Yom Kippur 5771

Our sages teach that the judgment of Rosh Hashana classifies everyone into one of three groups.

Those whose merits outweigh their demerits are deemed righteous and are written for the book of life.

Those whose demerits outweigh their merits are deemed wicked and are written for the book of death.

The judgments of those in the middle are held in suspense until Yom Kippur. If they repent then they are written for the book of life. If they do not repent then they are written for the book of death.

Commentaries write that the judgments refer to life and death in the after-life.

They note that most of us fall into the middle group.

They also note that adding more merits to overweigh the demerits has no effect on the judgment of Yom Kippur.

Rather, assessment is done once, on Rosh Hashana.

The only thing that helps a person on Yom Kippur is change and restoration.

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Courtesy of JewishAmerica
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