Day of Judgment

Tomorrow is Rosh Hashannah, the New Year for Jews all around the world. Rosh Hashannah is not only the Jewish New Year: it is also more accurately known as the Day of Judgment, or Yom HaDin.

Are you ready for judgment?

Is anyone ready?

The frenzy of the world has reached a deafening speed. The clamor for wealth and fame overwhelms the senses. The television blares, devices talk, and distant political figures dictate how we think and feel. Each group points fingers, the battle lines are being drawn, and individuals go to verbal war on social media. Hatred is spouted and profanities are spewed as friends and family members turn against one another in rapid succession.

This is a bleak picture, and perhaps it is exacerbated by the fact that it is all at the tips of our fingers. And yet there is surely something amiss in the atmosphere, a fundamental evil. It’s an ancient evil, but one that seems to grow stronger by the day.

It is an evil that grows within ourselves. Our minds absorb hundreds if not thousands of different voices a day, processing some, throwing out others. These voices have gradually fused into one resounding voice, which tells us how to live the ephemeral life of the flesh with all its worldly desires. No one is completely immune to this voice and all its temptations.

And yet there is another voice – perhaps a quieter voice, but a more powerful one. It can be heard in a whisper, or seen on a sign held by a man on the street. It is a profound deep which calls to its companions in the depths.

“Deep calls to deep…” (Psalm 42:8).

The voice of the world calls to us loudly, but the voice of the deep calls to us softly.

Which voice, at the end of the day, do we truly listen to?

Who is our God?

Do we worship false gods – our bank accounts, others’ opinions, our politics, our bodies?

Or do we turn and face the Creator of the heavens and earth, our Father, our King?

As the Day of Judgment falls upon us and the Shofar sounds its deafening call, ask yourself: whom do I worship?

As the King walks about his fields and observes each and every person, ask yourself: whom do I love?

As we enter our day of reckoning, can we grasp that God is “the faithful God, Who keeps the covenant and loving kindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments?” (Deuteronomy 7:9)

Do we truly understand just how much God really loves us, if we allow Him to?

With everlasting love have I loved you; therefore have I drawn you to Me with loving-kindness.

Jeremiah 31:2