בִּרְכַּת הַדְלָקַת הַנֵּרוֹת: שֶׁל יוֹם הַזִּכָּרוֹן. שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ. אֵין כּוֹפְלִין "לְעֵילָּא" בְּקַדִּישׁ, לְבַד מִנְּעִילָה. לְדָוִד גו' הָאָרֶץ וּמְלוֹאָהּ גו' — קוֹדֶם עָלֵינוּ. בְּקִדּוּשׁ הַיּוֹם: תִּקְעוּ, כִּי חֹק. וְאֵין אוֹמְרִים אֵלֶּה מוֹעֲדֵי וְאַתְקִינוּ. לְתַשְׁלִיךְ: מְנַעֲרִים שׁוּלֵי הַטַּלִּית קָטָן. יְהִי רָצוֹן שֶׁעַל הַתַּפּוּחַ — אַחַר הַבְּרָכָה וְקוֹדֶם הָאֲכִילָה. אוֹכְלִים רֹאשׁ אַיִל, אֲבָל אֵין אוֹמְרִים יְהִי רָצוֹן כִּי אִם עַל הַתַּפּוּחַ.

The blessings recited over candle-lighting are asher kidshanu… lehadlik ner shel Yom HaZikaron, and Shehecheyanu.1

The word le’eila is not repeated in Kaddish,2 except at Neilah.

The psalm beginning LeDavid… haaretz u’meloah3 is recited [in the Evening Service] before Aleinu.4

In [the daytime] Kiddush,5 we say the verses6 that begin, Tiku…. and Ki chok. The verse7 that begins Eileh moadei and [the introductory Kabbalisticsentence beginning] Askinu seudasa are not recited.

[After] Tashlich,8 one shakes the hem of one’s tallis katan.9

The Yehi Ratzon10 should be recited after the blessing over the apple,11 before it is eaten.

One partakes of the head of a ram,12 but the Yehi Ratzon is recited only over the apple.13

A Pearl to Cherish

Rosh HaShanah is (literally) “the head of the year,” a day on which our Divine service sets the tone for the entire year that follows.14 On this Day of Awe, as we say in the Mussaf service,15 “the remembrance of every created being comes before You — man’s deed and his destiny, the actions and movements of a mortal, the thoughts of a person and his schemes, and the motives for the acts of a man.” One might therefore ask: Why did the Rebbe merely present customs here, instead of choosing inspirational teachings to augment our Divine service on this unique day?

Perhaps this choice is intended to reveal the importance of minhagim in our lives as Jews and chassidim.16 If, on Rosh HaShanah, our commitment to Torah is to be renewed completely, this must obviously take place in areas of unquestioned importance — but also in our careful attention to the minutest details of Jewish practice and custom. For it is with our observance of the customs that we express the depth of our love for G‑d.

The Biblical commandments may be likened to the explicitly expressed wishes of two people bound in marriage. The Rabbinically-ordained mitzvos which, though indirect, nevertheless express the Divine Will, resemble the implied requests between spouses. The minhagim, by contrast, represent those areas in which we intuitively sense how we might cause G‑d pleasure—and in this lies our greatest joy.17