Why So Upbeat on Yom Hadin?

ANapparent paradox lies at the center of our celebration of Rosh Hashanah. On the one hand, everything hangs in the balance on the awesome Day of Judgment. Even the angels are seized with fear, as we recite in Unesaneh Tokef: “Angels will be terrified, a trembling and dread will seize them, and they will say, ‘Behold, it is the Day of Judgment.’”

On the other hand, we are upbeat and joyful. We cut our hair in advance, don our best festive attire, and enjoy sumptuous meals. Even in the most dour yeshivah, the special melodies of the day uplift and enlist all in enthusiastic singing. Despite the length of the davening, we neither enumerate our sins nor plead for mercy.

My brother Rabbi Mattisyahu Rosenblum ztz”l offers two resolutions of this paradox in Rays of Wisdom. The first begins with two oddities of human behavior, worthy of anthropological investigation of the sort usually reserved for primitive tribes. Why do so many people become so intensely involved in the fortunes of their local sports teams, manned by phenomenally well-paid athletes, with no particular attachment or loyalty to the city in which they now play? I once came into Chicago in the middle of spring training and asked a friend how he thought the Cubs would fare that year.

He replied, “I couldn’t care less, and I can’t imagine why any adult would.”