The Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 3:4) writes, "Everyone should consider himself as being 50% righteous (זכאי) and 50% guilty (חייב), and also he should think that the world is 50% righteous and 50% guilty. If he does an aveirah, he will tip his own scale and the scale of the entire world to the side of guilt, bringing destruction to the world. And if he does a mitzvah, he will tip himself and the entire world to the side of merit, bringing salvation to him and the entire world. Therefore, from Rosh Hashanah until Yom Kippur, Bnei Yisrael increase tzedakah, good deeds, and mitzvos even more than the rest of the year. Everyone awakens early during these ten days to daven in the beis knesses until daybreak."
As we wrote above, giving tzedakah is a segulah for a good judgment, and this is especially true when one increases giving tzedakah during Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. Rabbeinu Efraim writes that this is hinted at in the words (Devarim 16:20), למען תרדוף צדק צדק וירשת תחיה, which can be translated as follows: תרדוף צדק צדק, run after the mitzvah of צדקה. Why? תחיה למען, so that you will be written in the Book of Life. וירשת implies that you should give tzedakah תשרי 'ו during six days of Aseres Yemei Teshuvah. (We can't give tzedakah on the two days of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Shabbos Shuvah. This leaves us with six days when we can give tzedakah.)
There are many mitzvos we can perform, which will tip the scale in our favor. One year, erev Yom Kippur, the Chasam Sofer zt'l thought of a shidduch for an orphan boy with an orphan girl and asked his daughter to be the shadchan. She replied, "I will take care of it right after Yom Kippur." The Chasam Sofer asked her to take care of it immediately because he wanted this merit for Yom Kippur.
Later that day, she returned to her father and said, "The orphan boy is concerned about the shidduch because the girl doesn't have any money." The Chasam Sofer replied, "Tell him he will have parnassah his entire life. Perhaps he won't be wealthy, but he will have parnassah." The Chasam Sofer's daughter passed on the message, and the shidduch was finalized that day.
Arranging the shidduch took some time, and the Chasam Sofer arrived to beis medresh for Kol Nidrei later than usual. The gabai pointed to the clock, hinting that it was late. The Chasam Sofer told him, "It isn't late. Heaven begins the judgment when I say Kol Nidrei."
The end of this story grants us a glimpse of the greatness of the Chasam Sofer. Heaven began the judgment when the Chasam Sofer said Kol Nidrei. How many people can make such a statement? It is also said that the Chasam Sofer's son-in-law saw a pillar of fire in the Chasam Sofer's home on erev Yom Kippur and fainted from fright. The Chasam Sofer told him that the pillar of fire was Eliyahu HaNavi. It is almost unnecessary to elaborate on these matters as the greatness of the Chasam Sofer is well renowned. Yet, despite the Chasam Sofer's greatness, he felt he needed one more mitzvah before the day of judgment.
We should do the same. We should ask ourselves, "What good deed can I do to merit a good year? What good kabbalah can I undertake that can tip the scales in my favor?"
