A high school student once told me that in sign language, a Jew is shown as someone with a beard — and that made me wonder: how would you sign “chasid”?
What Does a Chasid Look Like?
Not long ago, a high school student told me that for his second language in school, he was learning sign language.
So I asked him, “How do you say ‘Jew’ in sign language?”
Let me ask you: if you had to describe a Jew using only your hands, what sign would you make?
He told me that the sign is a gesture for someone with a beard. That is the sign for a Jew. A Jew is someone with a beard.
Then I asked him, “And how do you sign ‘Arab’?”
He showed me a circular motion around the head, representing the head covering traditionally worn by Arabs.
At that moment, I thought to myself: if a beard is the sign of a Jew, then how would you define a chasid in sign language?
What Is There to Be Happy About on the Day of Judgment?
What kind of holiday is Rosh Hashanah?
Passover, for example, we understand. It is a joyful holiday. The whole family gets together, we eat matzah, have matzah balls, sing Chad Gadya — in short, it feels like a happy holiday. Yom Kippur, on the other hand, is very serious. We fast, we ask G-d for forgiveness, and the whole day has a very solemn feeling. But what is Rosh Hashanah?
On the one hand, we know that Rosh Hashanah is the Day of Judgment. It is the day when all people are judged and written for a good year. That is obviously very serious. On the other hand, we celebrate it with joy, almost like Passover. The family gathers around the table, and aside from the fact that there is no matzah on the table, it can almost look like a Seder night.
This question — how exactly are we supposed to experience Rosh Hashanah — is actually a very old question.
There were times in Jewish history, during the period of the Geonim in Babylonia, when some people fasted on Rosh Hashanah. Even though we generally do not fast on Shabbos or on a holiday, on Rosh Hashanah they allowed a person to fast if he wanted to spend the day in repentance. On the other hand, we find that Ezra told the Jewish people on Rosh Hashanah, “Eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks” (Nechemiah 8). In other words, Rosh Hashanah is also meant to be celebrated.
Even the shofar, the ram’s horn that we blow on Rosh Hashanah, carries both messages.
On the one hand, the prophet Amos says, “Can a shofar be sounded in a city and the people not tremble?” (Amos 3:6). And Maimonides famously writes in the laws of repentance that the message of the shofar is: “Wake up, sleepers, from your sleep.” Stop being distracted by the emptiness of the world and return to G-d. That is a very serious message.
On the other hand, the Torah also says that on days of joy, holidays, and Rosh Chodesh, the Jewish people would sound the trumpets before G-d (Numbers 10:10). So we see that sounding a holy instrument is also connected with celebration and joy.
So what is Rosh Hashanah really?
The truth is that Rosh Hashanah has both sides. And sometimes it depends which synagogue you walk into.
There are synagogues where, if you walk in on Rosh Hashanah, you might think it is already Yom Kippur. Everyone is serious. People are praying with deep concentration, wiping away a tear. It is the Day of Judgment, and that reality weighs on them. That is understandable.
But if you walk into a Chassidic synagogue on Rosh Hashanah, you may see chasidim dancing. Not only singing, like we do in our synagogue, but actually dancing. It can look more like Simchas Torah than Rosh Hashanah.
So the question becomes even stronger: What is all this joy doing here? Why are people dancing on Rosh Hashanah?
A Joyful Fire
There is a story told about a chasid named Reb Shmuel Munkes.
One time, a fire broke out in his home while he was in synagogue. People ran to call him, and he hurried home. When he arrived, he saw that his entire family had managed to get out in time, safe and sound. But the house itself was going up in flames.
Suddenly, Reb Shmuel began to dance.
The people standing around thought that perhaps, from all the pain and shock, he had suffered a nervous breakdown. (Today, this may not sound so strange. I know plenty of people who might start singing and dancing if their house burned down, because the insurance company would pay for it anyway — especially if the house was hard to sell. But back then, people did not have homeowners insurance.) So they asked him, “Reb Shmuel, why are you dancing? What is there to be happy about?”
He answered them:
“There are people whose god burns down together with their house. In the old days, that meant the idols and statues people worshiped. Today, for many people, it means their money.
“But for me,” Reb Shmuel said, “the house burned down — but my G-d is still here. And that is why I am dancing.”
Every morning, when a Jew wakes up, he says Modeh Ani: “I thank You.” He is thanking G-d not only for waking up, but for something even deeper: that G-d returned his Divine soul to him. And that alone is a reason to be happy.
When David Danced in the Street
I once looked through Tanach to see who were the first people to dance.
The first time we find dancing in Tanach is at the splitting of the sea. When the Jewish people saw the miracle, the men sang, and the women danced. The Torah says, “Miriam went out, and all the women followed her with drums and dances” (Exodus 15:20). As always, the women were the first to understand that there was a good reason not only to sing, but to dance.
Later, we read about King David, when he brought the Ark of G-d to Jerusalem. He did it with a great parade, with all of Israel taking part. And then the verse says that “King David was leaping and dancing before G-d” (II Samuel 6:16). David did not just dance politely. He completely let go in honor of G-d.
His wife Michal was standing by the window, watching the whole scene, and she did not like what she saw. When David came home after the celebration, she gave it to him — like any good wife.
“Aren’t you embarrassed?” she said. “What was that wild behavior in front of everyone, out in the streets? Like one of the empty people? Is that how a king behaves?”
She told him, “I grew up in a royal home. My father, King Saul, was a modest man. He always carried himself with dignity and respect. He would never have behaved that way.”
David did not let the criticism pass unanswered.
He said to her: “Your father did behave with dignity. But he was protecting his own dignity. I am not thinking about my honor. I am thinking about G-d’s honor.”
When the Ark, with the Tablets inside it, was brought to Jerusalem, David felt such overwhelming joy that he could not hold it in. So he danced with all his strength.
So how do you define a chasid? The answer is simple: a chasid is someone who dances. Once upon a time, Jews spent the whole day sighing and saying, “Oy.” They were always complaining, always kvetching. Then Chassidus came along and turned the “oy” into a movement of joy and dancing.
Chassidus explains that Rosh Hashanah is the head of the year, which means that it affects the entire year. The way we conduct ourselves on Rosh Hashanah influences everything that will happen in the year ahead. So when we dance on Rosh Hashanah, G-d will give us good reasons to dance all year long.
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