By Rabbi Dovid Markel
In the Chabad Machzor for the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur prayers, prior to the statement of “Hamelech,” which proclaims G-d’s kingship, is printed a short story:
Once, when the holy Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron of Karlin was praying, he suddenly fainted when he began reciting these words.
When they asked him to explain, he responded with the episode recorded in the Talmud (Gitin 56a) of Rabbi Yochanan b. Zakai’s visit to Vespasion. Rabbi Yochanan greeted him saying, “Peace to you, O king, peace to you, O king.” Vespasian, who was, as of then, not yet aware of his newly acquired position as Emperor, replied that Rabbi Yochanan was guilty of death, since, “If I am a king, why did you not come to me before now?”
Reb Aaron concluded, exclaiming: “And what is our excuse?”
Rosh HaShana is the coronation of the King, King of Kings. What we must learn from this story is that the question, “Why did you not come to me before now?” is one that G-d asks each and every one of us.
Indeed, in the days preceding Rosh HaShana, we should not wait until the last moments to prepare to approach the King, but we should rather today accept upon ourselves the yoke of G-d, so that hopefully, come Rosh HaShana, we will have an answer to this question.
