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Q&A: On Passover grain is judged, on Shavuot the fruits of the tree, and on Sukkot the water — all for the sake of man, who was already judged on Rosh Hashanah. So why judge again?

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This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.

On Passover grain is judged, on Shavuot the fruits of the tree, and on Sukkot the water — all for the sake of man, who was already judged on Rosh Hashanah. So why judge again?

Question

To the extent that a person is judged on Rosh Hashanah, he is surely judged then regarding whether he will have water to drink, to shower, to do laundry, and springs to hike by and vacation at; and whether he will merit hot water from the tank or will have to turn on the boiler and lighten his wallet for that purpose; and whether that will suffice, or specifically when he is all soaped up the hot water will run out and he will cry out from the bathtub amid thunderous sounds.
Everything is sealed on Rosh Hashanah, so what is the point of judging the water again on the festival?

I saw various approaches among the medieval authorities (Rishonim), like a general judgment and a particular judgment (?)
or a judgment without sealing, with the sealing on the festivals (sounds strange…)
or that Rosh Hashanah pertains to the person, while this is about the water and the fruit themselves.
But that also doesn't fit, because at minimum the amount of water is the allotment the Holy One, blessed be He, fixed on Rosh Hashanah for all creatures to live on. And that includes all the needs determined for them — for drinking, and also for pools and rivers in nature to enjoy, etc. That's the minimum, and beyond that who needs it at all?
I thought perhaps, with some difficulty, that a person and his water supply (like all his provisions) are indeed judged on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but on the festival they judge the coming full year ahead — meaning also the first three weeks of next year…
Still, that is forced.

Or perhaps all creatures and their water are judged on Rosh Hashanah, but the water system as such, also for future years and detached from the needs of creatures for whom nothing has yet been decreed for those coming years — that part of the water economy is decreed on the festival…
But that too is forced, since not only creatures are judged once a year; the water system too gets a fresh judgment every year.

Does the Rabbi have any answer that actually answers the question?

Answer

Since I am very doubtful how far there really is any judgment conducted in Heaven on Rosh Hashanah (and of course on Sukkot as well), it's hard for me to answer that. But the gates of explanations have not been locked. For example, they left the judgment about water for the festival. What's the problem? They also left the judgment about fruit for Atzeret.

Discussion on Answer

h (2022-10-21)

Why is the Rabbi doubtful about that?

Michi (2022-10-22)

Because I do not know the source for these determinations. It does not appear in the Torah, and in my view it is doubtful whether this is a tradition from Sinai.

השאר תגובה

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