A special message for Rosh Hashanah: there is no special message

I was asked the other day if Pirkei Avot, the mishnaic tractate that touches more than any other on the daily lives of human beings, has any special message for Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year and the momentous time for reflection, self-assessment, repentance and renewal that opens the autumn festive season.

Having given the request due consideration, I decided that the special message from Avot was that there is no special message.  Considerations such as how a person behaves towards his fellow humans, his community, his God and even himself do not depend on the calendar. No one date is more significant than any other. 

The most important day in the life of a Jew, we learn from Avot, is the day he happens to be living.  We learn that a person should not put off till tomorrow that which can be learned today (2:5); the same applies to repentance, since death may come tomorrow (2:15).  Today is the day you can’t stop work, as well as the day you will neither finish it or be paid (2:21).

While Jewish laws and customs vary with the seasons, the advice of Avot does not.  For example most editions of the Rosh Hashanah machzor (prayer book) print the text of special New Year greetings, but for Avot the important things about greeting others never change. Greet each person with a happy face (1:15) and good cheer (3:16). Be the first to greet others (4:20) and always return a greeting, even to a stranger (6:9).

On Rosh Hashanah we remind ourselves that God is the King; He is to judge us on the basis of our performance over the past year and our prospects for the next year. Before Him all things are recorded (2:1). Avot recommends that we remember this constantly if we want to keep out of trouble (3:1) since judgment is only a handful of inevitable events in the cycle of mortal life and death, an event from which there is nowhere to hide (4:29).

To conclude, while Rosh Hashanah and the New Year festivities herald an opportunity to improve and reinvent ourselves, the message of Avot is this: if you are a Pirkei Avot person, you are probably heading in the right direction so, if you can, just carry on like you would any other day with Avot as your moral compass. But do remember to check this compass for the coming year, to make sure it's in good working order.