On Rosh HaShanah, we attend synagogue wearing the nicest of clothes as it begins a New Year (lit. “Head of the Year), praying through lengthy prayers, while hearing the call of the Shofar. What typically comes to mind of Rosh HaShanah is the ‘sweet’ New Year, where we dip apples in honey and eat delicious round challah loves symbolizing the spiral of time and us moving forward into a new circuit, we can lose the essence of what Rosh HaShanah truly is: Yom HaDin, ie. “The Day of Judgment.”

Many times, we think Yom Kippur is the Day of Judgment because that is when we fast and pray and seek atonement for our sins, however, according to Jewish sources, it is Rosh HaShanah, that each and every individual is judged by HaShem. “On Rosh Hashanah all of mankind pass before Him like sheep -they pass by Him one by one, one after the other, yet He scrutinizes them all with a single glance.”(Rosh HaShanah 8a). This is the Day HaShem judges each and every one of us. The sages say, it is this day that HaShem records whether we will be inscribed in the Book of Life or Death, or have our judgment delayed until Yom Kippur. It is this day that  echoes  the Master’s teaching, that when He comes and sits upon His Throne (to judge), all nations will be gathered and He will separate them as a shepherd separates sheep from goats (Matthew 25:31-32). This is why it is extremely important to do the deep work of Teshuvah BEFORE the Call of the Shofar. Moreover, it is through those 100 Blasts of the Shofar,  our soul is stirred to even do greater Teshuvah before Yom Kippur, where our final judgment is officially sealed. It is on Rosh HaShanah, the Head of the Year, that everything is written for our lives in the coming year. Heaven makes Its judgment, but it is in our hands if we sweeten that judgment through our Teshuvah, our repentance.

This is the day that the Spiritual DNA is coded into the year, and HaShem gives us the ability to help Him write it. The choice is yours, will you know before Whom you stand on Rosh HaShanah, having done all that you could do, so that HaShem would remember your deeds for life? May we do the deep work of Elul, so that we can write a beautiful symphony of a Year with the King of the Universe, proclaiming Him King, following His Son, Yeshua, King Messiah, and actualizing the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. “Leshana tovah tikatev v’tichatem,” “May you be inscribed and sealed for a Good Year.”