Lechem HaPanim and Rosh Hashana – Rosh HaShana
אֵין אֲפִיַּת לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים דּוֹחָה אֶת הַשַּׁבָּת וְלֹא אֶת יוֹם טוֹב אֶלָּא בְּעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת אוֹפִין אוֹתָן וְעוֹרְכִין אוֹתָן לְמָחָר. וְאִם חָלוּ שְׁנֵי יָמִים טוֹבִים שֶׁל רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה לִהְיוֹת בַּחֲמִישִׁי וּבְעֶרֶב שַׁבָּת אוֹפִין אוֹתָן מִיּוֹם רְבִיעִי (רמב"ם, הל' תמידין ומוספין ה, י).
As we all know, Lechem HaPanim was baked every Friday in the Beit HaMikdash and was switched on the Shulchan every Shabbat (the day after it was baked). Except, according to the Rambam above, if Rosh HaShana happens to fall out on a Thursday and Friday (as it does this year), in which case the Lechem HaPanim is baked on erev Rosh HaShana - on Wednesday.
We know the special miracle - that from the time Lechem HaPanim was placed on the Shulchan, it remained fresh for an entire week. Normally, when baked on Fridays, the bread was still fresh the following morning (Shabbat morning) and that state was preserved the entire week, until it was replaced the following Shabbat. In other words, in a normal week, the "freshness lifespan" of the Lechem HaPanim was 9 days (Fri-the following Shabbat).
However, if Rosh HaShana is on a Thursday/Friday and you have to bake it on the Wednesday before Rosh HaShana, this adds an extra two days (11 days in total) that the Lechem HaPanim has to remain fresh.
The miracle of the Lechem HaPanim remaining fresh, was while it was on the Shulchan, but in the case of Rosh HaShana on Thu/Fri, the Lechem HaPanim is not yet placed on the Shulchan until Shabbat, which means that it is 3 days off the Shulchan (Wed/Thu/Fri) which certainly would give it a chance to go stale.
If you think that is difficult to understand, here is another question. On Yomtov, you are allowed to cook and bake חֻלִּין (the Lechem HaPanim was still חֻלִּין until it was placed on the Shulchan, at which point it became קֹדֶשׁ). So why not allow them to bake the Lechem HaPanim on 2nd day Rosh HaShana (Fri)? Why did it have to be baked before Rosh HaShana (Wed)?
As we can see from the halacha le'ma'aseh of the Rambam above, it was important that the Lechem HaPanim be prepared before Rosh HaShana (not on Rosh HaShana) and even though that added two extra days, it still remained fresh. Which means that the miracle of remaining fresh did not only apply to the Shulchan – when the bread was on the Shulchan - it also applied to Rosh HaShana – that Rosh HaShana itself kept the bread fresh!
So, what is going on here?
There are three reasons that it had to be done this way.
The first reason is that on Rosh HaShana it is decreed what our parnasa will be for the upcoming year. By baking the Lechem HaPanim before Rosh HaShana, on Wednesday, it is not only we who are standing in judgement before HKB"H, the Lechem HaPanim is also judged on Rosh HaShana!
Aside from the individual decrees of parnasa for each and every member of Am Yisrael, there was also a collective decree for the entire nation, manifested through the Lechem HaPanim.
The second reason is that the Shulchan and the Lechem HaPanim is a symbol of מַלְכוּת and on Rosh HaShana we are מַמְלִיךְ אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ, we re-coronate HKB"H as our King.
Imagine if you were coronating a human king. Would you prepare the coronation feast (including the bread) before the coronation ceremony, or would you only start baking after the ceremony had already begun? Obviously, you would prepare it before. עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה with HKB"H's coronation ceremony!
You may ask – so why if the first day of Rosh HaShana falls on a Monday or Tuesday in the week, do we not do the same, i.e. bake it the day before Rosh HaShana? The answer is that Shabbat is not an isolated event in the week, it has days that lead up to it and also days following it.
Sun-Tue are the follow up days after Shabbat, they belong to the Shabbat before them. For this reason, if for some reason you could not make Havdala on Motzei Shabbat, you are still allowed to make Havdala until Tuesday.
Wed-Fri are the lead up days to the next Shabbat. Therefore, the halacha is that you are not allowed to undertake a sea voyage from Wednesday onwards. Wednesday onwards is already preparation for the next Shabbat.
Therefore, if the first day of Rosh HaShana falls on a Mon/Tue, you don't bake Lechem HaPanim before Rosh HaShana, because the Mon/Tue belong to the previous Shabbat, not to the upcoming Shabbat. In this case you bake Lechem HaPanim as usual on the Friday after Rosh HaShana.
The third reason is connected to the Shofar.
There is a very close connection between the Shofar and the Lechem HaPanim. The קְרָנוֹת of the Lechem HaPanim are meant to echo the Shofar. The length of the קְרָנוֹת is seven finger-widths (fingers alongside each other, i.e one hand of 5 fingers plus another 2 fingers from the other hand). This is also the minimum length of a Shofar (Gemara, Nida 26a, Meir Panim, chap. 13, pg 138).
What is the link between the Lechem HaPanim and the Shofar? Just as as the purpose of the Shofar is to move HKB"H from כִּסֵּא דִּין to כִּסֵּא רַחֲמִים, so too does the Lechem HaPanim. Parnasa is entirely מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים, our parnasa exists only because HK"BH is merciful. By דִּין HKB"H owes us nothing!
The presence of the Lechem HaPanim already on Rosh HaShana adds to the effect of shifting HKB"H from כִּסֵּא דִּין to כִּסֵּא רַחֲמִים.
The fact that HKB"H forgives us on Rosh Hashana is a miracle in itself, according to מִדַּת הַדִּין we would never be forgiven. Chazal say that even the Avot - Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov would not have been able to stand up to מִדַּת הַדִּין (Gemara, Erchin 17a). For this reason, we eat, drink and make merry on Rosh HaShana, we have a veritable feast, with symbolic foods, to celebrate this miracle.
Since Rosh HaShana itself is a miracle, it is not surprising that the Lechem HaPanim remained miraculously fresh during Rosh HaShana, even though they were not on the Shulchan.
There are many more links between Rosh HaShana and the Lechem HaPanim, but perhaps the greatest musar haskel that we learn from the Lechem HaPanim related to Rosh HaShana is הַכָּרַת הַטּוֹב. To remember that we exist בְּחֶסֶד , not בִּזְכוּת. HKB"H owes us nothing! Everything we have is a miracle and we have to be constantly grateful for that.
If we bring in Rosh HaShana with a deep sense of הַכָּרַת הַטּוֹב, if we daven on Rosh HaShana from a strong feeling of הַכָּרַת הַטּוֹב, that is the starting point to ensure that HKB"H will judge us according to מִדַּת הָרַחֲמִים. Even though we currently do not have the Mikdash (yet), if we apply the principle of הַכָּרַת הַטּוֹב of the Lechem HaPanim, it will have the same effect.
At this point I want to express my הַכָּרַת הַטּוֹב to HKB"H for a year of miracles, both personal and national. I was זוֹכֶה this last year to publish the 2nd edition of Meir Panim, to be able to study Torah with you all בְּצַוְתָּא, through our weekly shiurim and many other personal miracles that I will not detail here. On a national level we have all been witness to HKB"H's ongoing miracles as we edge ever closer to the Geulah.
In the new year תשפ"ה, G-d willing we can look forward to some nice surprises from Machon Lechem HaPanim. I will not give any spoilers and spoil the surprise. B"H.
The new year should B"H be a turning point for all of us, in a positive direction. A year of הִתְקָרְבוּת to HKB"H and a year of more miracles. תשפ"ה is rashei teivot for תִּהְיֶה שְׁנַת פֹּה, as in נֵס גָּדוֹל יִהְיֶה פֹּה. Here are some nice gematriyot of תשפ"ה –
Amen, kein yehi ratzon.
Shana Tova, Ketiva ve'Chatima Tova le'Altar le'Chaim Tovim ule'Shalom.
