According to rabbinic tradition, o
n the Day of Judgment, God - the Divine Judge - sits on the Heavenly Throne with a large old-fashioned scale with two sides in front of Him.
One side holds the quantification of our good deeds, and the other side holds the quantification of the sins we have committed.
While the worth of our life's deeds appear on the two sides of the scale, both we and God anxiously wait to see in which direction the scale will tip. And, subsequently, whether we will be inscribed in the Book of Life, or not.
While the traditional metaphor is powerful, there is another way to understand the midrashic teaching.
The Divine Scale certainly has power in its imagery, but I prefer the notion that it isn't our actions that stand before God and are judged, but that we personally stand as a whole being in front of God.
God doesn't so much judge what we have done and not done, but rather God looks at the entirety of who we are, and who we should be.
Before an artist creates a sculpture, he simply begins with a stone. In the process of transforming the stone into a work of art, it does not matter how many times the master artist has struck with his chisel, nor even the mistakes made and then corrected.
The process isn't what is ultimately important, as much as the final result.
As Jews, we believe we are born with a Divine obligation by which we must discover the beauty within ourselves, and with our life's chisel help carve out the final product that is truly beautiful inside and out.
For us, the chisel we utilize are the Mitzvot, God Commandments, as taught within our Torah.
The Talmud declares that the "purpose of the Torah is to perfect the human being"
On Rosh Hashanah we stood before God and let God examine us, all the while examining ourselves. We ask where we still need to correct the flaws within ourselves as a means to better perfecting our whole being.
Then, during these days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we pursue the needed corrections with the mitzvah of teshuvah (repentance).
We begin by noting with regret what sins we might have committed. Next
, we promise ourselves to not repeating our wrong actions.
Finally, we confess out loud, with others present, the sins we have had committed, and attempt to bring about a true reconciliation.
According to Maimonides, not only must we correct our behavior, but we must correct our mindset.
We need to internalize our commitment so as to move from actions committed, to the mindset itself.
When we have truly distanced ourselves internally from a certain desire, then we help to assure that we don't repeat an undesired behavior.
Intentionality is challenging, but worthwhile.
Success in this endeavor lets us move from our minds to our hearts. We intellectually become in sync with our emotions so as to be more effective moving forward.
Even when we have externally "cleansed" ourselves, the change of behavior isn't enough.
We need to continue to address the hard work of both intellectually and emotionally finding the "sweet spot" for our moving forward in the direction we wish to best travel.
As we approach Yom Kippur, we wish to acquire forgiveness; even more importantly, we want to find a better means by which to change for the better.
We not only wish to repair ourselves but to improve ourselves.
We do this so we can stand before God and even under close scrutiny, know that God is happy with the road we are choosing to travel.
Gemar Chatimah Tovah - A Good Closing Seal for a Happy, Healthy & Peaceful New Year!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mitch
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