Rabbi Marc D. Rudolph

Rabbi Kruspedai said in the name of Rabbi Yohanan: On Rosh Hashanah, three books are opened— one for the thoroughly righteous, one for the thoroughly wicked, and one for those who are neither wholly righteous nor wholly wicked.

The thoroughly righteous are immediately inscribed and sealed for life. The thoroughly wicked are immediately inscribed and sealed for death. Those in the intermediate group are left suspended in a state of uncertainty between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. If they are found worthy, they are inscribed for life; if not, they are inscribed for death.

Rabbi Shlomo Kluger asks: The righteous and the wicked are both inscribed and sealed, yet regarding the intermediates or suspended ones,  the text says only that they are inscribed. Why are they not also sealed?

He answers: One of God’s attributes is Rav Chesed—abundant in kindness—which means that God tilts the scales of judgment toward compassion. God interprets our actions in the most generous light. But the Talmud also teaches, “The seal of the Holy One is truth” (Shabbat 55a). When God places His seal on something, it signifies authenticity.

This, Rabbi Kluger explains, is why those in the intermediate group are inscribed but not sealed. Their inscription is not the result of fully realized repentance; rather, it reflects God’s decision to deal kindly with them. They receive a place in the Book because of divine compassion, but they are not given the seal of truth—because their repentance has not yet reached the level of full sincerity, of authenticity.

During these High Holidays, may we take a full and honest inventory of our actions this past year, identifying where we need forgiveness, where we must make restitution, and where change is overdue. Let us strive with all our strength to return sincerely. And if our efforts still fall short of complete authenticity, may we take comfort in knowing that God, who is Rav Chesed, meets us with compassion and inscribes us in the Book of Life out of love as well as judgment. 

Shana Tova Tikatevu