[Avodah] Is Rosh HaShanah A Day Of Tshuva?

[Prof. Levine]

 From http://revach.net/article.php?id=4080

We all know that Rosh HaShana is not a day where we bombard Hashem 
with our wish list for the upcoming year.  But is it a day of 
Tshuva?  On one hand we don't say Slichos and avoid all mention of 
any reference to aveiros on this day, but on the other hand we blow 
the Shofar which is very much tied to tshuva.  We also know that 
there are Aseres Yimei Tshuva of which Rosh HaShana is part of.  So 
is it a day of tshuva or is it just a day to coronate our King and 
kick off our new year?

Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro says that indeed it is a day of Tshuva but a 
special kind of Tshuva.  On Yom Kippur we do tshuva for each and 
every one of our aveiros.  Not so on Rosh HaShana.  The Rambam says 
that the blast of the Shofar is to awaken us from our slumber and 
remind us to do tshuva.  What kind of tshuva?  The Rambam continues 
that we must remember our creator and stop sleeping through life 
indulging in all the silly pleasures of this world.  We need to peer 
deeply into our hearts and change our outlook.

Rav Moshe Shmuel says that on Yom Kippur we do tshuva for all the 
actual aveiros that we did.  On Rosh HaShana we repair our character 
and out outlook on life.  We need to repent for our anger, hatred, 
jealousy, lust after money and food, and so on, says the Rambam 
(Tshuva 7:3).  Rosh HaShana is a day to reflect on the year that was 
and to chart a course for the new year.  Once we've made that change 
over the next ten days we then look at the details.  We assess the 
actual damage and make repairs.

On Rosh Hashana we don't need viduy and all the outward 
manifestations of Tshuva.  We need deep and honest 
contemplation.   We need to recognize who is the boss, who created 
the world on this day, and what our job is.  This we do on the first 
day of the year and we start by crowning our King and pointing our 
eyes and thoughts towards him.
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