The Process Of Judgement And Amazon.com

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I. Order Confirmation

The Judgment process in Heaven can be explained with a simple mashal (analogy), Amazon.com; order and delivery. When it comes to placing an order on Amazon, step one is to choose an item and place the order.

The Gemara (Rosh HaShanah 16b) tells us that on Rosh HaShanah Hashem sits on the Throne of Judgement and has three books that are opened before Him. The book of "absolutely evil," "absolutely righteous" and the book of those who are 50/50. Mankind is judged based on their actions and are written and inscribed either favorably or unfavorably regarding their fate in this world. [1]

Hashem wants to send (“order”) us the best and prosperous new year. However it all depends on what we are able to “afford” (with the amount of mitzvot, prayers, character improvement, and teshuva we do). Hashem in His infinite kindness, does not immediately execute the order immediately. Instead, He gives us time to repent and turn away from our wrongdoings (starting from the month of Elul)  which is the ‘currency’ that we can use to purchase a prosperous new year.

The prayers, the shofar blasts (See Ch. 8), the meals, and everything else that is done on Rosh HaShanah are all about making our judgment sweeter. We must all come prepared for the divine trial, and have a strong case to make in our defense, when the ‘order’ for the coming year is ‘placed’.

 

II. Order Pending

Once the new year and its course is set on Rosh HaShanah, Hashem, in His infinite kindness, gives us more opportunities to change our course. Just like on ‘Amazon’, before the package is sent out, one has the option to easily cancel the order, so too Hashem also gives us such an opportunity. There is a 10-day interim period between Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur where Hashem makes Himself "available" [2] and one can change the course of the coming year to the better (through our prayers, improving one's character and repentance).

The Zohar (Vayechi 219b) writes that it is much harder to change the decree after Yom Kippur. After Yom Kippur is over it will take much more (mitzvot, prayers, tzedakah etc) to change one’s decree. During the 10-days of repentance, one should take the advantage to improve one's character, give more charity, increase good deeds, and learn Torah, perform proper repentance and pray to Hashem for a good and prosperous new year.

Rav Chayim Vital writes in the name of the Arizal (Sha’ar Hakavanot 90c) that the 10 days of repentance from Rosh HaShanah to Yom Kippur are very holy and one who fasts and performs proper repentance on any of these 10 days (excluding Shabbat, Rosh HaShanah itself, and the day before Yom Kippur) rectifies everything one has blemished in his entire life on that particular day of the week! [3]

 

III. Preparing for Shipping

Just like any item comes sealed and wrapped in its own factory sealed package (SEAL #1) and is subsequently placed in an Amazon box or envelope (SEAL #2), so is our Judgement package for the upcoming year.

(SEAL #1) On Yom Kippur the final judgment is sealed [4] during the neilah [5] prayer. The mekubalim call this the first Hotam [6] (seal). If the verdict is negative, the situation is pretty dim as the verdict has already been signed (custom made and packaged).

Prior to the final seal of Yom Kippur, we preform many customs to arouse teshuvah such as kapparot, and malkot (lashes). We ask for forgiveness from each other (as Yom Kippur doesn’t atone sins between a man and his fellow) and come to the synagogue after immersing in the mikveh and dressed in all white.

However, Hashem with His infinite mercy gave us more time to appeal the verdict. We can still change the decree (although not as easy as before Yom Kippur).

(SEAL #2) Hashem with His abundant mercy waits with patience before carrying out the judgment. Even though the coming New Year has already been “packaged and sealed” one can still change the decree (albeit with more effort than before). The package still requires a second seal (an Amazon box or envelope) and given over to a messenger for delivery.

The second seal occurs on the 7th day of Sukkot known as Hoshana Rabah [7] when our final judgment is sealed.

Hoshana Rabbah is known to be a day of judgement for water (Rosh HaShanah 16a). But only the Zohar reveals to us that it is also a day for the second seal [8]. Many of the customs of Hoshanah Rabbah are connected to the day being a continuation of Yom Kippur.

- The Rishonim [9] bring down a custom of going out to the shade of the moon to see if their shadow is complete. Depending on the appearance of the shadow, it is possible to tell if one (or other family members) will survive the year. The poskim advice against this practice since we do not understand exactly how to perform it.

- Many communities recite some parts of selichot during the night.

The Arizal explains that to get a good seal and verdict for the coming year one should finish reading the entire book of Devarim before halachic midnight. The Ben Ish Chai [10] writes that since this tikkun helps seals one’s verdict for the coming year, women should also read the book of Devarim before halachic midnight.

In the morning, after the hakafot (where we also find some parts of selichot as well) one should take five aravot and bang them directly on the ground (and not on stone or pavement) five times. One should have in mind while banging that the five beatings should correspond to mantzapach (the five letters in the Hebrew alphabet that appear only at the end of words) that signify harsh judgments in the world which we are trying to eliminate.

Beating the 5 aravot opens the temporary seal placed on Yom Kippur and allows new information to penetrate Hashem’s decision for our final inscription.

 

IV. Order Shipped

The mekubalim [11] explain that even though the final verdict (seal #2) is sealed at midnight of Hoshanah Rabba, the messengers are not allowed to carry out the verdict until Shemini Atzeret [12].

On Shemini Atzeret (during mussaf) the verdict containing the decree are handed off to the Heavenly officers (charged specifically with this mission) to be delivered and carried out. Thus, if by then one has succeeded in doing proper teshuva the sentence can still be altered and changed to our benefit.

An excerpt from: “Hillel Omer: A Journey Through Jewish Law and Minhag,” available on Amazon.com. For comments and questions feel free to reach out to the author at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

By Rabbi Nissan Shalomayev
Rav, Bukharian Jewish Cong. of Hillcrest, Kehilat Ohr V’Achdut