By Rabbi Abraham Unger, Ph.D.
Executive Director
This Week’s Torah Portion
Leading the Charge
Rosh HaShanah commemorates the creation of Adam HaRishon, the first human being. Just as Adam was formed, so too we are able to recreate ourselves every year. Our possibilities as individuals are endless. But with that great potential inherent in each of us comes a deep responsibility. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik reminds us that it is our task as human beings to engage with the world and improve it. In the words of Rabbi Walter S. Wurzburger, one of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s earliest students, we are charged with the obligation to “enhance human welfare.” If we all take teshuva (spiritual return) seriously, then society naturally improves, because each of us has individually worked hard to become a better person.
If all this is already obvious from the nature of this Yom HaDin (Day of Judgment) and the theme of teshuva, what then is the purpose of the Shofar blasts? Why do we need them? Rambam famously explains that the Shofar’s screeching sound is intended to wake us up and inspire us to rejuvenate our souls. Rabbi Moshe M. Eisemann of Yeshivat Ner Yisrael amplifies this theme. In commenting on the Torah’s use of “chatzotzrot“, which were trumpets also associated with Rosh HaShanah, Rabbi Eisemann explains that these trumpets’ calls signify “a memory to come before HaShem, and it is in the zechut (merit) of this memory that we will be saved” on this Yom HaDin. We recall the depth of our relationship with the Ribbono Shel Olam, the Master of the Universe, and are called to spiritual action.
Permit me one additional insight into this idea of awakening memory on Rosh HaShanah. The memories that form us also come from those who came before us. I recall my grandmother trembling during this season, summoning all of the strength in her just-under 5-foot frame to gird herself for the year ahead. She was a Brooklyn native who never stopped building for the Jewish future. Her family founded one of America’s first yeshivot that offered the highest levels of both Judaic and general studies. My memories of Shabbatot and Chagim with her and other family members from previous generations not only drive me forward, but also make me responsible for tomorrow. As much as we are blessed by Zechut Avot, the merit of our ancestors, we have a duty to carry it forward and lead the charge. Rosh HaShanah is a gift, but one we must also earn.
Weekly Parenting Message from the Parsha
Teaching Accountability
We live in a society skeptical of judgment. All are free to live as they choose and answer to no one. This principle has led to a contemporary parenting style called “permissive parenting,” characterized by giving children total autonomy. Psychologists explain that permissive parents offer their children warmth but few boundaries. They are more like friends than mothers and fathers. Recent research reveals that permissive parenting results in children with little self-discipline who make poor choices. The research shows that children raised this way lack confidence.
Judaism offers another way. Given the strength and resilience of the Jewish family in the face of historic persecution throughout history, there is something to be said for the traditional Jewish approach to parenting. Its most effective example is presented at the start of the year with the paradigm of Rosh HaShanah.
Rosh HaShanah is a holiday of judgment. How can we celebrate this fraught time in which we are judged for the future based on the actions we committed in the past? This seems more solemn than festive. Ramban comments that the phrase in the Torah “zichron teruah,” remembrance of the Shofar blast, indicates judgment. We are commanded to celebrate on this pensive day because we rejoice in being deemed worthy enough to be commanded by the Torah. Wherever we may be in our relationship to the Mitzvot, they are ours. HaShem believes in us and each year offers us a performance review.
Just as we adults are accountable to each other and to G-d – because HaShem values us and has faith in each of our potentials – we need to instill in our sons and daughters the drive to always do the right thing, because all of us are answerable. This is not meant as a cold, disciplinary process. It is a deeply caring way to raise children. Just as the Torah reinforces our passion to improve ourselves embodied in the concept of teshuvah, reflection, we must constantly let our children know that the standards we ask of them reflect our belief that they can reach those standards. If we maintain our values, our children will too. Research published as recently as 2025 found that “children often feel more secure, confident, and connected to adults when they’re provided more guidance and boundaries.”
Rosh HaShanah provides a joyful model for encouraging responsibility because each of us is uniquely human. Teaching accountability allows our children to grow into their best selves.