“A land which the eyes of G-d are upon from the beginning of the year until the end of the year.” (Deut. 11:12)

The verse should have just said from “this year on and forever”! If the minute the year ends G-d’s eyes are once more upon the land because the year is beginning again, then G-d’s eyes never leave the land.

One thought is that, yes, G-d continues to watch the land the next year, but in a way that changes every year. Each year we are granted a new level of the relationship between G-d and the land of Israel. Think of an anniversary. You have been married since your wedding night, and with a continuous connection. Yet each year on your anniversary, you connect in a deeper way than before. The relationship at once is continuous and also completely new.

Rosh Hashanah is the same. It is a chance to both recognize our ongoing relationship with G-d and yet at the same time to renew it and explore it more deeply.

Chassidus tells us that this chance happens when we hear the shofar and coronate G-d as our king once again.

As we listen to the Shofar we rededicate ourselves to our wonderful relationship with G-d, resolve to do more and do better, and G-d will surely reciprocate with blessings for us and the land of Israel, as the verse mentions. 

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Rosh Hashanah 2024

May you and yours be blessed with a Happy and Healthy New Year! Shana Tova!*