The Key to a Year of Life

In a few weeks, all of Creation will pass before Hashem in judgment. On Rosh Hashanah, Hashem renews His malchus, and decides the fortunes of His subjects for the coming year. Not a single deed or even a thought escapes His scrutiny. Every Elul, we look for merits to sweeten our judgment. Is there some super zechus that can guarantee our place in the Book of Life?

Rav Yisrael Salanter writes that the key to a favorable judgment on Rosh Hashanah is to be a public servant — someone Klal Yisrael needs. That doesn’t mean you need to run an international chesed organization, or be the world’s most generous philanthropist. If you reach out to better the lives of those around you, you are a servant of Klal Yisrael. That, says Rav Yisrael, is the way to pass through Rosh Hashanah successfully.

At first, it sounds like a loophole. If Klal Yisrael needs us, Hashem has to keep us around and give us the resources we need to continue helping others, even if we don’t really deserve it.

But it goes much deeper than that. On Rosh Hashanah, we join together to accept Hashem as our King and renew His malchus. A malchus is a whole kingdom, united to serve the king. A bunch of individuals doesn’t constitute a kingdom. Avodas Hashem isn’t just an individual effort. It’s the collective endeavor of Klal Yisrael, helping one another serve Hashem.