From Rosh Hashanah to Hoshana Rabbah: Understanding the Journey of Divine Judgment

Before Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to wish one another "Ketivah VaChatimah Tovah" ("May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year"). This greeting reflects the belief that on Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment, God judges every person and inscribes what will unfold for them during the coming year.

Beginning on the morning of Rosh Hashanah, after the first three hours of the day, and continuing throughout the Ten Days of Repentance until Yom Kippur, many people greet one another with "Gmar Chatimah Tovah" ("May you be sealed for good"). By this point, according to Jewish tradition, the righteous have already been inscribed in the Book of Life, and what remains is the final sealing of the decree. This concept is expressed in the moving Unetaneh Tokef prayer: "On Rosh Hashanah they are written, and on Yom Kippur they are sealed."

Rabbi Yonatan Eybeschutz, in his classic work Ya'arot Devash, explains that the Ten Days of Repentance possess the unique spiritual power to rectify all the sins a person has committed throughout his or her lifetime.

Why Do Some Continue Saying "Gmar Chatimah Tovah" After Yom Kippur?

Although Yom Kippur marks the sealing of the heavenly judgment, many communities continue wishing one another "Gmar Chatimah Tovah" until Hoshana Rabbah, because that day is traditionally viewed as the final conclusion of the heavenly judgment.

Other communities follow a different custom. During the Ten Days of Repentance they say "Gmar Chatimah Tovah," while from the conclusion of Yom Kippur until Hoshana Rabbah they greet one another with "Pitka Tava" ("A good note") or the Yiddish expression "Gut Kvitel."

This custom is based on the Zohar, which teaches that on Rosh Hashanah God writes a "note" containing each person's decree and stores it away. If a person sincerely repents, the unfavorable decree can be torn up. On Hoshana Rabbah, those heavenly notes are finally delivered to the angels for execution.

The final judgment extends until the seventh day of Sukkot as an expression of God's mercy. He grants us additional time to repent, improve, and accumulate more merits.

The mitzvot of Sukkot become part of the spiritual balance, giving us yet another opportunity to tip the scales in our favor before the decree is finalized.

The Heart of Teshuvah

It is important to remember that the essence of repentance is acceptance for the future. True teshuvah means making a sincere commitment to leave behind the habits and behaviors that have distanced us from God.

Rabbi Zamir Cohen explains, based on the teachings of our Sages, that all the detailed stages of repentance are necessary to completely cleanse a person from the spiritual effects of sin. Yet the very moment someone genuinely resolves to return to God, even before completing every stage of the repentance process, that person is already regarded by God as a righteous individual, as he has already turned back to his Father in Heaven.

Two Stages of Repentance

Rabbi Zamir Cohen further explains that repentance consists of two distinct stages.

The first is returning to God. At this stage, even a sincere thought of regret over one's past actions is enough for a person to be considered righteous, because he has chosen to return to his Creator.

This is the meaning of the verse: "Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of Hosts." (Malachi 3:7)

The phrase "I will return to you" does not refer to the complete removal of sin. Rather, it describes the restoration of closeness between God and the individual. The moment a person sincerely turns back to God, God draws close to that person as well.

The second stage is the complete purification of the soul. This process removes the spiritual blemishes left by sin and prepares a person for eternal good. Achieving this level requires the full process of teshuvah described by Maimonides in his Laws of Repentance, including confession, regret, abandoning the sin, and a sincere commitment never to repeat it.

The message is both comforting and inspiring: the first step toward God is never far away. The very desire to return already begins to transform who we are, while the continued work of teshuvah allows us to grow, heal, and draw ever closer to our Creator.