When God created the world, it was clear that there was only One power in the universe and that everything from the mightiest galaxy to the tiniest gnat owed its existence to Him alone. The "Song of the Day" of Sunday, which was sung in the Temple by the Levites and which we recite in our Sunday morning prayer, is "G-d's is the world and its fullness" (Psalms 24), because, as the Talmud explains, on that day God created heaven and earth and manifested His sole sovereignty over the universe.

When one recognizes that reality, there is no place for sin. Sin is caused by self-deception. As the Talmud puts it, no one sins unless a spirit of foolishness enters him. If someone recognized without a doubt that there is no power or master but the One God, that only He gives the breath of life and the strength to exist, and that no deed goes unrecorded or unrequited by Him, it would be impossible for one to sin -- unless one were struck by an attack of lunacy. On the first day of Creation, when God's omnipotence was indisputable, sin was inconceivable. And by beginning to recite Slichos on that date, the Jew attempts to re-adopt that primeval conviction.

THE RABBIS ALSO WANTED there to be at least four days of Slichos before Rosh Hashana -- to symbolize the four days that an animal must be checked for flaws before it is used as an offering. This concept brings home to man that he should analyze himself carefully before he "presents" himself to G-d on Rosh Hashana. (Consequently, when Rosh Hashana falls on Monday or Tuesday, Slichos must begin sooner to achieve the requisite four days -- and is moved up a week, to the previous Saturday night.) Obviously, therefore, the Sabbath, too, is closely related to the beginning of Slichos…

As the Torah and the Sages stress, the Sabbath -- the culmination of the six days of Creation -- bears witness that God is the Creator. So the Sabbath, like the twenty-fifth of Elul, focuses our attention on the beginning of time and it reinforces our responsibility -- and, it is to be hoped, our resolve -- to do our share in making the world what it was intended to be. For the Jew is called upon to make the world a better place, and the primary way for him to begin is by making himself a better person. After one breaks his mirrors so he will not see his own flaws, it would be vainglorious and futile to think that he can then concentrate on the flaws of everyone else.

JUDAISM TEACHES THAT an individual human being is a microcosm of the universe. One's primary duty is to perfect that universe, his personal one, before moving on to change the rest of society. If enough people rise toward perfection, the world will change, not only through the accumulation of many good people, but also because spirituality is indivisible. The very fact that people study the Torah and perform its commandments with sincerity elevates everyone else in the world. Abraham and Sarah were a minority of two in a world awash with idolatry and immorality, yet they saved the entire world from destruction.

Everyone makes a difference. The Sages said that one should imagine that the entire world is balanced between virtue and sin, and that if he performs one mitzvah, he will tip the scales of all humanity to the side of merit; but if he commits one sin, he will cause the whole world to be condemned. The responsibility is awesome, but so is the privilege. Especially in today's crowded societies, it is easy to think that one lonely individual cannot make a difference and one vote can never matter. That may be true in economics and politics. But Jews are grandchildren of the Patriarchs, the people who proved that majorities are meaningless in determining spiritual accomplishment.

The confluence of the Sabbath and the first day of Creation shed light on what the Slichos prayers are meant to, and can, accomplish, They are to create a new world, to provide a new resting place for G-d's Presence, to prepare us for the year that we pray will bring the fulfillment of the prophecies for the coming of Messiah and the End of Days.