Rosh Hashanah: A Wake-Up Call | Rabbi Mordechai Alster

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Vayimaen’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

[music] >> As we prepare for Rosh Hashanah, we know that the mitzvah of shofar is the kiyash [music] shofar. The Torah itself calls Rosh Hashanah Yom Teruah. The Rambam in Perek Gimmel of Hilchos Teshuvah says [music] that although the mitzvah of kiyash shofar is a mitzvah it has a remez, a message. >> [music] >> Kelomar, "Uru yesheinim mishnaschem vehafitzu nedomei mitaschem. Wake up [music] from your deep sleep. Uvechapu maaseichem vechizru betshuvah. And look into your actions and [music] do teshuvah." Who are those people that are teshuvah." Who are those people that are sleeping? The Rambam explains, "Eilu asher shochechim es hevlei hazman. Those that forget the truth [music] and their habits, and the taivos, and the yetzer haras, and the pressures, and everything that's going on in daily life, those are the people that are asleep. >> [music] >> The shofar is therefore a call to call Yisrael. Wake up and remember to do teshuvah. The shofar is not the only mitzvah that serves as a reminder. Matzah reminds us that we went out of Mitzrayim so quickly that the dough didn't have time to rise. Maror reminds us of the bitterness of Mitzrayim. The Sukkah reminds us that we were surrounded by Ananei Hakavod.

Jump to a moment

1. 0:06[music] >> As we prepare for Rosh Hashanah, we know that the mitzvah of shofar is…
2. 0:37teshuvah." Who are those people that are sleeping? The Rambam explains, "Eilu asher shochechim es hevlei…
3. 1:08were surrounded by Ananei Hakavod. Chanukah reminds us of the nes of the menorah. And the…
4. 1:38[music] entire remez? There was once a man from a large city that visited a farm.…
5. 2:09do you know each time [music] which job to do?" The workers answered, "We were born…
6. 2:39history stretches back all the way to Matan Torah. It's in our bones. It's in our…
7. 3:10also think about the remez of the Rambam and use the shofar to wake [music] up,…

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