Close To Torah

by R’ Binyomin Radner

The Gemara in Rosh Hashana 16B states that three books are open on Rosh Hashana . That of the completely righteous, the completely evil, and the half- and-half. The completely righteous are written and sealed immediately in the book of life. The completely wicked are written and sealed immediately in the book of death. The half- and- half are undecided until Yom Kippur. If they are found to be worthy at that time, they are sealed for life. If not, they are sealed for death.

Rashi and Tosfos both understand “completely righteous” to refer to one who has a majority of merits and “completely wicked” to refer to one who has a majority of sins. The obvious problem that many of the commentators deal with is that very many times, as we see, righteous people suffer and wicked people prosper. How are we to practically understand the Gemara telling us that on Rosh Hashana it is decreed that the righteous people live and that the wicked people die??

Tosfos answer that the Talmud’s mention of the “death of the wicked” and the “life of the righteous” actually refers to the afterlife in the world-to-come. The judgement on Rosh Hashana effects the world-to-come and not this world.

Of course this begs explanation as well: How are we to understand that the judgment of Rosh Hashana is actually a judgment on the world-to-come?

The Ran argues on Tosfos (according to the Gra’s understanding of the Ran) that the judgment of Rosh Hashana is, in fact, a judgment on “this world”. And the term “completely righteous” does not mean completely righteous in reality. Rather, in this specific judgment they are labeled “completely righteous”. Meaning, Hashem wishes to reward the wicked in this world for the little bit of good they have done in order that He may exact retribution from them in the world-to-come. In this regard, Hashem treats the wicked like they are righteous, specifically in this world. And so it is in the reverse. The truly righteous get treated as if they are wicked in this world, in order that they may be punished for the little bit of bad that they did so that they will get their full reward in the world-to-come.

The Ramban writes a similar approach to the Ran in the Sefer Shaar Hagmul that the judgement of Rosh Hashana is definitely on this world, and not on the world-to-come. He is adamant about this and brings many proofs as such.

The Chinuch has a different approach from the Ran and from Tosfos. In Mitzvah #311 the Chinuch writes that the Talmud is to be understood literally: “Completely righteous” and “completely evil” is as it sounds and is not referring to a majority of mitzvos or a majority of aveiros. This could possibly explain why it happens that the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer. They are not completely righteous nor completely evil, but somewhere in the middle. Thus, it is implicit in the Chinuch that one who does not fall into one of these two categories would fall into the other category of “beinunim” . His status remains undecided until Yom Kippur.

We could possibly take this one step further and say that according to the understanding of the Chinuch, most people would fall under the category of “beinunim” since most people are neither completely righteous nor completely evil. However, according to the understanding of Rashi and Tosfos, one who has a majority of mitzvos is labeled completely righteous and one with a majority of aveiros is labeled completely wicked.

The Sefer Sifsai Chayim page 102 points out that the Talmud writes even before this passage on the previous page (16A) a blanket statement that all people are judged on Rosh Hashana and their judgment is sealed on Yom Kippur. There, the Talmud does not differentiate between the different categories. This would seem to contradict the above-quoted passage that people are divided into three categories.

The Sifsai Chayim answers that on Rosh Hashana there are actually two judgments: One is on this world and one is on the world-to-come. He explains with a mashal. In the courts of the world, first it is decided whether one is innocent or guilty. Afterwards, if he is guilty, his punishment is meted out in the sentencing. So it is with the judgment of Rosh Hashana. The first judgment is on which category one will be placed in: Righteous, wicked, or middle. This is the judgment of the next world. Meaning, a person is being labeled and placed according to his spiritual status. For example, the Talmud in many places discusses what a “ben olam haba” is. This does not mean that he is living in olam haba right now. Rather, he is labeled a ben olam haba based on his actions, decisions, fear of G-d etc. This is the first part of judgment. Is the person a ben olam haba, a ben olam hazeh, or somewhere in the middle? Then, based on the spiritual status of a person (or lack thereof,) it is decided what will happen to him. Thus, all of the olam-hazeh-related matters are decided and “sentenced” based on one’s olam-haba-related status.

With this insight of the Sifsai Chayim, perhaps these two passages in the Gemara no longer seem contradictory, since there are actually 2 judgements taking place on Rosh Hashana. Furthermore, we can understand what Tosfos mean when they mention olam-haba-related judgment and how it very much effects olam-hazeh.

The Mishnas Reb Ahron Page 181 sheds more light upon this: He writes that the status of a person in olam-haba will be practically reflective in the amount of siyata dishmaya one will receive throughout the year to protect and further his spiritual state. As we find, Chazal say מלגלין זכות על ידי זכאי וחובה על ידי חייב”". Heaven arranges that good things “happen to come” through deserving people and bad things “happens to come” through liable people. On Rosh Hashana, first it is decided whether a person is meritorious or liable. Then, based on his meritorious or liable status, it is then decided whether good things will be done through him or bad things will be done through him. This could also be a practical example of how judgment on spiritual status affects a person’s everyday life and all of the seemingly coincidental events that transpire in a person’s life throughout the year.

May we all merit to be written and sealed in the book of life for all judgements.

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The author can be reached at  benradner@gmail.com.