A Psalm of David. The earth is the Lord’s, and all that fills it; the world, and those who dwell in it.
For he has founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the rivers.
Who shall ascend into the mountain of the haShem? Who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands, and a pure heart; who has not taken my name in vain, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O Jacob. Selah.
Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates! Lift them up, O everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah
Questions:
1] The first time we say והנשאו פתחי עולם - be lifted up O everlasting doors. The second time we say ושאו פתחי עולם - lift them up O everlasting doors. The first time the doors have to be lifted up, the second time they lift themselves up. Why?
2] The King of Glory is described first as the strong and mighty and then later as just ה' צבאות. Why the change and also why repetition of the "King of Glory".
Rosh Hashana is the day we remember the creation of the world [even though it was actually the day of the creation of Adam] as we say היום הרת עולם.
One pasuk says יום תרועה and another says זכרון תרועה. Chazal explain that on the weekday it is a יום תרועה because we actually blow the Shofar while on Shabbos it is a זכרון תרועה because we don't blow the Shofar but just remember. זכרון תרועה is actually mentioned first in the Torah so it seems the more primary avoda.
The pasuk says אשרי העם יודעי תרועה and Chazal explain that we KNOW how to appease haShem and cause him to change from the throne of strict judgement to the throne of mercy through the blowing of the Shofar.
Chazal say [Sanhedrin 38b] that Adam Harishon spoke in Aramaic and lamented the death of Rebbe Akiva in that language and marshals a pasuk to prove this point. One may ask - Who cares that he spoke Aramaic and was sad about Rebbe Akiva in that language?
Hold on tight:-).
The gemara in Shabbos [12] says that angels don't understand Aramaic. We also have to know that angels only relate to the world of reward and punishment. When Adam lamented the death of Rebbe Akiva in Aramiac he was expressing the idea that his death is beyond the realm of שכר ועונש and therefore the angels will never be able to understand. Rebbe Akiva reached such a high level of אהבת השם that he transcended the framework of שכר ועונש rendering the question of the angels זו תורה וזו שכרה [Brachos 61a] upon seeing his suffering meaningless. Rebbe Akiva was beyond שכר ועונש.
The gemara in Brachos [61a] says: When R. Akiva was taken out for execution, it was the hour for the recital of the Shema’, and while they combed his flesh with iron combs, he was accepting upon himself the kingship of heaven.
His disciples said to him: Our teacher, even to this point? He said to them: All my days I have been
troubled by this verse, ‘with all your soul’, [which I interpret,] ‘even if He takes your soul’. I said: When shall I have the opportunity of fulfilling this? Now that I have the opportunity shall I not fulfill it? He prolonged the word ehcad until he expired while saying it. A bas kol went forth and proclaimed: Happy are you, Akiva, that thy soul has departed with the word echad!
Maran HaRav Hutner in his Igros Pachad Yitzchak [letter 45] offers a beautiful explanation. Rebbe Akiva went beyond בכל נפשך - loving haShem with all your soul, because that implies that you have a soul and you give it over to haShem. He reached the level of "Echad" which implies that there is no other reality besides haShem. Echad - He is the one and only true existence. The bas kol proclaimed that he had reached this lofty stature and therefore his soul departed with the word Echad.
This strengthens our thesis that Rebbe Akiva was beyond any חשבונות of שכר ועונש and was in the realm of Echad - a much higher and truer reality where there is only One.
This same Rebbe Akiva expounded the pasuk את השם אלקיך תירא - One must fear haShem, to include Talmidei Chachomim as well. He was referring to the type of Talmid Chochom who perceives the reality of אין עוד מלבדו - haShem is the only reality. A person who lives his life on such a lofty plane also deserves to be feared on the level of haShem. Rebbe Akiva was such an individual and was thus able to make the drasha את השם אלקיך תירא לרבות תלמידי חכמים.
יום תרועה requires us to blow the Shofar and change the middas hadin to middas harachamim. That is a lower level confining us to the framework of this world. On Shabbos we are elevated above this and don't have to blow at all - זכרון תרועה . Rosh Hashana that falls out on Shabbos is a day when all the כחות of מעשה בראשית are moving in the direction of the original chesed for which the world was created עולם חסד יבנה.
Back to our perek of tehillim: שאו שערים ראשיכם והנשאו פתחי עולם - First the doors need help from the outside to be opened up which is within the framework of this world where there is שכר ועונש. Therefore we describe the King of Glory as being strong and mighty in battle as haShem would be described when acting within this world.
Next we say שאו שערים ראשיכם ושאו פתחי עולם - Here the gates lift themselves open because we have transcended this world and have reached a miraculous world beyond mere שכר ועונש and have restored the original plan of עולם חסד יבנה. That is why haShem is described now as השם צבאות הוא מלך הכבוד סלה - Not as One who performs within this world but as haShem in His pure form, the Lord of Hosts and the King of Glory. Not what He does but rather who He is, which is a much higher level of relating.
We say this perek on Rosh Hashana, the day of ותרועת מלך בו, when haShem is revealed both on the level of יום תרועה [within this world] and זכרון תרועה [beyond this world].
פלאי פלאי פלאות
[מבוסס על ההקדמה לספר זכרון תרועה ממו"ר הרה"ג ר' יעקב דוד המניק שליט"א]
