Why is it important that everybody take upon themselves an additional ‘beautification of a Mitzvah’ towards Rosh HaShana, the Jewish New Year?
Every Jewish festival and holiday is characterized by its own unique spiritual dimension. Pesach for example is the season of Redemption, while the festival of Shavuot is the time of the Giving of the Torah, Rosh HaShana is the time of receiving G d’s Kingship, and so on. Chassidut explains that on the day preceding Rosh HaShana, the Divine energy that sustains the world withdraws back to its source! Only the prayers of the Jewish people on the Holy festival itself: “Rule over the entire world in Your honor” and the blowing of the Shofar, have the power to arouse the Creator’s desire to rule over us during the coming year.
The Alter Rebbe in the book of Tanya explains the sentence “the land upon which are the eyes of the Lord your G d constantly, from the beginning of the year until its end.” We could understand that if G ds eyes are on the land from the beginning until the end of each year, then they are constantly on it, so why doesn’t the sentence say: “forever”? From this we understand that the Divine energy which sustains and gives vitality to the world withdraws to its source, and with the beginning of the new year, there is new Divine vitality in the world which has never been there before!
This is the reason for the custom of taking upon oneself every Rosh HaShana the beautification of a Mitzvah and an additional custom that will serve as a vessel to receive the new Divine abundance that is being drawn down to the world. Happy New Year!