Why Is It Said, “May We Be the Head and Not the Tail” on Rosh Hashanah?

“May we be the head and not the tail” means that we will not follow our wicked thoughts and desires, which are all egoistic, i.e., self-aimed at the expense of others.

Instead, we will first decide what we do on Rosh Hashanah, which in Hebrew literally means “the head of the year.” We decide that the Creator will be our king, and that we will advance in our lives accordingly.

What does it mean to decide that the Creator will be king? It means that we will be governed by the force of love, bestowal, and connection. In other words, we wish for this force of love, bestowal, and connection to be the head of our every action, of everything we do in life.

In a practical sense, when we say “May we be the head and not the tail” on Rosh Hashanah, we should think about changing the way we live, that we constantly think about how we can bestow goodness upon others, and bring about everybody’s positive connection.