Have Mercy and Be Happy with us
We say in the davening on Rosh Hashanah ותשמח במעשיך חמול על מעשיך that Hashem should have compassion and mercy on us and that Hashem should be happy with us. These two statements seem to be a contradiction. We begin saying that we are unworthy when we ask חמול על מעשיך but then we immediately say ותשמח במעשיך to be happy with us, which sounds like we are claiming to be worthy and good people? How could these two statements be understood together?
An explanation could be that we are asking Hashem for a chance. We say חמול על מעשיך that Hashem should have compassion on us and then we say ותשמח במעשיך that if Hashem gives us a chance, then hopefully he will end up being happy with us. So if Hashem is חמול על מעשיך, then it may come to ותשמח במעשיך that Hashem will be happy with us and what we’ve done.
During the עשרת ימי תשובה, we say in Kadish לעילא ולעילא. The meaning of the whole statement לעילא ולעילא וכו' דאמירן בעלמא is thatלעתיד לבא You-Hashem, will be praised above all the שירות ותשבחות that we give בזמן הזה. This is a statement that we are saying about how much greater the ברכות ותשבחות of לעתיד לבא will be compared to בזמן הזה.
But the question is why does it make sense to change the nusach of Kadish during the עשרת ימי תשובה if we aren’t talking about what will be then, rather we should be talking about what is now? And on the contrary, it should be the opposite. The שירות ותשבחות during the עשרת ימי תשובה, when we are on a higher level, are closer, meaning there is less of a gap between that time and לעתיד לבא. As opposed to the rest of the year, there is a much greater gap between that time and לעתיד לבא. Therefore it would make more sense to say לעילא ולעילא during the rest of the year emphasizing how far the שירות ותשבחות are now from what they will be לעתיד לבא and during the עשרת ימי תשובה, perhaps we should just say לעילא because there is a smaller gap between that time and לעתיד לבא.
The answer could be that it’s true that during the עשרת ימי תשובה we are on a higher level, but the higher level we reach, the more we realize how far we are. The more we realize how great the gap is between where we are and where we will be. Therefore, it’s specifically during the עשרת ימי תשובה where we are on a much greater level than the rest of the year that we say לעילא ולעילא because it’s then when we understand how much greater the שירות ותשבחות of לעתיד לבא will be in comparison to now.
The Chosen People
In the Shemona Esreih on Rosh Hashanah we say ובכן four times: ובכן יתקדש, ובכן תן פחדך, ובכן תן כבוד, ובכן צדיקים. Regarding the middle two, we first say ובכן, תן פחדך ה' אלהינו על כל מעשיך ואימתך על כל מה שבראת וייראוך כל המעשים וישתחוו לפניך כל הברואים ויעשו כלם אגדה אחת לעשות רצונך בלבב שלם.
This ובכן is addressing all of humankind, asking that Hashem instill his awe within everyone. However, the next ובכן says ובכן, תן כבוד ה' לעמך, תהלה ליראיך ותקוה טובה לדורשיך, ופתחון פה למיחלים לך. This is addressing Klal Yisrael saying that Hashem should grant honor to his people. What is the connection between these two ובכן?
The Rav said that his father writes in his Sefer אבן יחזקאל, which was published in 1950 (five years after the Holocaust) when the author was twenty years the following. Klal Yisrael is the chosen people from among the other nations. However, the way the Goyim look and act, choosing Klal Yisrael is the obvious choice and it doesn’t say much about Klal Yisrael when we are chosen over the other nations. (This idea was felt by the author five years after the Holocaust, clearly showing his inner feelings regarding what he’d just experience, as if to say that when seeing how the Goyim act, Klal Yisrael is the obvious choice.) Therefore, we daven first ובכן, תן פחדך ה' אלהינו על כל מעשיך ואימתך על כל מה שבראת that all of humankind should have the fear of Hashem instilled within them. And then once everyone is equal, so to speak, then we say ובכן, תן כבוד ה' לעמך that Hashem should choose us and grant honor to his people.
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