Rosh Hashanah and the Monarchy
A true king, by definition, is the most powerful, aloof, detached and exalted being. There can be no greater gap between two entities as the gap that exists between a king and his subjects. The king is also, paradoxically, the most devoted, attached and connected being, whose entire essence is his desire to serve the needs of his subjects. No two entities can become so connected as the connection that exists between a loyal subject to a devoted monarch and vice versa.
The Coronation
Our Rosh Hashanah prayers are replete with references to G-d as our king. According to Chassidic thought, the entire Rosh Hashanah revolves around our acceptance of G-d as our king. Even the Shofar, the central mitzvah of the day, has been understood by R. Sa’adia Gaon as being similar to the “sounding the trumpets” of a coronation ceremony.
This raises several questions. First, why would G-d have to be proclaimed as our king every Rosh Hashanah? Why weren’t past “coronation ceremonies” sufficient?
Many people have also expressed bewilderment at the emphasis we place on G-d’s role as a king on Rosh Hashanah. Why would we want to use the metaphor of a king to describe G-d? Isn’t a king a dictatorial tyrant? Haven’t we suffered from so many king’s whims and caprices?
The Deepest Relationship
In truth, the concept of royalty in its true form represents the most profound relationship that can exist between two entities. There are all sorts of relationships in our world:
Parent child; brother to brother; husband wife; teacher student, etc. But, as we probe more deeply into the kingsubject relationship we will discover that in truth, there is no more profound relationship than the one that exists between a (real) king and his subjects.
To be sure, most kings throughout history were a far cry from the true definition of a king; but their role serves, nonetheless, as a limited metaphor, for our unique relationship with G-d.
A true king, by definition, is the most powerful, aloof, detached and exalted being. There can be no greater gap between two entities as the gap that exists between a king and his subjects.
The king is also, paradoxically, the most devoted, attached and connected being, whose entire essence is his desire to serve the needs of his subjects. No two entities can become so connected as the connection that exists between a loyal subject to a devoted monarch and vice versa.
A king is one who desires more than anything else to be the provider of all the needs of his subjects. However, since the king is, by definition, so exalted and far removed from having any connection to his subjects, there must be a continual and persistent effort on the part of his subjects to awaken the king’s latent desire to be connected to us.
In other words, the definition of a king is a person who is “head and shoulders” above everyone. This means that he is intellectually and emotionally in a different world. Yet deeply rooted in his personality is this desire to “lower” himself and to relate to even the lowliest subject with unparalleled devotion.
To accomplish this incredible process – of the most exalted being becoming the most empathetic being – it requires the efforts of the people. The subjects must show their utter devotion and acceptance of the king. The “coronation” ceremony is the process in which they express their innermost desire to proclaim the king as their king.
Recreate Relationship on Rosh Hashanah
And this is precisely what occurs every Rosh Hashanah. The natural state for G-d as our King is to be removed from His world. Thus, every Rosh Hashanah, we – G-d’s subjects – must express our most profound feelings of devotion and acceptance of G-d from the very core of our souls; that we want to experience the most profound relationship that can exist. G-d then reciprocates by desiring – from the very core and essence of His being – to be our King.
A “Mere” Sample
This most profound emotional and spiritual experience of Rosh Hashanah is but a sampling of what we will experience in the age of Redemption, when the entire world will collectively proclaim G-d as our King; when the most unique relationship between G-d and His world will become manifest for all.
This powerful and essential bond that will be realized will come through the leadership of a human monarch, Moshiach; a monarch who will enjoy all of the virtues and strengths of a monarch with none of the baggage and imperfections of the monarchs of yore.
May we all be inscribed for a wonderful, sweet year and may we merit the immediate revelation of Moshiach - when “G-d will be King of the entire world!” (Machzor)
From the book Light from the Future: Rosh Hashanah by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
