ROSH HASHONAH מסירת נפש - למעלה מן הטבע

We read in the Sefer Torah on the first day of Rosh Hashonah the Parshah which commences וה' פקד את שרה that Soroh was blessed with a child.

On the second day of Rosh Hashonah we read the Parshas עקידה, the famous story of the binding of Yitzchok on the altar and at the last minute the angel coming and telling Avrohom not to kill him. In his place a ram was sacrificed. Because of this in the tefillos of Rosh Hashonah, we request זכור ברית אברהם ועקידת יצחק. Furthermore, we blow the shofar which is, itself, a remembrance of the horn of the ram of Yitzchok.


Accordingly, it seems strange that we should read the Parshah of the עקידה on the second day whereas the story of the birth of a son to Soroh takes first place and is read on the first day.

It is true that the Gemorra tells us that on Rosh Hashonah, Soroh conceived, but nevertheless, we mention time and again the עקידה as a zechus and we blow the shofar for the first time, on the first day.

One might also conjecture that as the Parshah of ה' פקד את שרה comes in Torah before the Parshah of the עקידה it takes precedence, but we find that when our Rabbis wished to, they changed the order. This, for example, took place in the Hatftoras of the weeks prior to Rosh Hashonah, the שבעה דנחמתא which are all from the Prophet Yeshayah. They are not in the order of the chapters of the Prophet.

I think that one can explain the reason for the reading in the Sefer Torah of the ה' פקד את שרה on the first day as follows.

We find that the Gemora in סנהדרין ל''ח states that when Odom Harishon was created there were twelve hours of the daytime and the Gemora states what happened in every one of these twelve hours. In short, in the first hour the dust was gathered together, the second hour a body was formed, in the third hour the limbs were put into shape and in the fourth hour the neshomo was put into the body. In the fifth hour Odom Harishon stood on his feet, the sixth hour he named all the animals, in the seventh hour he was presented with Chava as a wife. In the eighth hour he had children etc. From this we can see that the timescale was not according to the laws of nature as we know it. It was one nes after the other למעלה מן הטבע, including being presented with a wife in the seventh hour and having children an hour later.

In the same way Soroh, together with her husband Avrohom had a child, Yitzchok, born supernaturally. As the Torah itself states they were both elderly and long past the age of childbirth. Nevertheless, בדרך נס they were blessed with a son Yitzchok.

We are told that each year when the anniversary of a day or an event comes round, the spiritual uplift and effect is repeated but has to be grasped and utilised.

I believe that the implication is clear. The first day of Rosh Hashonah is a day where miracles can take place, things which are למעלה מן הטבע, as things took place in the past, on that very day. Therefore, we read וה' פקד את שרה

It is, of course, true that Avrohom taking his son Yitzchok and preparing to sacrifice him on a altar shows extreme מסירת נפש, but it is not supernatural.

Accordingly, we can gather from this, that on the first day of Rosh Hashonah, we can pray to be helped למעלה מן הטבע, supernaturally, to all have a blessed year בגשמיות וברוחניות.

כ''ה אלול