kesiva vachasima tova!

I don't have any good rosh hashanah dvar torah - if anyone has anything they would like to share, that would be really nice.

I have 2 hearos.  We know that we blow both tekios demeyushav and tekios demeumad לערבב השטן.  What does that mean?  The Rashba writes:  להכניע היצר כדכתיב אם יתקע שופר בעיר ועם לא יחרדו ושטן הוא יצר הרע - maybe everyone already knew this, maybe I knew this and just forgot it, but either way, its good to re-remember it right before rosh hashanah.  We don't need to worry about confusing the satan up in shamayim - if we control the satan within us, everything in shamayim will work out.

There is a well-known story in halachic man about how r moshe soloveitchick criticized his chassidish baal tokea for getting emotional before tekais shofar.  "Do you cry before you eat matzah - this is a mitzvah and that is a mitzvah - there is no difference between them."  I hate to take the side of the chassid, but I cannot understand R Moshe's approach.  אם יתקע שופר בעיר ועם לא יחרדו - shofar is supposed to instill fear within our hearts - it invokes the image of a city, which, upon being besieged or facing some other calamity, blows the horn in its distress (in half jest - think boromir right before he dies).  To treat shofar as an arbitrary commandment of G-d, and not understand how shofar is meant to instill fear so that we can change our ways seems to be missing the point.

2.  Common practice nowadays is to ask mechila from everyone before rosh hashanah.  The minhag to ask mechila from everyone is brought in the tur for before yom kippur: ויתן כל אדם אל לבו בערב יום הכפורים לפייס לכל מי שפשע כנגדו דעבירות שבין אדם למקום יום הכיפורים מכפר ושבין אדם לחבירו אין יום הכפורים מכפר עד שיפייסנו ... ועושין כן כדי שיהא לב כל ישראל שלם כל אחד עם חבירו ולא יהיה מקום לשטן לקטרג עליהם והכי איתא בפרק ט"ו מפרקי ר"א ראה סמאל שלא נמצא חטא בישראל ביום הכפורים ואומר רבון העולם יש לך עם אחד בארץ כמלאכי השרת מה מלאכי השרת יחיפי רגל אף ישראל יחיפי רגל ביה"כ מה מלאכי השרת אין להם קפיצה אף ישראל אין להם קפיצה עומדין על רגליהם ביום הכפורים מה מלאכי השרת נקיים מכל חטא כך ישראל נקיים מכל חטא מה מה"ש שלום ביניהם כך ישראל ביום הכפורים והקב"ה שומע עדותן מן המקטרגין ומכפר עליהם

I am not convinced that we should extend this minhag to erev rosh hashanah.  The immediate response is, whats wrong if people ask mechila more times?  The more the better.  I can't disagree with that.

But on the other hand, we don't say viduy on rosh hashanah - why not?  Shouldn't we say that the more viduyim we say are better?

I think there is what to think about more before deciding if it is an appropriate minhag to go around asking for mechila on erev rosh hashanah.  maybe im crazy to be mifakfek in what is clearly a maaseh mitzvah - but I am.

I want to wish everyone a kesiva vachasima tova.  we should all be zocheh to a year filled with bracha, simcha shalom, and everything good in both gashmius and ruchnius.  May we see the coming of mashiach and rebuilding of the beis hamikdash this year, very soon.