Shabbos Rosh Hashana..the secret of Judaism

Second day Rosh Hashana before the Tekios I’m reading in my Machzor the piece of Zohar that talks about the Shofar.

Incredible cosmic effects of our tekios, shevorim and teruos.
How Hashem moves from Judgement to Mercy.
How we tap into this world called Shofar in which it’s extremely easy to do Teshuva.
How certain Malachim are created with each sound who then go up to crown Hashem.

And I’m thinking, here it is Shabbos and the whole universe is holding it’s breath awaiting judgment and awaiting the reprieve and the effects of the shofar. And the Rabbis come along and said we’re afraid that someone will have a question about how to blow on Rosh Hashana and take his Shofar to a Rabbi thereby perhaps crossing 4 amos in a public domain. Sorry, no shofar this year.

Then I thought to myself ...this is the secret of Judaism.

This simplistic fidelity to Gods word.

Sure we have beautiful lessons and stories in Nach (the Bible, excluding the 5 books of Moses) that many religions and movements have used as floats to drift away. We have a whole canon of lore and Aggadah, legends and prophecies. As well as a deep Kabbalistic tradition. So much spirit to the law..

However, the fundamentals of our mission are very clear. The 613 commandments of the Torah as given over through Moses. His Mitzvos are our sacred duty no matter how silly they may seem to a fleshy human brain.
By fulfilling these commandements as written we connect with him in the most profound and fulfilling way.
And while we must strive to understand as much as we can..the truth is whatever Hashem allows us to understand is a privilege and a treat.
There isn't a single Mitzvah or obligation for us in Nach and the Aggadic traditions..certainly not anything which comes into potential conflict with the laws of the Torah.
How many religions and wayward movements have drifted away from Judaism through the generations..due to a lack of this basic understanding?

So we’re willing to say..we don’t care about mercy, even about making it easy on ourselves to do teshuva. Let the angels wait..and we'll stay away from the incredible world of Shofar.
We’re willing to bring the full brunt of judgment down on our heads. As long as we don’t break a single one of his laws.


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