A year is 365 days long. We say this prayer thrice daily all year. What about the end of the year? Is the prayer still as meaningful? Once, prior to Minchah on Erev Rosh Hashanah, the very last tefillah, prayer, of the year, the holy Horav Sholom, zl, m’Belz, was surrounded by his chassidim, as they prepared to conclude the past year. He said, “We are now about to recite the last Minchah of the year. Yet, we ask Hashem to bless ‘this year.’ What does this mean? In mere minutes this year will conclude. How can we ask Hashem for a blessed year?
“Obviously, since we believe that Yeshuas Hashem k’heref Ayin, ‘Hashem’s salvation can come like the blink of an eyelash,’ even at the very last moment of the year, Hashem can grant His blessing, so that the entire past year will have been a year of abundant blessing!”
We might add that when a person prays, he must believe in what he is praying. When we ask Hashem for a good year (or anything, for that matter), we must acutely believe that everything could immediately change. This is how a Jew should pray.
