NUM344 Bring a musaf offering on Shabbos in the Beis HaMikdash. The mitzvah of the musaf offering is explained in [See [[LEV918]] Leviticus 23:8 offering CHINUCH 187], with reference to the festivals. Similarly, bringing the musaf offering of Shabbos impresses upon us the importance and great sanctity of Shabbos. We are reminded that Hashem created the heavens and earth in six days, and on the seventh day He rested.

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NUM345 Bring a musaf offering on every first of the month. As it is known, the Creator vested the moon and the sun with power to influence the physical world, the bodies of people, animals and all plant life. For this reason, at the time of the renewal of the moon, people refrain from acts that are potentially dangerous, such as setting out to sea or letting blood. At the time of the renewal of the moon, since the moon exerts such influences, it is fitting that we, too, do something new and different from what we do on other days, and it is most appropriate to bring additional offerings to honor Hashem. This way, we take to our hearts that all changes in the world and new phenomena are from Him exclusively, and so, too, every influence exerted on the world by the celestial bodies. When this pure and true thought occupies our minds, our souls are elevated, and Hashem's blessings descend upon us.

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NUM346 Earlier, we referred to an act of free will as a truly creative act. What is it we are creating? The very important answer is that man is creating himself. A person's character is never complete. Until a person's very last breath, his self is constantly in the process of developing and changing. At every age and at every stage of development, an individual's own personality, as so far formed with his habits and attitudes, restricts the range of choice and influences further development. The self, however, can sit in judgment on his own personality As so far formed and can disapprove and can decide to change it. Character-building may be the most important area of human creativity. Noting a difference in the wording of the Rosh Hashanah law, which says to "make [yourselves] an offering" instead of the usual "bring an offering," the rabbis interpreted God to be saying: "on Rosh Hashanah I consider it as if you are making yourselves" [this verse]. It has been noted that the "I"--the human self – – – is most intermittent and erratic. It is elusive and transitory. No other organism known to man can recite the apparently simple first-person pronoun "I" and comprehend it significance. Both the divine Anokhi and the human "I" are best known by their actions. But from the outside we only see activity without an actor. Both create worlds, and both are mysterious sources of self-creation. The "I" must always create itself. Kant showed that all proofs of God's existence are flawed, and Descartes was unsuccessful in proving the existence of the "I". As per subjectivity, both can only be known from within. But the human "I" does appear in response to the moral challenge of a given situation. Only in the moment of moral decision, when the "I" makes a choice , engages in a struggle, and assumes responsibility, it is, through and through, "I"; is it all self, spiritual and free (Israel Efros, Ancient Jewish Philosophy (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1964), pp.120 and 132).

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NUM347 Sound the shofar on the New Year. People are physical beings, and due to the coarseness of the material that comprises our makeup, we are not awakened and stirred into action except by means of an outside stimulus. In wartime, for example, at the start of a battle, it is necessary to blow trumpet blasts and shout in order to arouse the soldiers that they need to fight for their lives. It is no different on Rosh Hashanah--Judgment Day for all beings. If a person's merits outweigh his sins, he emerges from the judgment safely, but if, God forbid, his sins outweigh his merits, he is subject to the death penalty or some other frightening decree. Accordingly, it is fitting for a person to fight his nature and arouse himself to ask Hashem to have mercy and forgive him for his sins, for Hashem is the Master of Mercy. The sound of the shofar has great power to stir the human heart. All the more so the note that we call the teruah, for its shrill, broken, staccato sound when it breaks the air has unique power to open one's heart. In addition to this aspect of stirring the heart, when a man hears broken notes emitting from the shofar, he is reminded of his obligation to break the hold that his evil inclination tries to put on him by enticing him to indulge his lusts for worldly pleasures. Furthermore, as explained in [See [[LEV956]] Leviticus 25:9 shofar CHINUCH 202-3], the blast from the shofar call to our minds Akeidas Yitzchak [i.e., “The Binding of Isaac—AJL]. We are moved to be as Yitzchak, who was ready to sacrifice his very being out of love for his Maker. As a result of such thoughts of supreme devotion, our remembrance arises before Hashem for the good.

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NUM349 In his book of Jewish law, Maimonides shows that Judaism not only tolerates non--Jews, but even offers the ultimate reward to non-Jews. While no other religions promise reward for those who do not follow that faith, Judaism declares that non-Jews who keep the seven basic Noahide laws (basic ideas and laws for all societies) attain the World to Come, without doing anything specifically "Jewish" (Maimonides, Hilchot Melachim 8:11). Moreover, the sacrifices brought to the Temple during one major Jewish holiday are not for the benefit of Jews, but are for the non-Jewish nations of the world. Thus, the seventy sacrifices on the seven days of Sukkoth are brought to help all of the non-Jews in the world (Numbers 29:12-24; Sukkah 55b). The Midrash says that if the non-Jews had been aware of this fact, they would never have destroyed the Holy Temple (Midrash, Bamidbar Rabbah 1:3).

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NUM350 "That which is gone out of thy lips, Thou shalt observe and do…"; "… he shall do according to all that proceeded out of his mouth." (Deuteronomy 23:24; this verse]. Although both of these passages are parts of commandments that seem to be talking about formal vows made to God, Maimonides sees in these imperatives a general obligation to keep one's promises to one's fellow man, honor one's word and carrying out one's pledge even if expressed in an informal way (Sefer ha-Mitzvot le-Rambam, positive command 94; see comments of Ramban. See also Sefer ha-Chinnukh, mitzvot 407 and 575).

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NUM351 From here it is derived that a sage does not annul his own vows (Nedarim 16b)

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NUM352 R. Yehudah said in the name of Shmuel: Where is the annulment of vows Scripturally intimated? In :"he shall not break his word." He may not break it, but others may break [i.e., annul] it for him (Chagigah 10a)

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NUM353 The sixth category [of liars] consists of those who assure their fellow man of some benefit, so assuring him until he is implicitly trusted. This trust should not be violated, and if one is false in this, he incurs greater punishment than the aforementioned falsifier who only spoke in general terms, being like the breaker of a covenant. And if one told his neighbor that he would give him a small gift, even though he used no terms of assurance, about this our Rabbis have stated (Bava Metzia 49a): "Retracting one's words constitutes a breach of faith," for his neighbor relies upon him and trusts him, since the gift in question is only a small one. And if the one who is thus told is a poor man, although the gift pledged is a large one, going back up on the pledge constitutes a great evil, for a vow has been made and he transgresses [this verse]: "He shall not break his word." Similarly, one who preens himself in public on the gift he will give to another, since he has accorded himself praise for his magnanimity, it is not right that he go back on his word once he has appropriated honor and praise through it.

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NUM355 The sixth category [of liars] -- one who promises to help another, and [subsequently] gives the lie to his words by reneging on them. After he said he would help his fellow man with a promise, and after the other has placed his trust in him, he must not violate his promise--this is the path followed by those who lie, and is comparable to a man who violated his covenant, as the pasuk says (Tzefanyah 3:13), "The remnant of Yisrael shall do no injustice, nor speak falsehood, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth." [This verse is brought as proof in Pesachim (91a) that the Jewish people keep their promises.] The same applies to one who told another that he would give him a small gift, even if he did not mention a promise. Our Sages said (Bava Metzia 49a) that reneging on this is a breach of trust, for the other relies on him and trusts him to surely give him a gift, since it is [only] a small one. Moreover, if the intended recipient is poor, even if it is a large gift [i.e., and as such the recipient does not really expect to receive it.], recanting on such a commitment is a very severe offense, for he has taken [the equivalent of] an oath, and the pasuk says [this verse], "He must not violate his word." ["Any utterance of your lips you shall observe and carry out… Whatever you spoke with your mouth" (Devarim 23:24). The Talmud derives from this that when one offers a gift to a poor man (even without a promise), it is considered as if he has made a charitable vow (Rosh Hashanah 6a.)]

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