Royal Messages: Our Father, Our King

Although we focus on Malchuyot – declaring God’s sovereignty over His creation, we should remember that we always speak of God as our Father, before we speak of Him as our King.

A father and son share the same root (soul). A father will immediately sense when his son rejoices in increasing his wisdom even if the son hides his newfound wisdom. The souls of the two can be compared to a magnet, so that when one ‘moves’ so does the other, even if they are at opposites ends of the earth. As the verse says: “My son, when your heart becomes wise, then my heart, too, will rejoice.” (Commentary of the Vilna Gaon to Proverbs 23:15)

Our souls are ‘Chelek Oloka Mima’al’ – a piece of God, so to speak. We are connected to each other, even more than a father and son. Each movement we make on Rosh Hashana affects Avinu – our Parent in Heaven.