Explore every episode of the podcast Entering Rosh Hashanah with Rav Shlomo Katz

What am I actually supposed to be davening for on Rosh Hashanah?

We know the language. Malchut Hashem. Kavod Shamayim. We stand before the King and ask that His presence fill the world.

But then we open the machzor—and we're asking for life. For parnasah. For our children. For our families. For all the things we so desperately need.

So which one is it?

In this Rosh Hashanah shiur, given shortly after the passing of the Biala Rebbe of Givat Shaul, Rav Shlomo Katz and the women of Shirat David enter the machzor through a Torah Rav Shlomo received from the world of Biala—and through memories of a Rebbe whose words took him nearly 25 years to understand.

At the center is one extraordinary line:

כלום חסר בבית המלך — Nothing is lacking in the house of the King.

The avodah of Rosh Hashanah isn't to pretend we don't have personal needs. It's to ask a deeper question about those needs: Why do I want what I want?

CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening & Dedications
01:46 Remembering the Biala Rebbe
06:19 The Lesson I Needed 25 Years to Understand
12:35 What Should We Daven for on Rosh Hashanah?
17:25 Nothing Is Lacking in the King's House
23:06 Rosh Hashanah & the Beit HaMikdash
24:57 Can We Make Personal Requests?
26:50 Why Does Avinu Malkeinu Ask for Our Needs?
28:46 The Zohar's Warning About Personal Tefillah
30:50 The Ikar: Davening for Kavod Shamayim
32:14 How to Ask Hashem for Parnasah
44:45 Helping Another Jew Is Kavod Shamayim

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We spend so much of our lives trying.

We work on our marriages. We work on our children. We work on our parnasah, our Torah, ourselves. And because Hashem created us adam la'amal yulad—born to work—that yegiah isn't something we're supposed to escape.

But then comes the danger.

When something finally works, it's very easy to look back at everything we did and think: I did this.

In this Rosh Hashanah shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David continue an extraordinary teaching from the Tolna Rebbe about the ba'al tokeia who simply could not get a sound out of the shofar. From the building of the Mishkan and Beit Hamikdash to Moshe Rabbeinu forgetting everything he learned on Har Sinai, we discover a pattern that runs through Torah: techilah hishtadlut, sofo matanah. First comes our effort. In the end, it's a gift.

And that changes how we understand the shofar itself.

We blow from the narrow end—min hameitzar karati Kah—and somehow an enormous sound emerges from the other side. The more we toil, the more we're able to recognize and actually taste the miracle when it comes.

Maybe that's part of what it means to crown Hashem on Rosh Hashanah: not waiting until life pushes us into the narrowest place to realize that everything we have was a gift all along.

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CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening Announcements & Memorials
03:20 Recap: The Miracle of the Shofar
05:00 The Mishkan, Beit Hamikdash & Menorah
07:15 Why Does Hashem Make Us Work?
09:05 The Danger of Kochi V'Otzem Yadi
12:01 Yagata U'Matzata: Effort vs. Gift
15:03 Why Moshe Forgot the Torah
21:35 The More You Toil, the More You Taste the Miracle
22:45 The Paradox of Yagata U'Matzata
26:07 Why Our Effort Still Matters
28:40 Vihi Noam: Bringing Hashem Into Our Work
31:36 Why We Blow Shofar From the Narrow End
32:50 A Jew Is a Shofar
34:19 Min HaMeitzar: From Narrowness to Expansiveness
36:18 Why They Turned the Shofar Around
39:43 Why Three Ba'alei Tekiah Had to Fail
41:40 Don't Wait for the Narrowest Place
42:10 The Avodah of Rosh Hashanah
43:21 The Richest People in the World
44:19 A Blessing for a Year of Real Ashirut

Why does Hashem make us work so hard for something that, in the end, only He can make happen?

In this Rosh Hashanah shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn an extraordinary teaching from the Tolna Rebbe that begins with an almost unbelievable halacha: what happens when the ba'al tokeia simply cannot get a sound out of the shofar?

From there, we enter into the deeper meaning of Vihi Noam, the miraculous building of the Mishkan and Beis Hamikdash, and the Menorah that Moshe Rabbeinu could not make no matter how hard he tried.

And that's where this becomes about our lives.

There are things we want so badly. Things we work for, daven for, fight for. And sometimes we wonder: if ultimately everything is in Hashem's hands, why am I being asked to work so hard?

The answer lies in one tiny letter—the yud separating ta'aseh from tei'aseh.

We have to do everything we can. Empty the tank. Exhaust what we believe is possible. And then discover that the greatest things in our lives were never ours to accomplish alone.

That's one of the deepest preparations for Rosh Hashanah: our job is to give Hashem everything we've got. The miracle was never our job.
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CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening & Dedications
01:40 A Rosh Hashanah I'll Never Forget
04:07 When the Shofar Wouldn't Blow
08:31 The Strange Halacha of Vihi Noam
17:57 Why Vihi Noam?
19:56 Did We Really Build the Mishkan?
22:38 The Mishkan's Final Miracle
24:04 When Human Effort Isn't Enough
25:04 The Beis Hamikdash Built Itself
26:39 The Menorah Moshe Couldn't Make
28:05 Ta'aseh vs. Tei'aseh
33:46 If Hashem Does It, Why Do We Have to Try?
41:37 Have You Really Tried Everything?

What does it mean to enter into a bris with Hashem?

On the final Shabbos of the year, Parshas Nitzavim gives us the hachana for Rosh Hashanah: אתם נצבים היום כולכם. Stand up. Stand together. Not because we're all the same. Not because we even understand one another. But because every Jew has something that completes another Jew.

And then the Torah tells us why we're standing there: לעברך בברית ה׳ אלקיך. To enter into a covenant with Hashem.

A bris, the Rebbe teaches, is what two people establish when their love is strong so that the relationship will remain even when there are reasons for it not to. It's a love l'ma'alah mita'am vada'as—beyond logic and reason.

It's the deepest thing we're longing to hear from Hashem on Rosh Hashanah, and the deepest thing we want to be able to say back:

My love for You will not end.

Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David learn how Elul clears away everything that has covered over that love, why our relationship with other Jews is part of the covenant itself, and how standing together can awaken a sweetness from Hashem that goes beyond what any of us deserve. 
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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

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00:00 Opening Niggun
03:11 The Final Shabbos of the Year
06:57 Nitzavim and Rosh Hashanah
08:42 How to Enter Rosh Hashanah
10:25 Why We Need Every Jew
15:25 Renewing Our Covenant With Hashem
20:00 My Love For You Will Not End
26:41 Elul Reveals the Love Beneath the Sin
28:29 Why Do We Need a Bris?
30:12 A Love Beyond Reason
31:47 Why Rosh Hashanah Needs Every Kind of Jew
33:17 The Shofar: From Judgment to Mercy
35:34 Final Blessings

What happens when Elul doesn't go the way we planned?

We enter the month with plans, kabbalos, hopes for who we're going to become. Then suddenly, Selichos is almost here. Rosh Hashanah is around the corner. And somehow, we're still us.

In this shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David return to a mashal from the Ba’al Shem Tov about a fox, a group of animals, and their journey to face the lion they had rebelled against. The fox begins the journey armed with hundreds of brilliant parables to appease the king. But the closer he gets, the more he forgets, until finally, standing before the king, he has nothing left.

And that may be exactly the point.

What Hashem wants from us isn't another story about who we thought we'd become. It's for us to come. To show up honestly. To keep trying, to take on what we can, but ultimately to stand before the King without pretending that we've earned anything.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Opening & Dedications
03:31 Rav Weinberger & Returning to the Ba’al Shem Tov
07:08 The Ba’al Shem Tov’s Fox & Lion
14:01 What the Mashal Means for Elul
19:08 All the Plans We Make for Elul
22:29 When Elul Doesn’t Go According to Plan
24:30 “I’ll Start When Selichos Begins”
26:05 Then Comes Rosh Hashanah…
27:48 Come Before the King Anyway
30:09 Teshuvah Never Ends
31:21 Nothing Can Separate You From Hashem
34:25 How We Really Enter Selichos
36:14 Asking Hashem for a Matnas Chinam
39:30 Show Up Authentically

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For more Shuirim and Music from Rav Shlomo Katz, visit: https://ravshlomokatz.com

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In this Elul shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David continue the Tolna Rebbe’s Torah, asking the most vulnerable question: “What does Hashem really think of me?”

Through the pasuk “לא הביט און ביעקב ולא ראה עמל בישראל, ה׳ אלקיו עמו ותרועת מלך בו” we uncover a breathtaking teaching: when a Jew is מואס ברע—disgusted by the bad even if he still stumbles—and cultivates חיבוב מצווה, Hashem doesn’t fix His gaze on the fall. Instead, He sees the yearning, the effort, and the love.

The Rebbe reads the halacha of בעליו עמו לא ישלם as a key to teshuvah: when the Master is “with you,” even your failures don’t define you. What matters most is whether your heart wants to be on the path of טוב, and whether mitzvot excite you enough to awaken the friendship of the King—ותרועת מלך בו.

What you’ll hear:

• Why the Satan “gives up” when he sees our love of mitzvos
• How disgust at רע can actually be a sign of deep health
• Why חיבוב מצווה brings reward even in this world
• Entering Rosh Hashanah not with self-beating, but with holy anticipation

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In this Elul shiur Rav Shlomo Katz and the chevra of Shirat David begin a sweet journey into the Tolna Rebbe’s Torah on “לערבב את השטן – confusing the Satan.”

Why do we blow shofar both “מיושב” and “מעומד”? What actually silences the מקטרג on Rosh Hashanah?

Through Rashi and the Pnei Yeshua we discover a radical key: חיבוב מצווה—genuine love and longing for mitzvot—pushes us from teshuvah mi’yirah into teshuvah me’ahavah, where “זדונות נעשים לו כזכויות.” We also learn the Tolna Rebbe’s powerful reading of “יתיצב על דרך לא טוב, רע לא ימאס”: it’s not only what you do; it’s what you tolerate. Elul is not just סור מרע; it’s training the heart for עשה טוב, building holy anticipation and preparation so we can truly stand on a good path.

What you’ll hear:

• Why liking a mitzvah may matter even more than merely doing it
• How love-driven teshuvah flips debts into credits
• “Live and let live” vs. מואס ברע—why tolerance of רע is spiritually dangerous
• The art of הכנה: turning Elul into daily training for תקיעת שופר
• Dropping “pins” on moments of קדושה, so getting back up is faster

Dedications:
לע״נ ר׳ שלום ברודט זצ״ל • לע״נ בתיה פייגא בת ישראל לוי בן יוסף • לרפואה שלמה לאה שושנה בת מלכה ולשרה בת רחל פייגא • Sponsored by the Reinitz family in honor of my sister’s birthday—מזל טוב!

What if the key to Rosh Hashana isn't about being perfect — but about being real?

In this deeply moving pre-Rosh Hashana shiur, Rav Shlomo Katz shares personal stories, Chassidic insights, and the soul of what it means to crown Hashem as King — not just in the world, but in your life. From a missed moment at Madison Square Garden to the power of not laughing at your own spiritual yearning, this shiur cuts through the noise and gets to the heart of malchut.

With teachings from the Piaseczner Rebbe, Rav Moshe Weinberger, and a powerful story from the Gerrer Rebbe, Rav Shlomo reminds us: Hashem takes you as seriously as you take yourself.

If you've ever struggled with cynicism, felt disconnected from the Yomim Noraim, or wondered how to begin again… this is for you.

Rav Shlomo Katz explores Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s profound connection to Rosh Hashana—and why this day is considered the “head” of the entire year. Through moving insights, personal stories, and deep Torah, we’re guided into a mindset of renewal, clarity, and preparation for the new year.

Why did Rebbe Nachman say, “My whole thing is Rosh Hashana”? Why are thousands willing to risk so much just to be in Uman during this time? And more personally: what spiritual “baggage” are we still holding on to that we shouldn’t carry with us into a new year?

As the world around us feels increasingly chaotic, this is our opportunity to clear space in the mind, release old weight, and open the gates to a sweet, clear, and connected year ahead.

Why is Rosh Hashana considered to be a Yomtov?

Based on the teachings of Rav Avraham Tzvi Kluger,  we are led to the נקודה הפנימית of the beginning of the year.

Stay Calm, Be Normal, You Have the Title Again

Based on the teachings of Rav Avraham Tzvi Kluger, on Rosh Hashana

Based on the teachings of Rav Asher Weiss, we understand why there is a tremble on Rosh Hashana, but not a tremble that paralyzes us.

Based on two sentences from the Piasetzner Rebbe, we learn of three essential layers of root work when it comes to getting to the core of Tshuvah.

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The awesome gift which waits for every Jew who listens to the Shofar. A teaching from Rabbi Naftali Carlebach , father of Reb Shlomo Carlebach.

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A description of Rav Kook's appearance at the Churva shul in the old city of Jerusalem, Rosh Hashana, 1933

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Based on the teachings of R' Tzadok Hakohen of Lublin, wishing someone a shana tova umetuka means much much more than we generally think. Join us as Reb Tzadok brings a whole new world to this beautiful blessing.

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The attribute of Gevura/Pachad is generally associated with Yitzchak Avinu. However, in the shmone esre of the Yamim Nora'im, Pachad/Fear/Gevura falls under the bracha of Ya'akov Avinu. Reb Tzadok brings this all to light.

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Hashem is both a father and a king, but he is always a father first. beautiful piece of Torah, based on the teachings of Reb Asher Weiss shli'ta.

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A few practical ideas as to how one should approach with impure thoughts, as a prep for Rosh Hashana. Based on the teachings of Reb Ya'akov Meir Shechter.

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Some Post Rosh Hashana Thoughts, 5781

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the whole inyan of Rosh Hashanah is the ability to listen to the voice of the shofar.what stands in my way from fulfilling this mitzvah.

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The Shofar of Rosh Hashana is very different from the Shofar of Elul. When acknowledging this difference, a brand new world opens for us, setting the stage for the most epic moment of our year to take place.

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Rav Kook's Rosh Hashana sermon at the Churva shul in the old city of Jerusalem, 1933

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Taking advantage of the opportunity of the last few days of the year... what are we choosing to shlep into the new year with us? What are we willing (and even happy) to leave behind?

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With a little help from the Bilvavi and Evyatar Banai, we spent time learning the deep yet simple concepts of Hamlachat Hashem, crowning Hashem as our King, which is the essential focus of our Rosh Hashana avoda.

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The anxiety towards Rosh Hashana davening does not need to paralyze us. As long as we remember what the point of it all is.

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