about the good Land:
“They were concerned that perhaps some of the students would become weary of the heat of the sun and then say, ‘This place is not good; let us get up and sit in another place where there is shade.’ Therefore, Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi would take the initiative and rise from the place where the sun was about to reach and move to a shaded place, so that none of the students would come to say about that place, ‘It is not good,’ and thereby be found speaking disparagingly about a portion of the soil of the Land of Israel."
From this, Rabbeinu the Ben Ish Chai draws an important conclusion:
“From here a person should learn a moral lesson, to guard his mouth and his tongue, so that he does not utter any negative statement disparaging even one cubit of the Land of Israel! Whether regarding its climate, whether regarding its cold or heat, whether regarding its fruits, or regarding its buildings and the like. And even at the time of its destruction, when it is in the hands of the non-Jews and the houses belong to non-Jews, every Jew must guard his tongue so that he should not be included among those who speak disparagingly of the Land of Israel."
Our Rabbi’s efforts indeed bore great fruit. The overwhelming majority of the Jews exiled from Babylonia (Iraq) after the establishment of the State of Israel came to the Land of Israel and did not exchange the Babylonian exile for the exile of the United States or other lands.
May it be God’s will that we all merit to hear the sounding of the shofar that reveals the glory of God in the world, and that all of our brethren, the House of Israel, ascend to the Holy Mountain in Jerusalem. Amen and Amen.