See if you can fill in the blanks in this phrase: “On Rosh Hashanah it is ____, and on Yom Kippur it is ___.” (If you said “written” and “sealed,” gold star!) This famous prayer from the High Holy Days references an ancient story: that God keeps a record of all our deeds, habits, attitudes, and behaviors. Each year God tallies up our records and decides what will become of us in the new year, the Book of Life or the Book of Death. On Rosh Hashanah this decree is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.
The image of God keeping a record of the deeds of the living goes back all the way to ancient Mesopotamia, as does the image of being “inscribed” for a long life. Over time, this story has grown and shifted along with the times and the storytellers. The Talmud tells another version of this story: that on Rosh Hashanah God opens three books: one for the wicked, one for the righteous, and one for people in between. Righteous people are immediately sealed for life, wicked people for death, and those in the middle are left with judgment suspended until Yom Kippur. The rabbis further teach that people in the middle can change the decree by (among other things) doing good deeds, following the mitzvot (commandments), giving charity, crying out in prayer, changing one’s name, and changing one’s deeds for the better. (Rosh Hashanah 16b)
To keep this in perspective, the rabbis also teach that a person can at ANY time choose to engage in the process of T’shuvah, repentance, and when they do so it is as if they are an entirely new person, with a fresh slate. The image of the books, inscriptions, and heavenly decrees are part of a story we tell that goes back to ancient times, even before Judaism! Why have we continued to tell this story every year for countless generations? If we see this story as a metaphor rather than true in any literal sense, what is the value of the metaphor? What does it teach us? I believe there are three basic underlying principles that keep us coming back to this story every year.
1. Our actions have consequences. We know from our own lives that there is no predictable correlation between whether someone lives or dies and whether they are a good person. It just doesn’t work that way. However, if we drill down into the concept of a Book of Life, the bedrock of this image is that we exist in a universe which has basic rules that underpin reality (like the laws of physics) and within that system the choices we make affect the outcomes we experience. My choices can affect your life and your choices can affect mine.
2. We can change. Have you ever heard the brain referred to as being “plastic?” This means that our brains are adaptable. The input, thoughts, and choices we make “groove” pathways into our brains, but those pathways can be “repaved” by changing the inputs we experience and altering our thoughts and choices. This is easier when we are trying to change something short-term, as anyone who has tried to break a bad habit can tell you. Because every person’s body is different, most people will face their own unique challenges during this process, but on a basic fundamental level we can change our thoughts, emotions, and behaviors through applied effort. It might not be perfect, we might never reach our loftiest goals, but progress is always possible.
3. Change is a process. In work toward self-improvement there is no single moment when we flip a switch and are immediately on the other side. Rather, all change is a spectrum and a process taking place in increments over time. We see this represented in our story as the 10 Days of Awe, rather than one day, but this idea also takes us back to the month of Elul. If we were to stretch the story of “On Rosh Hashanah it is written” a little further, we could say, “During Elul we brainstorm and write draft after draft. We submit the final draft on Rosh Hashanah, and on Yom Kippur it is published.” Or “During Elul we do conditioning drill after conditioning drill. On Rosh Hashanah, the season begins, and on Yom Kippur the Superbowl.”
The month of Elul reminds us that change is a process, and that we should start NOW. Why would we need to pre-game for the High Holy Days? We already know that the theme of self-improvement so central to the High Holy Days is, in truth, something relevant all year round. If we see something about ourselves that can improve in March, are we supposed to wait until the 10 Days of Awe to make that effort? Of course not. The High Holy Days, then, are the annual reminder and audit. Ideally, we would be doing this all the time, but just in case we put a big item in our calendars every year to ensure we don’t fall too far behind in our personal growth. Elul is our annual reminder: Don't wait! Begin now!
Likewise, one of the most important lessons of Elul is “play like you practice, and practice like you play.” If in our practice we give only 75% of our “all,” then 75% is what we will be used to giving and we will not be able to sustain a higher level of performance at game-time. Elul is our annual reminder that no matter how good our intentions are, or how much we really did mean to get to this or that, until we start walking the walk, we have not really begun the work of self-improvement.
In the coming month and in the new year, may all our efforts be blessed. May we find the strength within us to put 100% into everything we need to in order to be the best version of ourselves we can be. Then truly can we live up to the words of our prayer: “On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.”
Shanah Tovah!
Cantor Sarah Beck-Berman
Cantor & B'nei Mitzvah Coordinator
Congregation Beth Ahabah
