Sovereignty

11 Iyar 5782

“In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a day of rest, a memorial of blowing of horns, a calling of holiness” (Vayikra 23:24)

“On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, all things revert to their primordial state. The Inner Will ascends and is retracted into the Divine essence; the worlds are in a state of sleep, and are sustained only by the Outer Will. The service of man on Rosh Hashanah is to rebuild the Divine attribute of sovereignty and reawaken the Divine desire ‘I shall reign,’ with the sounding of the shofar.” (Pri Etz Chaim)

G‑d retracts from the world on Rosh Hashanah, so to speak, waiting for Yiden to reawaken His desire to reign, bringing Him back into the world through the sounding of the shofar. How exactly the shofar is connected to the attribute of malchus, sovereignty, in such a way that it can rebuild it in the world once He has withdrawn, defies our understanding.

“Contemplating the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof, the thinking person [will come to the realization] that as His Name indicates, so is He—there is no end or limit or finitude at all to the light and vitality that diffuse from His simple will and which is united with His essence and being in perfect unity.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, beginning of Chapter 48)

Lessons in Tanya explains, His will is simple in so far as it “has no cause nor is it subject to the limitations inherent in mortal will.” The will of created beings, on the other hand, has limitations, strengths and weaknesses, “though it chooses freely, it is by its very nature limited and restrictive. G‑d’s will, by contrast, while maintaining the positive attributes of mortal will, is encumbered by none of its limitations; His will (to illumine, for example) is unbounded, just as He Himself is without limitation.” This is all the more so astounding as His unlimited and unencumbered will is “united with His essence … in perfect unity.”

When a person contemplates this, he will awaken in himself great feelings of recognition towards the sovereignty of Hashem over the world. This in turn will make Hashem’s sovereignty more anchored in the world and clearly apparent for all to see, like the shofar blasts of Rosh Hashanah as explained in the Pri Etz Chaim above.

“O G‑d, You are my Almighty, I seek You! My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for You; [like one] in a desolate and dry land, without water, so [I thirst] to see You in the Sanctuary, to behold Your might and glory.” (Tehillim 63:2-3)

The Niggun “Tzomo Lecho Nafshi,” based on this verse in Tehillim, conveys our longing to feel Hashem’s sovereignty in the world. Though we are limited in our ability to take it in, “like one in a desolate and dry land,” we nonetheless yearn and thirst to see Him in the sanctuary, to behold His might and glory.