Parshat Ha'azinu
by Rabbi Avi Billet
The Talmud (Rosh Hashana 16a) has an interesting discussion about how Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur work in terms of Judgment, Verdict and the fulfillment of the decree.
A basic assumption is that Rosh Hashana, also known as the Yom HaDin, Day of Judgment, is when the judgment is written down, while on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the verdict is sealed. It’s like a day of reckoning.
And, of course, the judgment is always Life or Death.
But there’s an obvious question and a not as obvious question. The obvious question is, if the Verdict is sealed on Yom Kippur, that means there wasn’t a verdict for around 10 days. What do we make of those who die between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur?
The not as obvious question – which is a deep philosophical, theological, and ontological question – is “Is it really that simplistic?” Meaning, life and death are decided now? If my verdict is death, can I not do teshuvah? Is there no possible reversal of this decree if I have a complete turnaround? Besides, why should I die if I’m good? Why do the bad seem to be given life every year? More confusing, is death always a punishment? Meaning, of course it’s difficult for those who are left behind, who mourn the passing of their loved one or friend. But maybe God wanted the soul of this person because the person was so incredible! It’s hard for us, the living, to reconcile such a position. But it is certainly possible that not every death is considered a punishment.
Much of our perception of life and death and Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is planted in our minds based on the chilling and powerful prayer of U’Nesaneh Tokef. And it is a heart-breaker for all of us. Because when we read through it and we recall all those who did not die a natural death at an old age, we wonder – was their awful end, whether by drowning, a car or plane crash, smoke inhalation, a fire, a terrorist bombing, shooting or stabbing, falling on a battlefield – was that their decree on Rosh Hashana which was sealed on Yom Kippur?
היתכן? Could it really be? Did the composer of U’Nesaneh Tokef get it right? Or is the drama of the passage chilling, but not so clearly a reflection of reality? Certainly one of the opinions in the Talmud, that of Rabbi Nathan, is that every person is judged every moment of life!
Let’s tackle the first question – of how we are to view those who pass between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
The Shaagas Aryeh, in his Turei Even on that Talmudic passage, writes the following: “[Since] a person is judged on Rosh Hashana, and his verdict is sealed on Yom Kippur, and judging of this person is based on both the past and the future (presumably because God knows the person’s potential and the person’s future – AB). The verdict comes on Yom Kippur! But the beginning of the actual consequence only begins after Yom Kippur.
Since the verdict (gzar din) comes on Yom Kippur, the implication is that verdicts are actually carried out from Yom Kippur to Yom Kippur.
Therefore the days from Rosh Hashana until Yom Kippur are a reflection of last year’s gzar din.”
Statistically speaking (this is a statistic arrived at through doing basic math) the 2.7% chance people have to pass away during this ten day period, in this one thirty-sixth of the year, might be a reflection of an incredible status achieved by those who merit.
The fact that the Talmud debates this means it’s open for discussion. The words of the Turei Even suggest that their judgment was issued a year ago, when God declared “This will be your last year, but it will be the longest ‘last year’ you can possibly have.”
What an incredible sentiment! Your last year... AND YOU GET AN EXTENSION.
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In a sense, Haazinu confirms the best of the worst and the best of the best for the Jewish people, while it concludes with a very personal account of what God will wreak on non-believers and enemies of God’s people.
Some sample snippets, beginning with 32:36: “God will then take up the cause of His people, and comfort His servants…[God] will then say: Where is their god, the power in which [non-believers] trusted?...But now see! It is I! I am the [only] One! There are no [other] gods with Me! I kill and give life! …I am Life forever…I will bring vengeance against My foes, and repay those who hated Me… Let the tribes of His nation sing praise, for He will avenge His servants' blood. He will bring vengeance upon His foes, and reconcile His people [to] His land.”
This is not a “politically correct” speech, of course, but as God is not running for election, He can say what He wants.
Then, in 32:45, we read “When Moshe had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, 'Pay close attention to all the words through which I warn you today, so that you will be able to instruct your children to keep all the words of this Torah carefully. It is not an empty teaching for you. It is your life, and with it you will long endure on the land which you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.'”
On this last verse, Rashi (32:47) has a very important comment. He says the Torah is not a volunteer system. There is reward to be given to those who follow it. Furthermore, he says, there is no such thing as a pointless verse in the Torah from which you can not learn profound lessons. Even the identity of Timna in Bereishit 36 is used to show how much people wanted to marry into Abraham’s family.
Chizkuni also has a profound comment. Torah study should never be viewed as a useless and worthless pursuit. If we don’t study it, we won’t know what is a transgression and a culpable punishment, and what is a mitzvah (commandment) which merits one great reward.
If my assessment of those who pass away between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is on target (who will prove my theory wrong?), then a lot of credit goes to the 2.7% of people who pass away in this period. They were extraordinary, remarkable Jews.
Parshat Ha’azinu gives all of us the ingredients to become extraordinary, remarkable Jews ourselves. We must become Jewishly literate. We can never stop and be satisfied with what we knew in high school or even with what we’ve learned up until now.
Some people are happy if their children know more than they know. But this is one New Year’s resolution that must be renewed year after year because the previous sentence is wrong. With so many books in print, in Hebrew and in English, there is no excuse for any Jew to not seek more knowledge.
Devarim 30:14 states: “It is something that is very close to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it.” A Hassidic teaching on this verse explains, “It is close to you. You say (in your mouth) you want to do it. You feel (in your heart) that you want to do it. Well, now it’s time to put up. Go do it!”
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As to the second question, which addressed whether we really only have a 10-day window during which our fate for the coming year is sealed, as well as whether death is always a punishment, I think the answer MUST be that the premise is simply untrue.
Teshuva is possible all year round! A person can always change one’s ways! We have the power to choose life, and to take important steps to change our trajectory at any time!
At the same time, to assume that death is always a punishment is to make very bold assumptions about how God runs the world.
For example, Haksav V’hakabbalah compares the way God accepts the offerings at the end of Vayikra chapter 9, at the dedication of the Mishkan, to how Nadav and Avihu are taken – the exact same words are used ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל – and he uses that parallel to suggest God was equally בשמחה - joyous - taking the offerings and the young men.
Moshe Rabbenu even said “God had said He’d be sanctified with His holiest people!” There was no punishment here!
The first person to be “taken by God” was Chanoch in the book of Bereshis. And by and large the perspective shared about Chanoch is that he was SO HOLY that God wanted his soul back. Everyone else lives to 800s, 900s. He lives to 365. A young man!
This is not to say that those who lived through these particular passings did not feel pain. Of course they did. But that was because losing someone close to us is painful. We will miss the person terribly. But to assume the person was punished is even more painful! How could we reconcile that the person we loved, who was indeed such a good person, was punished with a judgment for death? We can’t! Which is why we are so confident after Yom Kippur that everyone has gotten a positive Verdict!
I came across a fascinating comment of the Alshikh on Parshat Nitzavim which has changed my entire perception of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. Because it turns a head on U’Nesaneh Tokef and suggests we are going about this all wrong.
The Alshikh says that what we are judged for at this time of year is whether our destination will be to “Gehinnom” (purgatory) versus “Chayei Olam” (eternal life).
In other words, our deeds inform less whether we will live or die in the coming year, but what kind of stock we are building for the journey our souls will take when our time on Earth is over.
Even the U’Nesaneh Tokef prayer says some will die בקצו ומי לא בקצו. At his (or her) set time or not at his (or her) set time. What set time? Who sets this time? How does a person know how much time we are meant to have?
We don’t know. Which is why I believe that image refers to what we humans perceive as a person’s “set time.” No one says about a 100 year old, “Oy nebich. So young!” A 100 year old is expected to die - even though at times we think they just might live forever. But we say about (lo aleinu) children, teens, anyone under 70, and even people under 80(!), “Too young to die!” We tell ourselves that it was לא בקצו. But we have no idea what we’re talking about!
Who is to say what each person’s mission in life is? Who is to say when a person’s תפקיד in life is or is not complete? Every person has a purpose in life. A person of faith understands that when that purpose ends or comes to its conclusion, that is the person’s time. That is the Master of the World's way.
This very easily explains how wicked people can live year after year while wonderful people – whether old, or tragically very young – might die.
It is painful! It is very hard for those left behind! We loved the person! We will miss the person! But if we look at it as if their stock for going to Chayei Olam was flowing over and God said, “I want this Neshama (soul),” then we can begin to understand, or at least come to terms with what has happened, despite our pain, our longing, and our sense of loss.
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