Key to a Good Year

Easy Come, Easy Go 

During this time of year, the Yomim Noraim, the Divrei Chaim from Tzanz, zt”l, would customarily relate the following story to his Chassidim: 

There was once a very destitute and poor widow. Her entire household suffered in their poverty, craving even a morsel of bread. One day, while walking, the woman came across a single egg. She was overwhelmed with such joy and simcha, she ran home to show her children. When she got there and showed them what she had found she said, “Baruch Hashem! We have become wealthy!”

 

She explained to her children the incredible value of her finding by saying, “Can you imagine! From this egg, a chicken will be born. And that chicken will have even more eggs. They will hatch and we will have even more chickens! Once we have all these chickens, we will go to the market and trade them for goats. Those goats will produce more goats, and we will be able to sell our goats for a large cow! That cow will produce milk and other amazing products that we can sell and use those proceeds to buy a field which will produce fruits and vegetables!”

 

The woman continued to explain in vivid detail how their wealth would grow, compound, and accumulate over time until they had a tremendous fortune. However, she was so preoccupied by describing her vision for the future, that she forgot all about the egg in her hand. It slipped out, shattering on the floor. And with it, all her dreams of wealth. She and her family were once again left with nothing. 

The Tzanzer Rebbe, zt”l, concluded by telling his Chassidim that the same is true of the yidden during the Yomim Noraim. They envision how they will live better and more meaningful lives enriched with Torah and all the mitzvot. They imagine all the incredible things they will accomplish spiritually in the year ahead. And these aspirations are grandiose, vast, and vivid. However, many times, these dreams remain as ambitions and never evolve into actions. And they end up empty-handed and accomplishing nothing. The inspiration was wasted.   
 

Just One Thing 

Therefore, it is critical that a yid not become lost in aspirations of grandeur. Rather, they need to focus on one thing, that they can work on during the year ahead. They need to fully commit themselves to that one thing with every ounce of their strength. They need to safeguard that commitment and be unwavering. By doing so, the inspiration of the Yomim Noraim can last throughout the year.  
 

Who Works for Nothing? 

R’ Aharon of Koshnitz, zt”l, was once sitting with a group of uneducated Jews. The Rebbe asked, “What tailor sews garments for nothing?” 
 

One of the men answered, “The tailor who sews his own clothing since he doesn’t pay himself for the work!” 
 

The Rebbe explained that that wasn’t the correct answer. The crowd started suggesting different answers to the riddle, each one rejected by the Rebbe until finally the Tzadik explained, “Do you know what tailor sews for nothing? The one who does not tie the threads at the end in a final knot. Eventually, the garment completely unravels, and all of his work was wasted. It was for nothing.” 
 

The Rebbe was teaching a valuable lesson in Avodat Hashem. During the Yomim Noraim, a person can “sew” splendid and beautiful spiritual garments for himself. However, if he doesn’t tie a knot at the bottom of those garments, he can lose everything. All that inspiration and hard work will be for nothing. 
 

What is the “knot” you need to tie? That knot is that one good resolution that you accept upon yourself during the Yomim Noraim. This resolution will keep you tied and connected to the Yomim Noraim¸ you will remain connected to the spiritual heights of these moments, and they will carry you forward throughout the year, uplifting every aspect of your life.  
 

Not Just Spiritual 

This positive resolution that you accept upon yourself will also help you physically. The Seforim HaKedoshim advise that on the Day of Judgement, on Yom Kippur, a yid should accept upon himself one spiritual resolution, a commitment that he will work to preserve throughout the upcoming year and beyond. And, even though this is only a pledge for the future, Hashem considers all those future acts as merits on the day the commitment was made. All those merits came to your aid on Yom Kippur. 
 

This is exactly what happened at the receiving of the Torah. The Jews declared, “naaseh v’nishma” – “we will do, and we will hear.” When the Jews uttered these words, the Angels came down from the Heavens and placed two crowns on the head of every Jew. Even though this was merely an acceptance, a commitment, they were rewarded as if they had already achieved that commitment. Similarly, immediately when a person decides to become a nazir they are called “holy” even though the process of nazir hasn’t been fulfilled yet. 
 

When a person commits to doing one new mitzvah, something that they hadn’t done in the past, Hashem considers this intention as if the deed had already been done, as if he had already fulfilled that mitzvah fully. And this immediately creates an Angel that will be an advocate for him in heaven, as it says in Pirkei Avot (4:11), Rabbi Eliezer the son of Yaakov would say: He who fulfills one mitzvah, acquires for himself one angel-advocate… Repentance and good deeds are as a shield against retribution. 
 

HaRav Yaakov Aryeh from Radzimin, zt”l, taught that it is helpful to understand this concept through an analogy of a candle: just as one candle can dispel the whole darkness in your path, one mitzvah becomes like a spiritual candle dispelling and eradicating any spiritual accusers or klipot someone might be facing during times of darkness and trouble.   
 

Become a Tzaddik

The moment someone accepts upon themselves a new commitment, they are like a newborn child. As Rebbeinu Yona taught in Shaarei Teshuva (Shar 2), “In this moment a person goes from complete darkness and into the light, and they become another person.” 
 

Therefore, even if it has been decreed on a person, God forbid, that they should leave this world or lose their entire livelihood, or any other physical suffering, he can be saved by committing to change just one thing about themselves, to make one spiritual resolution. This commitment makes them completely different people and they are like a tzaddik in that one area. That previous decree is null and void since it cannot be applied to this new version of himself (Sefer Ikirim 4:18). 
 

I have personally witnessed this. Jews from all backgrounds and in all stages of life would meet with me seeking a bracha or advice about a challenge they were facing. And they would verbally make a commitment to change one thing, just one thing, and they merited miraculous salvations.   
 

The Growing Light

Perhaps this is why we begin Yom Kippur night prayers by saying, “Light has been sown for the righteous.” To remind ourselves to enter this Day of Judgment with one new commitment, a new spiritual resolution. This plants in our souls the light of that one new mitzvah, and we become like a “tzaddik” through that one thing. 
 

Subsequently, our prayers can be answered on Yom Kippur and that light which was planted on Erev Yom Kippur can grow and provide us with a flow of blessings spiritually and physically in the year ahead. Amen. 

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The Kalever Rebbe is the seventh Rebbe of the Kaalov Chasidic dynasty, begun by his ancestor who was born to his previously childless parents after receiving a blessing from the Baal Shem Tov zy”a, and later learned under the Maggid of Mezeritch zt”l. The Rebbe has been involved in outreach for more than 30 years and writes weekly emails on understanding current issues through the Torah. Sign up at www.kaalov.org.