Why does Rosh Hashanah come before Yom Kippur? Surely it should be the other way around! First we should cleanse ourselves, purge our sins, and then celebrate the new year. The emotional logic seems compelling — repentance is what enables us to begin anew.Yet there is a deep logic to the order of the yamim noraim — the days of awe. For repentance begins in gratitude. First we must value what is, and estimate the true worth of the gifts we have been given. Rosh Hashanah comes to encourage us to appreciate the world — hayom harat olam — on this day all of creation was called into being. Once we are grateful for what is, we can honestly evaluate whether we have helped creation attain perfection, or hindered it through our misdeeds. The high holidays are not only about our sins — they are about our blessings. We have been given a marvelous world which we celebrate that on Rosh Hashanah. On Yom Kippur we think about how in the year to come, we can enhance the sanctity of the many gifts we have been given.
David Wolpe is the Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, and the author most recently of “Floating Takes Faith: Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World.”
