The true hero of Rosh HaShanah
Heroes and villains abound in the festival stories.
Pesach pits Pharaoh and Moses against each other. On Purim it is Haman and Mordechai. On Chanukah it is Antiochus and Judah Maccabee.
What about Rosh HaShanah?
Since the festival is not based on narratives there is no particular reason why there should be a hero or a villain or indeed a cast of characters at all.
But if we look at the Torah readings we find that there are people and personages who are portrayed so vividly that we can hardly imagine Rosh HaShanah without them.
Could there be a Rosh HaShanah without Abraham, Isaac and Sarah? Without Rachel and Hannah?
However, my choice for a Rosh HaShanah hero or villain would not be any of these much loved Biblical characters.
Pardon the apparent egotism, but in my mind the hero is myself – and so is the villain.
Not me specifically, but each and any of us.
If we waste the opportunities God gives us every year to enhance His world, that turns us into virtual villains. If we seize the moment and make ourselves nicer people and our world a more stable, peaceful, beautiful place, we have become heroes.
We don’t have to wait for history to decide which category is ours. By next Rosh HaShanah all will become clear!
