Rosh Hashanah: The time to look inward and reveal what is unseen

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz explores the spiritual meaning of Rosh Hashanah, focusing on the tradition of not blessing the month of Tishrei. He explains that the concealment of the new moon symbolizes the holiday's call for introspection, urging individuals to look inward and reveal their true selves before God on the Day of Judgment.

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites, writes a reflective piece on the spiritual significance of Rosh Hashanah. He focuses on the unique tradition of not blessing the month of Tishrei, the month in which Rosh Hashanah falls. The article explains that this concealment is intentional, meant to confuse Satan and to symbolize the holiday's call for deep introspection. The author argues that Rosh Hashanah is a day of concealment that paradoxically enables revelation. It is a time when individuals are called upon to remove the coverings of outward appearances and look inward at their true selves. The article connects this to the sounding of the shofar, which produces a wordless sound meant to reach a place beyond intellectual knowledge, into the heart. The piece is a theological meditation on the nature of judgment, self-examination, and spiritual renewal.