Rosh Hashan Divre Torah from Harav Yaaqov Hillel

Four Stages

With the approach of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, Aseret Yeme Teshuvah, the Ten Days of Repentance, Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and finally the Festival of Sukkot, I would like to share with you the following thoughts.
In the first blessing of the daily Amidah, we address Hashem as Melech Ozer u'Moshia u'Magen: King, Helper, Redeemer, and Protector. Hashem is our King, Who helps us, saves us, and protects and shields us.
We can better understand the meaning of these words by relating them to the four stages of the Yamim Noraim: Rosh Hashanah, the Ten Days of Repentance, Yom Kippur, and the Festival of Sukkot.

Melech
The Ramban writes that the first stage in repenting and correcting one's actions must be accepting Hashem as King. The very awareness that there is a king and a judge Who will mete out punishment and reward makes it possible for us to strive for improvement and spiritual growth. If we do not understand that the world is ruled by a King Who will call us to account for our every action and deed, viewing it instead as an anarchy with neither king nor judge, it will be impossible for us to change, grow, and improve.
It follows that the first stage in our repentance must be Melech: we must accept Hashem upon us as our King. And in fact, we find that the prayers on Rosh Hashanah revolve around the concept of crowning Hashem King of the universe. Instead of HaKel HaKadosh (the holy G-d) we say HaMelech HaKadosh (the holy King). Instead of Melech ohev tzedakah umishpat (the King Who loves charity and judgment), we say HaMelech hamishpat (the King of judgment). We add the prayer Avinu Malkenu, our Father, our King. The Musaf prayer on Rosh Hashanah is composed of malchuyot, zichronot, and shofrot. As we see, all of Rosh Hashanah centers on the theme of Hashem as Melech, which is the first stage in repentance and personal improvement.

Ozer
We next address Hashem as Ozer, the One Who helps us. This term refers to the Ten Days of Repentance. Our Sages explain the verse, "'Seek Hashem when He is available, call out to Him when he is close' (Yeshayahu 55:6). These are the Ten Days of Repentance" (Rosh Hashanah 18a). During these days Hashem is especially close to us, extending His Hands towards us in order to help us repent, as we say in Selihot: "For Your Right Hand is extended to accept those who repent." More than any other time of the year, He now helps all those who take the first step toward repentance, enabling them to properly fulfill the mitzvah of teshuvah.
We find this principle in many teachings of our Sages.* "One who comes to purify is assisted" (Yoma 38b); if we seek to improve, Hashem will grant us His assistance.* "Open for Me an opening the size of the eye of a needle, and I will open for you an opening the size of a banquet hall" (see Midrash Shir HaShirim 5:3); if only we make the initial effort to repent, Hashem will help us generously. * "Man's evil inclination overpowers him every day... and if not for Hashem helping him, he would be unable to overcome him"(Sukkah 52b); every day we live, the evil inclination tries to pull us down and entice us into sin, and it is only due to Hashem's help that we can prevail.
As we see, His assistance is always guaranteed. This is all the more true of the Ten Days of Repentance, when He is closer to us than ever, bestowing greater care and attention upon us to help us perfect and complete our repentance. In the Aseret Yeme Teshuvah, Hashem is our Ozer.

Moshia
Then we say Moshia, Redeemer. This refers to Yom Kippur, when Hashem saves us from the evil accusations of the Satan. On Yom Kippur the Satan arrives at the Heavenly Court carrying huge, inflated files of accusations against our people. He has worked hard all year preparing a powerful case against us, and he is eager to see strict judgment imposed.
On Yom Kippur we say viduy, honestly and openly confessing our sins. We tell Hashem, "And You, Hashem, are righteous in all that comes upon us, for You have acted in truth and we have done evil." We accept His true judgment, knowing that truth abides with Him and that we have sinned. Once we accept the judgment He has decreed for us He relates to us with mercy, tempering His punishment with kindness and love. He tells the Satan to toss out his incriminating files, because there is no need for them. The suit has been settled by plea bargain; the verdict has already been reached, making it unnecessary to even hear the case.
On Yom Kippur Hashem is our Moshia. He saves us from the devastating judgment that could have resulted had the Satan been allowed to plead his case against us, invoking the strictest possible judgment, G-d forbid.

Magen
We conclude with the word Magen, Protector. Hashem, our Heavenly Protector, shields us and guards us from harm. Magen refers to the sukkah, which is called tzila d'mehemenuta, the shade of the Al-mighty (Zohar, Helek Gimel 103a). A sukkah is literally a small hut which protects those within it from the elements and other external forces, as we see in the verses, "And the sukkah will be shade from the heat by day, and protection and shelter from storm and rain" (Yeshayahu 4:6) and "For He will hide me in His sukkah on the day of evil" (Tehillim 27:5). However, as we know, the Torah commanded us to dwell in the sukkah to commemorate the Clouds of Glory which surrounded and protected the Jewish nation in the desert, shielding them from the attack of Egyptian arms (Vayikra 23:42-43, Sukkah 11b). The power of the sukkah is the protection it affords us.

If we have gone through the Days of Repentance properly, accepting Hashem as our Melech on Rosh Hashanah; working to repent during the Aseret Yeme Teshuvah, making the most of the help He gives as our Ozer; and completing our repentance on Yom Kippur, so that Hashem acts as our Moshia, we will be among those who are saved from the Satan's evil accusations. We go on from there to the mitzvah of sukkah, which fortifies and guards us throughout the New Year, protecting us from sin and strengthening us in the service of Hashem, our Magen. Then we will have the power and the clarity to truly serve Him, with no fear of any danger or harm.

Repenting through Torah
I would like to share another thought with you. The silent Shemoneh Esre, known as the Amidah, is divided into three sections. In the first three blessings we praise Hashem, and in the last three blessings we thank Him. The thirteen middle blessings are our personal requests. The first request we make is for hochmah, binah, v'daat, wisdom, intelligence, and understanding. It is first, because it is the most important request we can make. "Wisdom" refers to Torah, and as we know, everything stems from Torah. If we lack the wisdom of Torah, we cannot even keep mitzvot. As our Sages tell us, "A boor cannot fear sin, and an ignoramus cannot be pious" (Avot 2:5). Mitzvot help us become righteous and holy people, but the ignoramus who lacks knowledge of Torah cannot know how to fulfill them properly. The first stage, then, must always be Torah study.

Therefore it should not be surprising that in the second blessing, our next request, which relates to repentance, we say first and foremost, "Bring us back, our Father, to Your Torah," and only then do we say, "Bring us close, our King, to Your service, and bring us back in complete repentance before You."
We have already requested the wisdom of Torah in the first blessing. Now we are speaking about repentance. Why do we once again ask Hashem to help us come back to His Torah?
Because if we do not learn Torah, we cannot even repent.

In essence, Torah is the first stage of repentance. Even though we asked for Torah in the first blessing, we must still fulfill this first stage of repentance - returning to and reinforcing Torah study. Repentance begins with setting aside time to learn. We ask Hashem to bring us back to Torah, and then, through Torah, we can ask further, "and bring us close to Your service." Every mitzvah is a bond connecting us to Hashem. We ask to be able to perform all of His 613 commandments, which will bring us close to Him.

Finally, we ask for teshuvah shelemah: "And bring us back in complete repentance before You." Teshuvah shelemah is not only Torah, and it is not only mitzvot. It is the perfection of character traits, which is the ultimate purpose of every Jew. As the Vilna Gaon said, why are we alive, if not to improve our character traits? That is our life's entire purpose.
We begin our process of repentance by returning to and reinforcing Torah study, which brings us to perfection in the performance of the mitzvot. We must then achieve the final stage of repentance, working on our character traits and perfecting ourselves in this area as well.

This blessing carries a very powerful and very significant message for us during these days of awe and repentance. The most important thing we can do is set aside time to learn Torah, as often as possible. Through Torah we can perfect ourselves as pious, Torah observant Jews. There is no way to achieve this goal without learning Torah. A commitment to Torah study is surely a very positive step forward in our repentance. As we learn from this blessing, it is in fact the first step we should take: hashivenu Avinu l'toratecha: bring us back, our Father, to Your Torah.

Shanah tovah.