The Days Where Anything Can Happen

There is a famous story about a young Jew who caught a cold. He explained to his Rabbi how he caught the cold in the middle of winter. The Rabbi replied by telling him that he caught the cold on Rosh Hashanah; it only appeared in the winter.  

Rosh Hashanah  is the Day of Judgment for everything that happens throughout the year. The Baal Shem Tov is asked, “If Hashem decides on Rosh Hashanah for everything that will happen this year, how are we judged for our actions day to day?” 

He takes him to meet the water carrier, who climbs a hill to draw water from the well and deliver it to the townspeople. He asks how he is, “Baruch Hashem. I am an old man, yet I am still strong enough to earn a good living doing this work.” 

A few days later, the Baal Shem Tov takes his student to the same man and asks about his welfare, “It’s rough. I am an old man, and I still have to carry water. My muscles ache, and I still have to climb the hill every day.” 

He answered that everything this man would experience was already written. No matter what we do for the year, everything is written. What varies is our level of Emunah and how we react to all of it.  

This Year’s Decree is being Drafted 

All of what we are set to receive, primed to do, and destined to experience has been decreed by Hashem on these precious days.  

It’s like a bare field.  

The soil has been set. The earth has been tilled. The seeds have all been placed in the ground. Everything has unlimited potential. Each wheat stalk can yield 80 seeds – a miracle. We don’t know. Everything is possible.  

Come springtime, we will know.  

But Hashem set that limit on Rosh Hashanah and sealed it on Yom Kippur. Today, right before our Day of Judgment, we can daven for a great national, personal, and spiritual wheat harvest. We can daven for health for our family. We can daven for a year of strength and safety to all our brothers and sisters in Klal Yisrael.  

Right now – everything is possible. Anything can happen. Hashem is in the field and He is listening to us. He hasn’t said yes, but He also hasn’t said no.  

These are the ten days of the year where the book is still open.  

Make the most of them! 

More than Ever 

Now that our brothers and sisters are going to war with a fierce enemy firing missiles into people’s homes everywhere, please pray for Hashem to have mercy on all of His children. Please pray with all your heart. Make an extra effort this year – we all need it!  

Make an even greater effort to beseech our Merciful Father to have compassion on His children in the coming year. Recite more Psalms. Improve your middot. Take these two days and learn your heart out.  

Shana Tova. May we all be written in the Book of Life and greet Mashiach Ben David in triumph, Divine service, and everlasting joy in a rebuilt Jerusalem.  

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, 300 Marketing Solutions, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO-optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.