Is forgiveness on Rosh Hashanah earned, or does it come automatically?
By Rabbi Shalom Landau.
Rabbi Landau teaches that Rosh Hashanah is “not a trial,” and this is where people get it wrong. It is an inauguration.
When a president takes office, he says, even his worst enemies, the ones who fought him, mocked him, and hated him, show up at the inauguration, because like it or not, he is the leader now. And on inauguration day a real leader doesn’t bring up the past or point fingers: “You betrayed me, you didn’t vote for me, you opposed me.” He rises above it. The moment is too big to get stuck in old fights.
On Rosh Hashanah, the King of kings is being crowned, and all Hashem asks of you is one thing: show up. “Don’t run, don’t hide. Stand in his presence and declare, you are the king. That’s what we blow shofar for.” Forget the begging and the endless sorry; on inauguration day what matters is loyalty.
“Our forgiveness isn’t earned,” he teaches. “It’s automatic, because you crown the king, the past disappears.”
Related concepts: A year that is for something · Believing you are forgiven
In A Soul at Peace: The Sound of a Coronation
Going deeper: Rabbi Landau's teaching, level by level
Surface claim
Rabbi Landau teaches that Rosh Hashanah is a coronation, not a trial.
Fear, vulnerability, or tension
People who know what they did all year want to run and hide, or come only to beg and plead.
Underlying need or longing
All Hashem asks is that you show up, stand in His presence, and declare Him King.
Deepest human truth
When the King is crowned, the past disappears. Forgiveness on this day comes with the crown, not from bargaining.
More questions from this teaching
More answers: The Cycle of Renewal: Elul, Holidays, and Light · All questions · Questions about Rabbi Landau and Rivnitz