Rosh Hashanah 16a, 27a.

The proof of God’s existence lies in His invisibility. For it is superhuman to have done so much good, for so many people, for so long and forever remain anonymous. So anonymous that we have the option, if we so choose, to deny His very existence.

Every day of our lives, and on Rosh Hashanah in particular, God looks to us to make Him visible in this world and to crown Him as a king. On Rosh Hashanah God asks us to recite for Him verses of kingship and to crown Him as a king.

But if God reigned as king before the world was created, why does He need His creatures to make him king?

This question is similar to another often asked. According to tradition, Rosh Hashanah celebrates the beginning of creation; zeh hayom techilat ma’asechah, zikaron l’yom rishon, Rosh Hashanah is the anniversary of the beginning of God’s creation, a remembrance of the first day.

If that is the case, Rosh Hashanah should be celebrated on the 25th day of Elul, which was the first day of creation, and not on the first of Tishrei, which was the sixth day of creation and the day that Adam was created?

Clearly, God is unhappy with Divine dictatorship. He craves voluntary acceptance. Voluntary acceptance is worthless, however, unless it comes from those who have the power to reject God. It is only human beings who have been given that freedom of choice.

And so Rosh Hashanah is set on the day of our birthday, the day that celebrates the creation of Adam, who though given the freedom of choice, chose to acknowledge God and publicize His reign over the world.

But what can we possibly do to coronate God? It is not as if we can pray or study Torah all day. We must eat, sleep, work and care for our dependents. How much time is left over after all that?

Enter the shofar, the same shofar that proclaimed the answer to this question at revelation. The shofar proclaimed a Torah that is written for humans, not for angels. The Torah recognizes that we must eat, sleep and work. But we must eat kosher, recite the Shema before going to sleep and be honest and charitable in business and, of course, we must pray and study the Torah as much as we can. The Torah, like the Shabbat, accepts us for who we are, condones what we must do to exist, but lifts us and our mundane activities into another sphere where we sanctify the profane and glorify His Name.

On Rosh Hashanah, we, as God’s scouts on Earth, coronate Him by providing Him living proof that God’s risky experiment of fusing body and soul is successful. God created us as a composite of the lowest form of existence, from the dust of the earth and the loftiest form of existence, the breath of God. He injected our untainted souls into our stain-prone bodies and He waits a lifetime to see in what condition we shall return our souls to our Maker.

The Baal Shem Tov tells a story of a king who lived with his beloved child but whom he decided to send out into the world to gain experience and benefit from the wisdom of others. So he gave his child a generous allowance and then sent him on his way soon to return, hopefully, wiser and better. But the child soon spent the allowance on luxuries and temptations and became stranded in a foreign land with no money to return home. In time, the child forgot the king’s language and way of life, yet desperately wanted to return home. He set out by foot on the long road of return until he arrived at the palace gates. But the king’s guards did not recognize the child and could not understand the language he spoke. In the agony of rejection, the child let out an unintelligible piercing cry. And in the palace, the King felt a bolt race through his heart as he recognized the voice of his returning child.

Raphael Grunfeld, a partner at the Wall Street law firm of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP, received semichah in Yoreh Yoreh from Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem of America and in Yadin Yadin from Harav Haga’on Dovid Feinstein, zt”l. This article is an extract from Raphael’s book “Ner Eyal: A Guide to Seder Nashim, Nezikin, Kodashim, Taharot and Zerai’m” available for purchase at www.amazon.com/dp/057816731X  or by emailing Raphael at [email protected].