ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף מלכים א 8:59

From the aforegoing we can stipulate three things: 1) On Rosh Hashanah, G'd considers only deeds already committed previously. 2) Only fitness to survive is judged on that day, just as would be the function of a human tribunal. This eliminates the thoroughly wicked people who, having already lost their share in the hereafter, could not regain it by submitting to the death penalty decreed on them in the physical world. 3) Since death decreed on man on Rosh Hashanah is due to the evil nature of his deeds, such death will not be due to natural causes when it occurs, since death is something that is part of everyone's fate anyways. Keeping this point in mind, we can approach the solution of the apparent paradox of tzaddik ve-ra lo, rasha ve-tov lo, the righteous and his misery and the wicked and his being well off. When G'd makes mankind parade before Him on Rosh Hashanah, the nations that have not stood at Mount Sinai are excluded. "All the nations are like nothing vis a vis Him." (Isaiah 40,17) Of the Jews, all who have sinned but have merits offsetting the sins, or have repented their sins, and all those whose sins are not the kind that deserve death, are immediately inscribed for a year of life. This is what is meant by the expression tzaddikim gemurim; they are now considered righteous. Those whose mortal sins are not offset by merits or repentance, are inscribed for death. Naturally, these sentences are not carried out at once, so as not to arouse the feeling that the judgment is cruel. However, the Personal Divine Providence is withdrawn from these guilty people, and from that moment on every one of them is subject to the caprice of natural law. Should natural law not result in their death, G'd despatches a messenger to terminate the guilty peson's life, as we read in Samuel I 26,10, "or the Lord will smite him, or his day will come and he will die, or by warfare." Since the judgment had been based on past conduct, one may assume that a change of conduct on the part of the person under sentence of death would change the sentence, possibly even cancel it. Just as the person who has been inscribed for life, would not be kept alive were he foolishly to attempt to commit suicide, so a person who has been inscribed for life did not buy an insurance policy permitting him to commit felonies, and remain free from death until the following Rosh Hashanah. By the same token, repentance is acceptable even from persons who are under sentence of death, irrespective of whether they are aware of such sentence or not. The exceptions to this rule are those sins that cannot be expiated for by repentance alone, as per Isaiah 22, 14, "this sin will not be atoned for you until you die." We learn that remission for people under sentence of death is possible, from Achav king of Israel. (compare Kings 1 21, 29) Also king Chiskiyahu's sentence of death was revoked. (compare Isaiah 38, 5 and our comments in chapter 36.) It pays to read chapter eighteen in Ezekiel, where the process of guilt and punishment is discussed in detail, as well as the reversal of evil decrees. When we encounter an apparently thoroughly wicked person, who enjoys long and successful years, it is clear that he has not been judged on Rosh Hashanah. This is so, a) because he no longer qualifies for hashgachah peratit, b) presumably he has some merits to his credit which, since they cannot be compensated for in the hereafter, must be compensated for in this life, i.e. el panav yeshalem lo. "G'd will pay him off to his face," (Deut. 7, 11) This is also what David means in Psalm 92, 8, “when the lawless spring up like grass, where all the abusers of might flourish, in order to be destroyed in the end. When an apparently righteous person dies prematurely, we assume that although he had been righteous last Rosh Hashanah, something that he has done since last Rosh Hashanah caused a change in his judgment. Examples are both Moses and Aaron, and Nadav and Avihu, who surely on the Rosh Hashanah prior to their respective deaths had been inscribed for life, but whose specific actions resulted in their deaths before the year was out. Other examples would be Gedalyah ben Achikam, who ignored warnings of danger (Jeremiah 40, 13), or Achitofel, who committed suicide, (Samuel II 17, 23), or people who chose to die on kiddush hashem sanctification of the Lord's name. These deaths come under the heading of "everything is in the hands of Heaven except the common cold," i.e. they are the direct result of free volition of the party involved, not due to prejudgment on Rosh Hashanah of sins committed in the past. Similarly, old people do not die from the effects of a decree issued on account of their sins, on the contrary, they enjoy both "tables," i.e. they have had a good life in this world and can look forward to their full share in the world to come. The principle that once G'd has decreed something good, positive, He does not revoke it, is not in conflict with the position we have taken, since a) nowhere is it stated that the inscription on Rosh Hashanah "for life," covers the entire year. It merely means that since the person examined had not at that time deserved the death penalty for past errors, he is confirmed for continued life. There cannot therefore be a question of G'd having reversed Himself, should that individual have become guilty of a capital offence prior to the next day of judgment. b) The rule of G'd not reversing a decision favourable to an individual or individuals, is generally misunderstood. This will be dealt with in detail when we discuss false prophets in chapter ninety six. There we address the question "how will we know that G'd has not spoken to him?" Should one argue that this latitude on the part of G'd would make the day of judgment quite meaningless, since decisions taken on that day are subject to all kinds of reversals, the answer is simple. It is the kindness of G'd who endeavours to treat all His children like a clever doctor. He is not only concerned about restoring his patients to health, but also engages in the practice of preventive medicine. "For I the Lord am your Healer" (Exodus 15, 26.) A doctor may prescribe preventive treatment to forestall many minor disorders. Nevertheless, when a particularly violent strain of disease hits a person, special measures are called for. Most sins, committed daily, are not each in itself deserving the death penalty. However, if allowed to accumulate, they would combine to attract the death penalty. It is similar with the function of Rosh Hashanah. The day of judgment, in conjunction with repentance, disposes of myriads of minor sins. However, should a person have committed a major crime during the year, stern measures may be called for immediately. Anyways, the call of the shofar is to warn each of us to regain our spiritual health by taking the pertinent drugs, and cleansing our system to prevent future contamination. The spring, Passover time, is reserved for our physical renewal, whereas the autumn, i.e. Rosh Hashanah, is reserved for our spiritual renaissance. Spring being nature's renewal season, is suitable for physical renewal. Fall, on the other hand, is the period when due to harvesting, man considers himself most independent and he is at the height of his self reliance. It is at that time that he needs to be reminded that he is still in need of G'ds protection. Making the day of the shofar occur at this juncture, is most appropriate in counteracting man's frivolity at that time of year. "Yeshurun waxed fat and kicked," Deut 32, 15, or "lest you eat, be satisfied and your heart become haughty." Deut 8, 14. Encouraging man to repent before the day of judgment is ever so much more helpful than to wait for the judgment, and then attempt to reverse it. Therefore, the knowledge of when the day of judgment occurs, affords us a chance to prepare for that day. When David proclaims "hail the nation that knows the teruah, they walk in the light of Your countenance," (Psalms 89, 16), he merely points out how fortunate we are to be able to put this knowledge to our advantage. The Talmud Rosh Hashanah 16, discusses timing of celestial judgments. Rabbi Yossi emphasizes that daily judgment of man occurs also, whereas Rabbi Yochanan makes the point that repentance even tears up the evil decree. When the question is raised that even myriads of sacrifices, if they are offered after the Day of Atonement, can no longer change the evil decree, the answer given is that this is so only in the case of individuals. Collective repentance of a congregation is accepted at all times. Since we have the opinion of Rabbi Meir that prayer, i.e. repentance is effective even after G'd has passed sentence, then the original opinion offered by him, that man is judged on Rosh Hashanah, does not mean that Rosh Hashanah is the only day judgment can be pronounced on man. He therefore, does not disagree with Rabbi Yossi and Rabbi Nathan who claim that the judgment process can occur any day, even at any hour. We rely on scriptural proof from the verse "to carry out the judgment of His servant as a daily matter." (Kings 1, 8, 59) There remains to be explained the status of the beynonim, the people whose actions leave them hanging in the balance, and how they are being dealt with. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is reserved for this category of people as the day when their status is examined and a decision is made whether to inscribe them (seal) in the book of life. The discussion in Rosh Hashanah 16, between Rabbi Avin and Rabbi Nachman, centers around the fine point whether having been inscribed (on Rosh Hashanah) they might need to be erased from the book of life (or the book of death as the case may be), or whether there is no need for that since people of that category had not been inscribed at all on Rosh Hashanah. A practical difference between these two viewpoints would occur only, if the person who was a beynonion Rosh Hashanah, still remains a beynoni by the time Yom Kippur has arrived. According to the view that he had never been inscribed for life on Rosh Hashanah, such a person would have nothing to look forward to, since he had not improved his status during the days of penitence.