The Gemara (Rosh Hashana 16b) tells us that Hashem opens three seforim on Rosh Hashana – one for resha’im, one for tzadikim, and the third for beinonim, those who are somewhere in the middle. He then writes their verdict. The reshaim are immediately condemned to death, and the tzadikim are immediately inscribed for life. However, the beinonim are given an additional ten days, until Yom Kippur, to influence the judgment one way or another. If the beinoni does teshuva, he will be inscribed for life; otherwise, he will be sentenced to death.
The Ramban poses an intriguing question. Why does the beinoni have to do teshuva? A beinoni is someone who has an equal amount of mitzvos and aveiros. If so, the path before him is simple and easy. By doing just one more mitzva, he will tip the scales in his favor. The mitzvos will outweigh the aveiros, and he would be inscribed with the tzadikim. Why does he need to deal with his aveiros?
We find several illuminating answers. Some say that the judgment on Rosh Hashana is solely for the previous year’s actions. Any new mitzvos one performs will accrue to his merits of the new year. The only way to affect last year’s account is to do teshuva, which erases his aveiros retroactively.
Rav Hutner, in his sefer Pachad Yitzchok, adds another insight. A beinoni is not someone who happens to have exactly fifty percent mitzvos and fifty percent aveiros. The likelihood of such a scenario is miniscule! Rather, the difference between these groups of people is qualitative, not quantitative. A tzadik is someone properly aligned with Torah and mitzvos, who generally makes the right decisions. A rasha, on the other hand, associates with the wrong things, and usually makes poor decisions. According to this understanding, it follows that a beinoni is someone who straddles the fence, and lives in a constant state of flux. Occasionally he gets pulled in one direction, but at other times, the tug from the other side is too strong to resist. His performance does not out him squarely in either camp.
Therefore, performing an additional mitzva will not change this person’s status one iota. He is still the same beinoni, and the only way to change that is to do teshuva and become someone else, to align himself firmly with the right side. Only then can we consider him a tzadik and inscribe him in the sefer hachaim.
With this insight, we can explain an interesting comment of Rashi. The Gemara (Rosh Hashana 16b) cites two similar descriptions of the Day of Judgement. Both passages discuss the same three groups of people - the tzadikim, the resha’im, and the beinonim. In the first Gemara, Rashi does not explain the term beinoni. It is only in the second passage that Rashi comments that this beinoni has an exactly equal amount of mitzvos and aveiros. According to Rav Hutner’s explanation, this is perfectly understandable. The first Gemara refers to the judgment on Rosh Hashana. As we explained, a beinoni is someone without a clear affiliation, and this does not correlate to the precise ratio of mitzvos vs. aveiros. Therefore, Rashi does not mention the amount of mitzvos or aveiros. However, the second Gemara discusses the ultimate judgment, when one is sent to gan eden or gehinom. In that case, Rashi’s comment is understandable. It is perfectly logical for the majority of one’s actions to determine his eventual fate.
Rabbi Elimelech Biderman shared an interesting story. Reb Yankel was planning a trip to Eretz Yisroel, where he would lead a group involved in kiruv. The last few days before the trip were very hectic, and he barely managed to grab a few hours of sleep here and there. The night before the trip, Reb Yankel arranged for a driver to pick him up at two o’clock in the morning, so that he could make his flight at five am. He woke at one-thirty, as planned, but he was so tired that he fell right back asleep. The driver came on time, but two o’clock came and went, and Reb Yankel was nowhere to be seen. He honked, he called his cell phone, all to no avail. Finally, at two-thirty, he got out of his car and began to bang on the door. Finally, he succeeded at rousing Reb Yankel, who quickly gathered his belongings and rushed out of the house. In his haste, and due to his somewhat hazy state of mind, he grabbed a large bag sitting by the door along with his suitcase. On the way to the airport, the driver did not stop berating him for his carelessness and for the delay. Reb Yankel kept quiet, and did not respond, comforting himself with the thought of boarding the plane in a short while, and putting this difficult start behind him. And after all, gan zu l’tova, everything Hashem does is for the best.
When they reached the airport, Reb Yankel grabbed his luggage and hurried over to the security line. He faithfully answered their questions, assuring them that he had packed his bags himself and that they contained nothing dangerous. However, when he put his bags through the x-ray scanner, the machine began to beep vigorously. They opened the bag he had grabbed at the last minute, and found it full of garbage, including many empty metal cans! Apparently, he had left a garbage bag next to the door, intending to throw it out on his way to the car, and he had mistakenly brought it along to the airport.
Yankel was taken into a side room for questioning. After some time, he convinced them of his unfortunate mistake, and the guards released him. Miraculously, his plane had not yet taken off, and he made the flight.
Sitting on the plane, he contemplated the entire harrowing ordeal. The verbal attack from the driver, the unpleasant encounter with the security personnel, and the flight he nearly missed. It all started, he realized, when he had overslept. “If I would have woken on time,” he thought, “I would have had a clear head, and never would have taken the garbage bag along. I could have avoided all this fuss and had a much calmer flight.”
During Elul, Rabbi Elimelech Biderman pointed out, we all face a similar situation. Every day, we hear the shofar, reminding us to wake up and do teshuva. If we delay, we might enter Rosh Hashana with our garbage bag full of aveiros in tow, and we will certainly not pass through Hashem’s “security” unscathed.
What are we waiting for? Let us act while there is still time, and we will b’ezras Hashem tip the scales of zechu’yos, and be written in the sefer hachaim.
