Day of Judgment

Rosh Hashana, the first day of the seventh month, is known as “Yom HaDin” – “The Day of Judgment”. We have received that on this day God sits on the throne of judgment and judges all the inhabitants of the earth.

One would expect that the prayers of this day would emphasize a plea for mercy in this judgment. After all, so much depends on this judgment and what else can we rely on but upon God’s mercy? Yet, surprisingly, not only do the prayers of Rosh Hashana not emphasize a request for mercy, the concept of a plea for mercy is almost completely absent from the prayers that we pray on this day. Instead the emphasis is on our desire to see the kingdom of God established here on earth. Throughout the machzor (the traditional
prayer book) we find the entreaty for God to establish His…