ROSH HASHANAH AND BNEI NOACH

בס"ד

What is the meaning of this Holiday? Does it relate to non Jews? What can one do in these days? A brief explanation of these questions to prepare us for this special time of the Jewish Calendar.

Does Rosh HaShanah Apply to Non-Jews?

Based on a spoken teaching about the meaning of Rosh HaShanah and its relevance to Bnei Noach (non-Jews).

As the Jewish holiday of Rosh HaShanah approaches, it’s a good moment to reflect on a question many people ask: what is this holiday really about, and does it apply to non-Jews too? Here’s an overview of the teaching, organized by theme.

The “Head of the Year” and the Day of Judgment

Rosh HaShanah translates to “the head of the year” — not “the beginning of the year.” The distinction matters. Just as the head of a human being contains the vitality of the entire body and manages it, this particular day of the year is said to contain the G-dly vitality for the whole year ahead. In other words, how a person conducts themselves on Rosh HaShanah sets the tone for how the rest of the year will unfold.

The sages describe this day as a day of judgment. Every human being — Jew and non-Jew alike — is said to pass before G-d one by one, like sheep, as G-d considers what each person needs, what they don’t need, and above all how they behaved in the previous year. From that review come the good resolutions for the year ahead, and ultimately a judgment: how much a person will earn, what health they will have, what will happen with their children or their education, and so on.

Accepting G-d as King Before the Commandments

The way this tradition is lived out is through a declaration: accepting G-d as king. There are 613 commandments for Jews and seven (with their ramifications) for non-Jews — but before any discussion of commandments, one must first accept that G-d is king. Only once the king is accepted does it make sense to talk about which of his commandments a person keeps.

This is why Rosh HaShanah is described as the main day of the year devoted to kingship. The core question of the holiday is: how do we truly accept G-d as our king?

The Birthday of Mankind and the Purpose of Creation

The Rosh HaShanah prayers include the phrase, in Hebrew, “this is the day of the beginning of Your work” — a remembrance of the first day. Yet Rosh HaShanah is actually the birthday of man, not the first day of creation itself; the world was created a few days earlier, on the 25th of Elul.

Why, then, is Rosh HaShanah called “the beginning of Your work”? Because G-d created the world in order for it to be settled and completed by human beings. Humanity fulfills that purpose by observing G-d’s will and commandments, bringing G-dliness down into the world until it reaches a state of complete refinement — at which point G-d’s presence will be revealed here just as it was with the first man in the Garden of Eden, and even more powerfully so.

When G-d first created man, there was no one yet in existence to call forth that creation — no one asking for a world, or for a human being to do the proper things. That is why the sixth day of creation, the day man was created, is called “the beginning of Your work”: only once man is on earth can that work actually move toward completion, through man behaving as G-d wills.

Asking for Mercy: Remembering the First Day

Alongside this, the prayers also frame Rosh HaShanah as “a remembrance of the first day” — the day G-d created the world when there was no one yet to prompt Him to do so; He created it purely out of kindness.

By contrast, each person today is fully aware of their own deeds — what they have and haven’t done. And so the prayer becomes a plea: don’t judge us only by our deeds; rather, remember the first day. That is, remember that You created the world even when there was no one to serve You, out of sheer kindness — and so, even now that we exist and are meant to fulfill Your will, please don’t judge us too harshly.

Practical Guidance for Bnei Noach (Non-Jews)

For those wondering how to actually observe the day, a few practical suggestions are offered:

• If you are Jewish, speak with a rabbi, who can guide you through the specific commandments for the day — hearing the shofar, the prayers, and so on.
• If you are not Jewish, consider the following:
  1. Use the time to connect to G-dliness — for example, by learning Torah.
  2. Recite Psalms (Tehillim). King David endured immense hardship throughout his life — even facing threats from his own children — and poured his heart out in the Psalms. Reciting them is a way of pouring out our own hearts to G-d, and it stirs a strong feeling of connection to G-dliness.
  3. Listening to the shofar is permitted. A non-Jew may listen to the shofar being blown, though it is not proper to recite the blessing over it.
  4. Take time for personal reflection. Rosh HaShanah is an ideal moment to consider one’s connection to G-dliness — how one accepts G-d as king, and G-d’s commandments as the commandments of that king. It’s a time to look back at the previous year and to take on good resolutions for the year ahead, in learning and in fulfilling G-d’s commandments.

Closing Blessing

May it be G-d’s will that each of us be inscribed and sealed for good, for a good and sweet new year.

Good Shabbos.

שיחה מאת הרב טוביה סרבר


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