Renewing Existence

And they sound the tekiah and the teruah while they are standing - in order to confound the Satan. And Rabbi Yitzchak said: Any year in which the shofar is not sounded at its beginning, calamity will be sounded for it at its end. What is the reason? Because the Satan was not confounded. And Rabbi Yitzchak said: Any year that is impoverished at its beginning becomes rich at its end, as it is said: "from the beginning of the year" (Deuteronomy 11:12) - it is written "me-reishit" [defectively, read as "me-rashah," "impoverished"]. "And to the end" - its end which has a future. And Rabbi Yitzchak said: A person is judged only according to his deeds at that moment, as it is said: "For God has heard the voice of the lad where he is" (Genesis 21:17). And Rabbi Yitzchak said: Three things bring a person's sins to remembrance, and these are they: a leaning wall, scrutinizing one's prayer [expecting it to be answered], and handing over judgment of one's fellow [to Heaven]. For Rabbi Avin said: Anyone who hands over judgment of his fellow is himself punished first, as it is said: "And Sarai said to Abram: My wrong be upon you" (Genesis 16:5), and it is written: "And Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her" (Genesis 23:2). And Rabbi Yitzchak said: Four things tear up the decree of judgment against a person, and these are they: charity, crying out, change of name, and change of deed. Charity, as it is written: "And charity delivers from death" (Proverbs 10:2). Crying out, as it is written: "And they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses" (Psalms 107:6). Change of name, as it is written: "Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah is her name" (Genesis 17:15), and it is written: "And I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son from her" (Genesis 17:16). Change of deed, as it is written: "And God saw their deeds" (Jonah 3:10), and it is written: "And God relented of the evil which He had said He would do to them, and did not do it" (Jonah 3:10). And some say: Also change of place, as it is written: "And the LORD said to Abram: Go forth from your land" (Genesis 12:1), and afterward: "And I will make you a great nation" (Genesis 12:2). And the other one [holds]: It was that merit of the Land of Israel that benefited him. And Rabbi Yitzchak said: A person is obligated to greet his teacher on the festival, as it is said: "Why are you going to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath" (II Kings 4:23) - from which it follows that on the new moon and Sabbath she ought to go. And Rabbi Yitzchak said: A person is obligated to purify himself on the festival, as it is said: "And their carcasses you shall not touch" (Leviticus 11:8). It was likewise taught in a baraita: "And their carcasses you shall not touch." One might think that the Israelites are warned against contact with a carcass; the verse therefore teaches: "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron" (Leviticus 21:1) - the sons of Aaron are warned, the children of Israel are not warned. But is this not an inference from minor to major: if regarding severe impurity the priests are warned and the Israelites are not warned, then regarding light impurity, all the more so? Rather, what does the verse "And their carcasses you shall not touch" teach? On the festival. Rabbi Kruspedai said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah - one of the completely wicked, one of the completely righteous, and one of the intermediate ones. The completely righteous are inscribed and sealed immediately for life. The completely wicked are inscribed and sealed immediately for death. The intermediate ones are left hanging from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. If they merit, they are inscribed for life; if they do not merit, they are inscribed for death. Rabbi Avin said: What is the verse? "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous" (Psalms 69:29). "Let them be blotted out of the book" - this is the book of the completely wicked. "Of the living" - this is the book of the righteous. "And not be written with the righteous" - this is the book of the intermediate ones. Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said: From here - "And if not, blot me, I pray, out of Your book which You have written" (Exodus 32:32). "Blot me, I pray" - this is the book of the wicked. "Out of Your book" - this is the book of the righteous. "Which You have written" - this is the book of the intermediate ones. It was taught in a baraita: Beit Shammai say: There are three groups at the Day of Judgment - one of the completely righteous, one of the completely wicked, and one of the intermediate ones. The completely righteous are inscribed and sealed immediately for eternal life. The completely wicked are inscribed and sealed immediately for Gehinnom, as it is said: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, these to eternal life and these to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence" (Daniel 12:2). The intermediate ones go down to Gehinnom.