Man Is Not Alone

Last week, we discussed the judgment of Rosh Hashanah in terms of the extent to which each of us has realized his or her individuality. Have we employed our daas to give definition to ourselves and our unique mission in life?

That understanding, brought down in the name of Rav Moshe Shapiro ztz”l, is closely tied to the fact that Adam Harishon was created yechidi, singular, and constituted an olam malei at the moment of his creation. He alone justified the creation of the world.

But elsewhere, Rav Moshe pointed out that this understanding of why Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment only works according to Rabi Eliezer, who says that the world was created in Tishrei, in which case the creation of Man was on Rosh Hashanah.

According to Rabi Yehoshua, however, who states that the world was created in Nissan (and whose opinion we follow, at least with respect to establishing the seasonal calendar), what is the intrinsic connection between Rosh Hashanah and judgment? Rabbeinu Nissim and the Ramban ask this question, and they answer that Rosh Hashanah is a day of judgment because it is the beginning of the month in which Yom Kippur falls, and thus encapsulates the entire month. That answer, however, is on its face, difficult to understand.