Aseret Yemai Teshuvah: We Are Hanging in the Balance

The Talmud tells us there are three books open before Hashem on Rosh Hashanah:

1. רשעים - the evil/ non-observers,

2. צדיקים - righteous observers,

3. בינונים - those in the middle, the average Jew.

On Rosh Hashanah, books one and three are signed and sealed, the righteous for life and the evil for death. But the average person, the בינוני, is

תלוין ועומדין מראש השנה עד יום כיפור - זכו לחיים, לא זכו למיתה, loosely translated they are “hanging in the balance,” or their judgement is deferred until Yom Kippur. Whereupon if they merit it, they will be written for life. If not, they will be written for death.

The commentators have lots to discuss on this passage. Many search to understand the notion that the Talmud; is it promising all the righteous are written for life and the evil to death, when our observations in the world do not support that? How to define the tsadik and rasha in this passage is also not simple. Let’s leave that for another time. Lets focus on the last segment, discussing the ביננוני as it is likely describes most of us average Jews.

The Rambam quotes this description of the three books in the laws of Teshuva, but uncharacteristically, he changes the language in a subtle, yet significant way. He writes

תולין אותו מראש השנה עד יום כיפור – ואם עשו תשובה נחתם לחיים, ואם לא עשו תשובה, נחתם למיתה. This means that it is not a question of our “meriting” life per se, but we have to actively do teshuva to merit life.

This presents a few challenges:

1. When one studies the Rambam regularly, it is clear he goes to great lengths to maintain the integrity of the original text in the Talmud. If so, why did the Rambam change the language here?
2. Why is it even true? Why must we do this involved teshuvah process to merit life? If the average Jew is a beinoni, someone in the middle, someone with 50% merits and 50% aveirot, why can’t we simply do more mitzvot during these days to be moved to the book of life? Let’s give some extra tzedaka, refrain from lashon hora and let that tip the scales for us? Why the need for teshuvah?
3. Why does the Talmud say there are three books on Rosh Hashana? Isn’t the Talmud really describing two books on Rosh Hashanah? The Righteous and the evil? The average people are pushed off until Yom Kippur! So why state there are three books?

To gain insight into what our sages are trying to teach us here, let us look at three approaches that will help us resolve these challenges.

Approach #1

The famous commentator on the Ramabam, Lechem Mishneh suggests the reason we can’t simply do a few extra mitzvoth to tip the scales is because choosing not to do teshuvah is actually a sin that would tip the scales in the other direction. Rav Yitzchok Blazer adds that although Hashem has given us the gift of repentance and it can be done any day of the year, these ten days of repentance are days when Hashem is begging us to return to Him. In actuality, not doing Teshuvah is worse than any mitzvah we could possible do during these days. If is for this reason the Rambam emphasizes we must do teshuvah to merit life. So much so, that he did not want us to misunderstand the words of the Talmud – זכו – to merit; do not think that is some luck or mazel that we might get if Hashem is in the right mood. Rather, we need to earn it through systematically introspecting and changing our ways.

Approach #2

Rav Chaim Shmulewitz in his famous work, Sichot Musser, suggests a compelling, yet scary approach. When the Talmud writes תולין אותו, it does NOT mean that the judgement is deferred. Rather from the word Talui, to hang, Hashem actually judges the beinoni for death on Rosh Hashanah, as if we are on the gallows with a noose around our necks. But unlike the Rasha who is sealed for death on Rosh Hashana, the beinoni is given the 10 days of repentance to do teshuvah and uproot the death sentence. In other words, doing a few random acts of mitzvot will not uproot a death sentence; we have to really change who are and who we want to become. Again, this helps us understand why teshuvah is absolutely necessary and for this reason the Rambam didn’t want us to misunderstand the words of the Talmud. I believe this approach also helps us understand why the Talmud states that there are three active books on Rosh Hashana, for the beinoni really is being judged on that day.

Approach #3

Rav Yitzchak Hutner in his famous work, Pachad Yitzchak, suggests another way to approach the entire passage of the Talmud. He says that the three books and the three groups of people should not be understood in an immature, Kindergarten type of way, where the צדיק is 100% good, the רשע 100% bad and the בינוני 50% good and 50% bad. He argues that these categories are a מידה בנפש or a character description of who we really are. A רשע is someone whose predisposition is not to take the Torah and halacha into account in guiding his actions, while the צדיק is someone who generally does use the Torah and halacha to guide his actions. What then is a בינוני? He is someone who has no inner, spiritual definition. Sometimes he does this, sometimes that, sometimes good, sometimes bad; but there is no predisposition to either. Rav Hutner suggests that the Rambam is teaching us that to be written into the book of life, we need to define who we really are. We shouldn’t look at our Judaism in way of middle of the road in that we do some mitzvot but look the other way on others. No one is perfect, but we need to recognize that the areas of the Torah that we are not perfect in are areas we need to work on and grow with over time. Once again, doing some random mitzvoth cannot accomplish that; we need a systematic, holistic and honest look at who we are, who we want to become and how we are going to get there. For this reason, the Rambam veered from the language of the Talmud to teach us this invaluable lesson.

Regardless of which approach you connect to, the message seems obvious and direct. As orthodox Jews, we need to remind ourselves what the high holy days are really about. We have to be prepared to take an honest look at ourselves and evaluate if we are really living the life Hashem wants for us. Are we keeping the Torah and mitzvot as best as we can? Are we growing each year in our observance?

May the merit of our collective teshuvah reach the heavens and compel Hashem to write us all into the book of life.

גמר חתימה טובה!