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Adapted from Talmud Bavli, Rosh Hashanah (Rosh Hashanah 16b)
Edition William Davidson Edition - Vocalized Aramaic Translation English translation by Maggid , since no free public English translation of this passage exists.
License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC-BY-NC) Rabbi Kruspedai said that Rabbi Yochanan said: Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah: one of the thoroughly wicked, one of the thoroughly righteous, and one of the intermediate ones. The thoroughly righteous are written and sealed immediately for life; the thoroughly wicked are written and sealed immediately for death; the intermediate ones are left hanging in suspense from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur. If they merit, they are written for life; if they do not merit, they are written for death. Rabbi Avin said: What is the verse for this? "Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous" (Psalms 69:29). "Let them be blotted out of the book" - this is the book of the thoroughly wicked; "of life" - this is the book of the righteous; "and not be written with the righteous" - this is the book of the intermediate ones. It was taught: Beit Shammai say: There are three groups on the Day of Judgment: one of the thoroughly righteous, one of the thoroughly wicked, and one of the intermediate ones. The thoroughly righteous are written and sealed immediately for eternal life; the thoroughly wicked are written and sealed immediately for Gehinnom.
אָמַר רַבִּי כְּרוּסְפְּדַאי אָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: שְׁלֹשָׁה סְפָרִים נִפְתָּחִין בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, אֶחָד שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים גְּמוּרִין, וְאֶחָד שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִין, וְאֶחָד שֶׁל בֵּינוֹנִיִּים. צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִין — נִכְתָּבִין וְנֶחְתָּמִין לְאַלְתַּר לְחַיִּים, רְשָׁעִים גְּמוּרִין — נִכְתָּבִין וְנֶחְתָּמִין לְאַלְתַּר לְמִיתָה, בֵּינוֹנִיִּים — תְּלוּיִין וְעוֹמְדִין מֵרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה וְעַד יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים, זָכוּ — נִכְתָּבִין לְחַיִּים, לֹא זָכוּ — נִכְתָּבִין לְמִיתָה. אָמַר רַבִּי אָבִין, מַאי קְרָא: ״יִמָּחוּ מִסֵּפֶר חַיִּים וְעִם צַדִּיקִים אַל יִכָּתֵבוּ״. ״יִמָּחוּ מִסֵּפֶר״ — זֶה סִפְרָן שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים גְּמוּרִין, ״חַיִּים״ — זֶה סִפְרָן שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים, ״וְעִם צַדִּיקִים אַל יִכָּתֵבוּ״ — זֶה סִפְרָן שֶׁל בֵּינוֹנִיִּים. תַּנְיָא, בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים: שָׁלֹשׁ כִּתּוֹת הֵן לְיוֹם הַדִּין: אַחַת שֶׁל צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִין, וְאַחַת שֶׁל רְשָׁעִים גְּמוּרִין, וְאַחַת שֶׁל בֵּינוֹנִיִּים. צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִין — נִכְתָּבִין וְנֶחְתָּמִין לְאַלְתַּר לְחַיֵּי עוֹלָם, רְשָׁעִים גְּמוּרִין — נִכְתָּבִין וְנֶחְתָּמִין לְאַלְתַּר לְגֵיהִנָּם.
Commentary Some say that the world is not only judged on those holy days, but that God sits upon the Throne of Judgment and judges the world every day. The Books of the Living and the Books of the Dead are opened before him, and all the children of heaven stand before him in fear, dread, awe, and trembling. And in this world as well every being trembles before the eyes of God. Others say that God is a merciful God. Even as clouds are swept away by wind, so the iniquities of Israel are swept away in this world, as it is said, I wipe away your sins like a cloud (Isa. 44:22). For from the time He created Adam, God has known that if He held mankind to account for its successive misdeeds, the world would not endure. Therefore God remembers those who observe the Torah, but puts those who commit misdeeds out of mind. This means that God removes their names from the Book of Death and puts them in the Book of Life. There is a series of myths about heavenly books. Some of these are described as ledgers in which God keeps track of good and bad behavior. The best known of these myths concern the Books of Life and Death. The talmudic version lists three books all linked to Rosh ha-Shanah: the Book of Life, the Book of Death, and a book concerning the fate of the intermediate. However, for most Jews there is a conscious focusing on the Book of Life, while the Book of Death remains for the most part unnamed and largely unmentioned, and the notion of a third book has essentially vanished from the tradition. The current understanding is that a person's name is inscribed on Rosh ha-Shanah either in the Book of Life or the "Other Book," (i.e.. The Book of Death), but the name is not sealed until Yom Kippur. This is stated succinctly in the Talmud: "Man is judged on Rosh ha-Shanah and his fate is sealed on Yom Kippur" (B. RH 16a). Altogether, these ten days are known as the ten Days of Awe, and they serve as an intensive period of selfexamination and repentance, climaxing on the day of Yom Kippur. There is also an element of negotiating with God, as Abraham did concerning the fate of Sodom. The hope, of course, is to obtain God's forgiveness in order to change a negative fate. According to the Talmud ( B. RH 17b), "Great is the power of repentance; it can rescind a person's final sentence." There is a biblical precedent for these heavenly books, found m jpr pjni^h 17-1Tf ip guilt of Judah is inscribed with a stylus of iron, engraved with an adamant point. Another reference is found in Malachi 3:16, And a scroll of remembrance has been written at His behest. In Esther Rabbah 2:23, this is referred to as the Book of God. It is important to note that these heavenly books are not to be confused with the Torah. The general view is that they are for God's eyes alone. These other books were never handed down from heaven, as was the Torah. The one possible exception is The Book ofRaziel, said to have been given to Adam by the angel Raziel. However, The Book ofRaziel can be seen as a substitute for the Torah, until it was given at Mount Sinai. See "The Book of Raziel," p. 253. Another heavenly book is described by Ezekiel, who has a vision of the semblance of the Presence of the Lord (Ezek. 1:28), and hears a mysterious figure speaking, who tells him to " open your mouth and eat what I am giving you " (Ezek. 2:8): As I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me, holding a written scroll. He unrolled it before me, and it was inso bbed on both the front and the ba ck (Ezek. 2:9-10). Since scrolls are traditionally written on only one side, Ezekiel seems to be describing a new kind of book, one relevant to the inner, spiritual life, as well as to day to day existence in the world. Zechariah has a vision of a flying scroll, presumably of heavenly origin: "What do you see? " he asked. And I replied, "A flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide" (Zech. 5:1). The description of God seated on His Throne of Judgment derives from Daniel 7:9. 1 Enoch 47:3 has a vivid description of God seated on the Throne of Glory, with the Books of Life and Death open before him, and all of God's counselors standing there. 3 Enoch describes a pair of angels, whose full names are Shofariel YHVH Memit and Shofariel YHVH Mehayeh. They are the keepers of the Books, which are closed to
