Summary

Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah. Why do righteous people die and wicked people live after Rosh Hashanah? The Talmud refers to judgments in the World to Come. Why should the judgment every year on Rosh Hashanah affect a person's share in the World to Come? There are two judgments taking place. The special inserts in the Amida correspond to these two different judgments. There is a general judgment and a specific judgment. The World to Come is eternal. This world is like a lobby. This world is the place where we prepare for the World to Come by repentance and good deeds.

Inscribed for life and death

It says in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 16b), "Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah: one for the totally wicked, one for the totally righteous, and one for the intermediate. The totally righteous are inscribed and sealed immediately for life. The totally wicked are inscribed and sealed immediately for death. And the intermediate people are left dependent from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. If they merit they will be inscribed for life. And if they do not merit, they will be inscribed for death".

This seems very strange. If judgments of life for the righteous and death for the wicked are inscribed and sealed on Rosh Hashanah, why are there righteous people who die and wicked people who live every year after Rosh Hashanah? The totally righteous should never die and the totally wicked should not live longer than one year? Rabbi Chaim Friedlander asks an additional question. He points out that the Talmud itself says on the previous page (ibid. 16a), that everyone is judged on Rosh Hashanah and all judgments are sealed on Yom Kippur. How do these two statements reconcile with each other?

Two judgments

To answer this Rabbi Friedlander quotes the Vilna Gaon who explains that there are two judgments taking place, one regarding this world, the physical/material world, and one regarding the World to Come. Everyone is judged on Rosh Hashanah and their judgment is sealed on Yom Kippur with respect to their status in this world. But the difference between the judgment of the righteous, wicked and intermediate person is in regards to their status in the World to Come.

Special Amida inserts

He explains that the special inserts that we add in the Amida during the ten days of repentance from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur correspond to these two different judgments. In the beginning of the Amida, we ask to be inscribed for life in general. This refers to the life in the World to Come. Towards the end of Amida, we ask for detailed blessings for good livelihood and peace. This refers to the physical world.

Before death

However, we still need to clarify why we are being judged for life in the World to Come if we still have many more years to live? To understand this R. Friedlander quotes R. Moshe Chaim Luzatto who teaches in Derech Hashem that on Rosh Hashanah there is a general judgment and a specific judgment. The general judgment is based on whether one is considered to be a generally righteous person. The generally righteous is inscribed for life as a "ben olam haba", a person destined for life in the World to Come. This judgment decides where the person belongs but has nothing to do with where the person is presently. On the other hand, if one is considered generally wicked, this person will be inscribed in the Book of Death in regards to Olam Haba, and is at the moment not destined to reach the World to Come. With this insight we can understand what the Talmud (Berachot 18a) says, "The wicked are considered dead even while they are alive".

Change situation in this world

As long as a person is alive in this world, this situation can be changed. The generally righteous cannot relax and just assume that everything will be fine. As it says in Pirkei Avos (2:5), "Do not believe in yourself until the day you die." Neither should the generally wicked give up and think everything is lost. Right until the last day can a person repent and change the status for eternity in the World to Come. As the Prophet Yecheskel says in the name of G'd (18:32), "For I do not want the death of the dead (i.e. the wicked who are considered dead already). They shall repent and live." We have no way of knowing how we have been judged. Either way, we must constantly try to improve ourselves and mend our shortcomings.

Every Jew has a share

On Shabbos afternoons, during the summer, there is a widespread custom to say Pirkei Avos. In the introduction we say that every Jew has a share in the World to Come. But this share can be guarded or thrown away. The righteous people look after their share in the World to Come, whereas the wicked people throw their share away.

Detailed judgment

But besides the general judgment, there is a detailed judgment of what specifically is a person's lot in this world for the coming year. Even the righteous people make mistakes for which they must suffer the consequences. For example, Moses was without any doubt a righteous person. Nevertheless, he was denied entry into the land of Israel as punishment for his mistakes. No one would dare suggest that Moses was a wicked person. In general, he was judged to reach the World to Come, but in the detailed judgment he was judged to die before the Jewish people entered the land of Israel.

Wicked rewarded

On the other hand, even a generally wicked person may do something good and will be rewarded accordingly. Tosafos (ibid 16B) quotes a verse in the Torah, "And He rewards His enemy in his lifetime (in this world) to make him perish (in the World to Come)" (Devarim 7:10). In the detailed judgment, the generally wicked people receive their reward in this world only, and will not reach the World to Come, unless they repent.

The mountain and eternity

Since the judgment on Rosh Hashanah is regarding the World to Come, R. Chaim Volozhiner encourages us to investigate our choices and be careful to guard our share in the World to Come. The Mussar exponents remind us that the World to Come is eternal. They provide us with a parable to get some idea of the meaning of "eternity". Imagine a huge mountain from where once every thousand years a bird takes away one grain in its beak. When the bird has finished moving this mountain, eternity has not even begun to pass. On the other hand, life in this world is limited, as it says, "The days of our years are 70, and if with strength, 80 years" (Psalm 90:10). Even with a life expectancy of 120 years, the longest life in the physical world cannot be compared to eternity.

The Banquet

In Pirkei Avos (4:21), we are taught how to put the two worlds in proportion. As it says, "This world is like a lobby before the World to Come; prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may enter the banquet hall". No one would be foolish enough to spend all their time decorating the lobby at the expense of missing the opportunity of entering the banquet. Our problem is that while we live in this physical world, we tend to put all our focus on having a good life here and often forget about the World to Come. We must always keep in mind that life in this world is short and fragile, whereas life in the World to Come is eternal and perfect. If we can develop and internalize this understanding then the choice is obvious!

The Lobby

We may still ask, why did G'd create this world? Who needs the lobby? Could we not all proceed directly to the banquet hall? Another quotation from Pirkei Avos (4:22) clarifies this: "One hour of repentance and good deeds in this World is better than the entire life of the World to Come; and one hour of spiritual bliss in the World to Come is better than the entire life of this World". Both worlds have their special purpose and value. This world is the place where we prepare for the World to Come by repenting for our wrongdoings and by performing good deeds. Once we reach the World to Come, we cannot change our status. If we did not have the "lobby", we could not grow and raise our spiritual levels. On the other hand, the rewards in this physical world cannot compare to those in the World to Come, which was specially created to provide us with real pleasure and enjoyment.

May we all be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life, both for this World and the World to Come. And may we merit all the blessings that G'd wishes to bestow upon us so that we may use this lobby wisely to prepare for the feast in the banquet that awaits us.

These words were based on a talk given by Rabbi Avraham Kahn, the Rosh Yeshiva and Founder of Yeshivas Keser Torah in Toronto.

Shalom. Michael Deverett