How to Change Your Fate: Views on “Ut’shuva, ut’fillah, utzedakah”

“Unetaneh Tokef” “on one foot”:

“Unetaneh Tokef” is a prayer said on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It points out that we don’t know what our fate will be in the coming year.

Unetaneh Tokef

ונתנה תוקף א׳

וּנְתַנֶּה תֹּקֶף קְדֻשַּׁת הַיּוֹם כִּי הוּא נוֹרָא וְאָיֹם וּבוֹ תִּנָּשֵׂא מַלְכוּתֶךָ וְיִכּוֹן בְּחֶסֶד כִּסְאֶךָ וְתֵשֵׁב עָלָיו בְּאֱמֶת

Unetaneh Tokef 1

We lend power to the holiness of this day. For it is tremendous and awe filled, and on it your kingship will be exalted, your throne will be established in loving-kindness, and you will sit on that throne in truth.

ונתנה תוקף ב׳

אֱמֶת כִּי אַתָּה הוּא דַּיָּן וּמוֹכִיחַ וְיוֹדֵעַ וָעֵד וְכוֹתֵב וְחוֹתֵם וְסוֹפֵר וּמוֹנֶה וְתִזְכֹּר כָּל הַנִּשְׁכָּחוֹת וְתִפְתַּח אֶת סֵפֶר הַזִּכְרוֹנוֹת וּמֵאֵלָיו יִקָּרֵא וְחוֹתָם יַד כָּל אָדָם בּוֹ

Unetaneh Tokef 2

It is true that you are the one who judges, and reproves, who knows all, and bears witness, who inscribes, and seals, who reckons and enumerates. You remember all that is forgotten. You open the book of records, and from it, all shall be read. In it lies each person's insignia.

ונתנה תוקף ג׳

וּבְשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל יִתָּקַע וְקוֹל דְּמָמָה דַקָּה יִשָׁמַע וּמַלְאָכִים יֵחָפֵזוּן וְחִיל וּרְעָדָה יֹאחֵזוּן וְיֹאמְרוּ הִנֵּה יוֹם הַדִּין לִפְקֹד עַל צְבָא מָרוֹם בַּדִּין כִּי לֹא יִזְכּוּ בְּעֵינֶיךָ בַּדִּין וְכָל בָּאֵי עוֹלָם יַעַבְרוּן לְפָנֶיךָ כִּבְנֵי מָרוֹן כְּבַקָּרַת רוֹעֶה עֶדְרוֹ מַעֲבִיר צֹאנוֹ תַּחַת שִׁבְטוֹ כֵּן תַּעֲבִיר וְתִסְפֹּר וְתִמְנֶה וְתִפְקֹד נֶפֶשׁ כָּל חָי וְתַחְתֹּךְ קִצְבָה לְכָל בְּרִיָּה וְתִכְתֹּב אֶת גְּזַר דִּינָם

Unetaneh Tokef 3

And with a great shofar it is sounded, and a thin silent voice shall be heard. And the angels shall be alarmed, and dread and fear shall seize them as they proclaim: behold! the Day of Judgment on which the hosts of heaven shall be judged, for they too shall not be judged blameless by you, and all creatures shall parade before you as a herd of sheep. As a shepherd herds his flock, directing his sheep to pass under his staff, so you shall pass, count, and record the souls of all living, and decree a limit to each persons days, and inscribe their final judgment.

ונתנה תוקף ד׳

בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה יִכָּתֵבוּן, וּבְיוֹם צוֹם כִּפּוּר יֵחָתֵמוּן. כַּמָּה יַעַבְרוּן, וְכַמָּה יִבָּרֵאוּן, מִי יִחְיֶה, וּמִי יָמוּת, מִי בְקִצּוֹ, וּמִי לֹא בְּקִצּוֹ, מִי בַמַּיִם, וּמִי בָאֵשׁ, מִי בַחֶרֶב, וּמִי בַחַיָּה, מִי בָרָעָב, וּמִי בַצָּמָא, מִי בָרַעַשׁ, וּמִי בַמַּגֵּפָה, מִי בַחֲנִיקָה, וּמִי בַסְּקִילָה, מִי יָנוּחַ, וּמִי יָנוּעַ, מִי יִשָּׁקֵט, וּמִי יְטֹּרֵף, מִי יִשָּׁלֵו, וּמִי יִתְיַסָּר, מִי יַעֲנִי, וּמִי יַעֲשִׁיר, מִי יֻשְׁפַּל, וּמִי יָרוּם. וּתְשׁוּבָה וּתְפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה מַעֲבִירִין אֶת רֹעַ הַגְּזֵרָה.

Unetaneh Tokef 4

On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed - how many shall pass away and how many shall be born, who shall live and who shall die, who in good time, and who by an untimely death, who by water and who by fire, who by sword and who by wild beast, who by famine and who by thirst, who by earthquake and who by plague, who by strangulation and who by lapidation, who shall have rest and who wander, who shall be at peace and who pursued, who shall be serene and who tormented, who shall become impoverished and who wealthy, who shall be debased, and who exalted. But repentance, prayer, and righteousness (charity) mitigate the severity of the decree.

Context: Un’taneh Tokef is a prayer said in the Musaf service on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It dates back to the Middle Ages. In the 1100s, Ephraim ben Jacob of Bonn claimed that it was written by Amnon of Mainz (for more on the background of the prayer, see https://www.anumuseum.org.il/blog/unetanneh-tokef/).

How do you feel about the idea that repentance, prayer, and righteousness/charity mitigate the severity of the decree?

Where does this idea come from?

ראש השנה ט״ז ב:ו׳-ז׳

וְאָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: אַרְבָּעָה דְּבָרִים מְקָרְעִין גְּזַר דִּינוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם, אֵלּוּ הֵן: צְדָקָה, צְעָקָה, שִׁינּוּי הַשֵּׁם, וְשִׁינּוּי מַעֲשֶׂה. צְדָקָה, דִּכְתִיב: ״וּצְדָקָה תַּצִּיל מִמָּוֶת״. צְעָקָה, דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיִּצְעֲקוּ אֶל יהוה בַּצַּר לָהֶם וּמִמְּצוּקוֹתֵיהֶם יוֹצִיאֵם״. שִׁינּוּי הַשֵּׁם, דִּכְתִיב: ״שָׂרַי אִשְׁתְּךָ לֹא תִקְרָא אֶת שְׁמָהּ שָׂרָי כִּי שָׂרָה שְׁמָהּ״, וּכְתִיב: ״וּבֵרַכְתִּי אוֹתָהּ וְגַם נָתַתִּי מִמֶּנָּה לְךָ בֵּן״. שִׁינּוּי מַעֲשֶׂה, דִּכְתִיב: ״וַיַּרְא הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם״, וּכְתִיב: ״וַיִּנָּחֶם הָאֱלֹהִים עַל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לַעֲשׂוֹת לָהֶם וְלֹא עָשָׂה״.

Rosh Hashanah 16b:6-7

And Rabbi Yitzḥak said: A person’s sentence is torn up on account of four types of actions. These are: Giving charity, crying out in prayer, a change of one’s name, and a change of one’s deeds. An allusion may be found in Scripture for all of them: Giving charity, as it is written: “And charity delivers from death” (Proverbs 10:2); crying out in prayer, as it is written: “Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and G-d brings them out of their distresses” (Psalms 107:28); a change of one’s name, as it is written: “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be” (Genesis 17:15), and it is written there: “And I will bless her, and I will also give you a son from her” (Genesis 17:16); a change of one’s deeds for the better, as it is written: “And G-d saw their deeds” (Jonah 3:10), and it is written there: “And G-d repented of the evil, which G-d had said G-d would do to them, and G-d did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).

Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Rosh Hashanah, which is about Rosh Hashanah (unsurprisingly). This sugya (section) is commenting on a mishnah which says that people are judged on Rosh Hashanah. Rabbi Yitzchak had several things to say about that, and this is one of them.

What four things can you do to get your judgement torn up?

משנה תורה, הלכות תשובה ב׳:ד׳

מִדַּרְכֵי הַתְּשׁוּבָה לִהְיוֹת הַשָּׁב צוֹעֵק תָּמִיד לִפְנֵי הַשֵּׁם בִּבְכִי וּבְתַחֲנוּנִים וְעוֹשֶׂה צְדָקָה כְּפִי כֹּחוֹ וּמִתְרַחֵק הַרְבֵּה מִן הַדָּבָר שֶׁחָטָא בּוֹ וּמְשַׁנֶּה שְׁמוֹ כְּלוֹמַר אֲנִי אַחֵר וְאֵינִי אוֹתוֹ הָאִישׁ שֶׁעָשָׂה אוֹתָן הַמַּעֲשִׂים וּמְשַׁנֶּה מַעֲשָׂיו כֻּלָּן לְטוֹבָה וּלְדֶרֶךְ יְשָׁרָה וְגוֹלֶה מִמְּקוֹמוֹ. שֶׁגָּלוּת מְכַפֶּרֶת עָוֹן מִפְּנֵי שֶׁגּוֹרֶמֶת לוֹ לְהִכָּנַע וְלִהְיוֹת עָנָו וּשְׁפַל רוּחַ:

Mishneh Torah, Repentance 2:4

Among the ways of repentance are, for the penitent to continue to cry out in tearful supplication before the Name, to bestow alms according to his means, and to distance himself exceedingly from the thing wherein he sinned, to have his identity changed, as if saying: "I am now another person, and not that person who perpetrated those misdeeds", to completely change his conduct for the good and straight path, and to exile himself from his place of residence, for exile atones iniquity, because it leads him to submissiveness and to be meek and humble-spirited.⁴Rosh-ha-Shanah, 16b. C.

Context: This is from the Mishnah Torah, by Maimonides. Maimonides tried to reorganize and summarize all the rules in the Babylonian Talmud. This is from his section on repentance.

According to Maimonides, what are some things you can do if you are truly repentant?

בראשית רבה מ״ד:י״ב

(יב) רַבִּי יוּדָן בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר אָמַר שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים מְבַטְּלִים גְּזֵרוֹת רָעוֹת, וְאֵלּוּ הֵם, תְּפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה וּתְשׁוּבָה, וּשְׁלָשְׁתָּן נֶאֶמְרוּ בְּפָסוּק אֶחָד, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (דברי הימים ב ז, יד): וְיִכָּנְעוּ עַמִּי אֲשֶׁר נִקְרָא שְׁמִי עֲלֵיהֶם וְיִתְפַּלְּלוּ, זוֹ תְּפִלָּה. (דברי הימים ב ז, יד): וִיבַקְּשׁוּ פָנַי, הֲרֵי צְדָקָה, כְּמָא דְאַתְּ אָמַר (תהלים יז, טו): אֲנִי בְּצֶדֶק אֶחֱזֶה פָנֶיךָ. (דברי הימים ב ז, יד): וְיָשֻׁבוּ מִדַּרְכֵיהֶם הָרָעִים, זוֹ תְּשׁוּבָה, וְאַחַר כָּךְ (דברי הימים ב ז, יד) וְאֶסְלַח לְחַטָּאתָם וְאֶרְפָּא אֶת אַרְצָם.

Bereshit Rabbah 44:12

R. Yudan said in the name of R. Eliezer: Three things annul harsh (bad) verdicts (decrees), and they are: Prayer, and Righteousness (Charity), and Repentance. And all three occur in one verse. (II Chron. 7:14) “When My people, who bear My name, humble themselves, and pray,” this is Prayer, “and seek My face,” this is Righteousness, “and turn from their evil ways,” this is Repentance; and afterward “I will forgive their transgression!, and I will heal their land.”

Context: This is from Genesis Rabba, a book of Midrash about the Biblical Book of Genesis. It is commenting on Gen. 15:5, when G-d tells Abraham to count the stars. I think the connection is that G-d is telling Abraham not to consider himself ruled by the stars - that he may think that he is foretold to not have a child, but there are ways around that.

If you do prayer, charity, and repentance, what can that accomplish?

So, how have things evolved?

The Babylonian Talmud said four things rip up a person’s decree: tzedakah, crying out, change of name, and change of deed. Bereishit Rabba said three things abrogate a person’s decree: tefillah, tzedakah, and teshuvah. Un’taneh Tokef says three things mitigate the harshness of a person’s decree: Teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah. This change brings it in line with Pirkei Avot 1:2: “The world stands on three things - Torah, Avodah (worship), and G’milut Chasadim (deeds of loving kindness).” - Dr. Reuven Kimelman

And here’s another version of Bereishit Rabba

תלמוד ירושלמי תענית ב׳:א׳:ט׳

אָמַר רִבִּי לָֽעְזָר. שְׁלֹשָׁה דְבָרִים מְבַטְּלִין אֶת הַגְּזֵירָה קָשָׁה. וְאֵילּוּ הֵן. תְּפִילָּה וּצְדָקָה וּתְשׁוּבָה. וּשְׁלָשְׁתָּן בְּפָסוּק אֶחָד. וְיִכָּֽנְע֨וּ עַמִּ֜י אֲשֶׁ֧ר נִֽקְרָא־שְׁמִ֣י עֲלֵיהֶ֗ם וְיִֽתְפַּֽלְלוּ֙. זוֹ תְפִילָּה. וִֽיבַקְשׁ֣וּ פָנַ֔י. זוֹ צְדָקָה. כְּמַה דֵאַתְּ אָמַר אֲנִ֗י בְּ֭צֶדֶק אֶחֱזֶ֣ה פָנֶי֑ךָ. וְיָשׁוּבוּ מִדַּרְכֵיהֶ֣ם הָֽרָעִ֑ים. זוֹ תְשׁוּבָה. אִם עָשׂוּ כֵן מַה כָתוּב תַּמָּן. וַֽאֲנִי֙ אֶשְׁמַ֣ע מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְאֶסְלַח֙ לְחַטָּאתָ֔ם וְאֶרְפָּא֭ אֶת־אַרְצָֽם׃

Jerusalem Talmud Taanit 2:1:9

Rebbi Eleazar said: Three things annul the harsh decree. They are: prayer, charity and repentance. All three are from one verse (II Chron. 7:14): When My people, who bear My name, humble themselves and pray, this is Prayer, and desire my presence, this is Charity (as you are saying, by charity I shall see Your presence). They will turn from their evil ways, this is Repentance. When they act in this way, what is written there? Then I shall hear in Heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.

What might these rabbis have been thinking about?

יונה ג׳

(א) וַיְהִ֧י דְבַר־יהוה אֶל־יוֹנָ֖ה שֵׁנִ֥ית לֵאמֹֽר׃(ב) ק֛וּם לֵ֥ךְ אֶל־נִֽינְוֵ֖ה הָעִ֣יר הַגְּדוֹלָ֑ה וִּקְרָ֤א אֵלֶ֙יהָ֙ אֶת־הַקְּרִיאָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָנֹכִ֖י דֹּבֵ֥ר אֵלֶֽיךָ׃(ג) וַיָּ֣קָם יוֹנָ֗ה וַיֵּ֛לֶךְ אֶל־נִֽינְוֶ֖ה כִּדְבַ֣ר יהוה וְנִֽינְוֵ֗ה הָיְתָ֤ה עִיר־גְּדוֹלָה֙ לֵֽאלֹהִ֔ים מַהֲלַ֖ךְ שְׁלֹ֥שֶׁת יָמִֽים׃(ד) וַיָּ֤חֶל יוֹנָה֙ לָב֣וֹא בָעִ֔יר מַהֲלַ֖ךְ י֣וֹם אֶחָ֑ד וַיִּקְרָא֙ וַיֹּאמַ֔ר ע֚וֹד אַרְבָּעִ֣ים י֔וֹם וְנִֽינְוֵ֖ה נֶהְפָּֽכֶת׃(ה) וַֽיַּאֲמִ֛ינוּ אַנְשֵׁ֥י נִֽינְוֵ֖ה בֵּֽאלֹהִ֑ים וַיִּקְרְאוּ־צוֹם֙ וַיִּלְבְּשׁ֣וּ שַׂקִּ֔ים מִגְּדוֹלָ֖ם וְעַד־קְטַנָּֽם׃(ו) וַיִּגַּ֤ע הַדָּבָר֙ אֶל־מֶ֣לֶך נִֽינְוֵ֔ה וַיָּ֙קָם֙ מִכִּסְא֔וֹ וַיַּעֲבֵ֥ר אַדַּרְתּ֖וֹ מֵֽעָלָ֑יו וַיְכַ֣ס שַׂ֔ק וַיֵּ֖שֶׁב עַל־הָאֵֽפֶר׃(ז) וַיַּזְעֵ֗ק וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ בְּנִֽינְוֵ֔ה מִטַּ֧עַם הַמֶּ֛לֶךְ וּגְדֹלָ֖יו לֵאמֹ֑ר הָאָדָ֨ם וְהַבְּהֵמָ֜ה הַבָּקָ֣ר וְהַצֹּ֗אן אַֽל־יִטְעֲמוּ֙ מְא֔וּמָה אַ֨ל־יִרְע֔וּ וּמַ֖יִם אַל־יִשְׁתּֽוּ׃(ח) וְיִתְכַּסּ֣וּ שַׂקִּ֗ים הָֽאָדָם֙ וְהַבְּהֵמָ֔ה וְיִקְרְא֥וּ אֶל־אֱלֹהִ֖ים בְּחָזְקָ֑ה וְיָשֻׁ֗בוּ אִ֚ישׁ מִדַּרְכּ֣וֹ הָֽרָעָ֔ה וּמִן־הֶחָמָ֖ס אֲשֶׁ֥ר בְּכַפֵּיהֶֽם׃(ט) מִֽי־יוֹדֵ֣עַ יָשׁ֔וּב וְנִחַ֖ם הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְשָׁ֛ב מֵחֲר֥וֹן אַפּ֖וֹ וְלֹ֥א נֹאבֵֽד׃(י) וַיַּ֤רְא הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ אֶֽת־מַ֣עֲשֵׂיהֶ֔ם כִּי־שָׁ֖בוּ מִדַּרְכָּ֣ם הָרָעָ֑ה וַיִּנָּ֣חֶם הָאֱלֹהִ֗ים עַל־הָרָעָ֛ה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר לַעֲשׂוֹת־לָהֶ֖ם וְלֹ֥א עָשָֽׂה׃

Jonah 3

(1) The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:(2) “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it what I tell you.”(3) Jonah went at once to Nineveh in accordance with the LORD’s command. Nineveh was an enormously large city a three days’ walk across.(4) Jonah started out and made his way into the city the distance of one day’s walk, and proclaimed: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”(5) The people of Nineveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast, and great and small alike put on sackcloth.(6) When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes.(7) And he had the word cried through Nineveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles: No man or beast—of flock or herd—shall taste anything! They shall not graze, and they shall not drink water!(8) They shall be covered with sackcloth—man and beast—and shall cry mightily to God. Let everyone turn back from his evil ways and from the injustice of which he is guilty.(9) Who knows but that God may turn and relent? He may turn back from His wrath, so that we do not perish.”(10) God saw what they did, how they were turning back from their evil ways. And God renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon them, and did not carry it out.

Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Jonah. After running away from G-d’s mission for him, he goes to Nineveh to deliver G-d’s message.

Is this an example of repentance, prayer, or charity averting an evil decree?

שמות ל״ב:ט׳-י״ד

(ט) וַיֹּ֥אמֶר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה רָאִ֙יתִי֙ אֶת־הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה וְהִנֵּ֥ה עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֖רֶף הֽוּא׃(י) וְעַתָּה֙ הַנִּ֣יחָה לִּ֔י וְיִֽחַר־אַפִּ֥י בָהֶ֖ם וַאֲכַלֵּ֑ם וְאֶֽעֱשֶׂ֥ה אוֹתְךָ֖ לְג֥וֹי גָּדֽוֹל׃(יא) וַיְחַ֣ל מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶת־פְּנֵ֖י יהוה אֱלֹהָ֑יו וַיֹּ֗אמֶר לָמָ֤ה יהוה יֶחֱרֶ֤ה אַפְּךָ֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔ךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הוֹצֵ֙אתָ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם בְּכֹ֥חַ גָּד֖וֹל וּבְיָ֥ד חֲזָקָֽה׃(יב) לָמָּה֩ יֹאמְר֨וּ מִצְרַ֜יִם לֵאמֹ֗ר בְּרָעָ֤ה הֽוֹצִיאָם֙ לַהֲרֹ֤ג אֹתָם֙ בֶּֽהָרִ֔ים וּ֨לְכַלֹּתָ֔ם מֵעַ֖ל פְּנֵ֣י הָֽאֲדָמָ֑ה שׁ֚וּב מֵחֲר֣וֹן אַפֶּ֔ךָ וְהִנָּחֵ֥ם עַל־הָרָעָ֖ה לְעַמֶּֽךָ׃(יג) זְכֹ֡ר לְאַבְרָהָם֩ לְיִצְחָ֨ק וּלְיִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל עֲבָדֶ֗יךָ אֲשֶׁ֨ר נִשְׁבַּ֣עְתָּ לָהֶם֮ בָּךְ֒ וַתְּדַבֵּ֣ר אֲלֵהֶ֔ם אַרְבֶּה֙ אֶֽת־זַרְעֲכֶ֔ם כְּכוֹכְבֵ֖י הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְכָל־הָאָ֨רֶץ הַזֹּ֜את אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמַ֗רְתִּי אֶתֵּן֙ לְזַרְעֲכֶ֔ם וְנָחֲל֖וּ לְעֹלָֽם׃(יד) וַיִּנָּ֖חֶם יהוה עַל־הָ֣רָעָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבֶּ֖ר לַעֲשׂ֥וֹת לְעַמּֽוֹ׃ (פ)

Exodus 32:9-14

(9) The LORD further said to Moses, “I see that this is a stiffnecked people.(10) Now, let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.”(11) But Moses implored the LORD his God, saying, “Let not Your anger, O Lord, blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand.(12) Let not the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that He delivered them, only to kill them off in the mountains and annihilate them from the face of the earth.’ Turn from Your blazing anger, and renounce the plan to punish Your people.(13) Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, how You swore to them by Your Self and said to them: I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your offspring this whole land of which I spoke, to possess forever.”(14) And the LORD renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon His people.

Context: This is from the Biblical Book of Exodus, after the Israelites make the Golden Calf but before Moses goes down the mountain.

Is this an example of repentance, prayer, or charity averting an evil decree?

שבת קנ״ו ב:ד׳-ה׳

וּמִדְּרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא נָמֵי אֵין מַזָּל לְיִשְׂרָאֵל. דְּרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא הַוְיָא לֵיהּ בְּרַתָּא, אָמְרִי לֵיהּ כַּלְדָּאֵי: הָהוּא יוֹמָא דְּעָיְילָה לְבֵי גְנָנָא, טָרֵיק לַהּ חִיוְיָא, וּמִיתָא. הֲוָה דָּאֵיג אַמִּילְּתָא טוּבָא. הָהוּא יוֹמָא שְׁקַלְתַּהּ לְמַכְבַּנְתָּא, דַּצְתַּהּ בְּגוּדָא, אִיתְרְמִי אִיתִּיב בְּעֵינֵיהּ דְּחִיוְיָא. לְצַפְרָא כִּי קָא שָׁקְלָה לַהּ, הֲוָה קָא סָרֵיךְ וְאָתֵי חִיוְיָא בָּתְרַהּ.אֲמַר לַהּ אֲבוּהּ: מַאי עֲבַדְתְּ? אֲמַרָה לֵיהּ בְּפַנְיָא אֲתָא עַנְיָא, קְרָא אַבָּבָא וַהֲווֹ טְרִידִי כּוּלֵּי עָלְמָא בִּסְעוּדְתָּא, וְלֵיכָּא דְּשָׁמְעֵיהּ. קָאֵימְנָא, שְׁקַלְתֵּיהּ לְרִיסְתָּנַאי דִּיהַבְתְּ לִי, יַהְבִתֵּיהּ נִיהֲלֵיהּ. אֲמַר לַהּ: מִצְוָה עֲבַדְתְּ. נְפַק רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא וּדְרַשׁ: ״וּצְדָקָה תַּצִּיל מִמָּוֶת״, וְלֹא מִמִּיתָה מְשׁוּנָּה, אֶלָּא מִמִּיתָה עַצְמָהּ.

Shabbat 156b:4-5

And from that which transpired to Rabbi Akiva as well it can be derived that there is no constellation for the Jewish people, as Rabbi Akiva had a daughter, and Chaldean astrologers told him that on the same day that she enters the wedding canopy, a snake will bite her and she will die. She was very worried about this. On that day, her wedding day, she took the ornamental pin from her hair and stuck it into a hole in the wall for safekeeping, and it happened that it entered directly into the eye of the snake. In the morning, when she took the pin, the snake was pulled and came out with it.Her father Rabbi Akiva said to her: What did you do to merit being saved from the snake? She told him: In the evening a poor person came and knocked on the door, and everyone was preoccupied with the feast and nobody heard him. I stood and took the portion that you had given me and gave it to him. Rabbi Akiva said to her: You performed a mitzva, and you were saved in its merit. Rabbi Akiva went out and taught based on this incident that even though it is written: “And charity will save from death” (Proverbs 10:2), it does not mean that it will save a person only from an unusual death, but even from death itself.

Context: This is from the Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Shabbat. As a way of explaining something from the Mishnah, a rabbi cited a note in his notebook, and then other (non-Shabbat-related) things were mentioned because they were in rabbis’ notebooks. This story is related to a note that some rabbi had about whether the stars control our fates.

Is this an example of repentance, prayer, or charity averting an evil decree?

Contemporary Interpretations

A Musical Connection of Note

[Un’taneh Tokef] begins with a congregational melody (Scale degrees: 5-5 – 1 – 1 3 – 1) which comes from a 19th century choral setting by Louis Lewandowski, the composer of our Friday evening Kiddush. We will use this same melody again [for the “Ut’shuvah, ut’fillah, utzedakah” line] at the end of B’Rosh HaShana, three paragraphs later (Scale degrees: 5-5 – 1 – 1 3 – 1).
...
We have here three realms of relationship. “T’shuva” is what we are doing here during Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur – reflection and introspection so as to see where we went astray last year. We could call this “relationship with ourselves”, with our own hearts and souls.

“T’fillah” is prayer, our communication with God about the results of our reflection and introspection. Hopefully we will resolve to do better in the coming year with how we try to live an upright and honorable life. On Yom Kippur we spend the entire day, from Kol Nidre through Neilah, asking of God forgiveness for our mistakes.

The third realm is our relationship with everyone around us through “Tz’dakah”, which literally means “Righteousness”. In our Machzor it is translated as “Deeds of Kindness” that social justice imperative to take care of those who need care. If we reach out to others, and if we help to make the world a better place using the gifts that God gives to each of us, the transformation in our own lives becomes tangible and powerful.
...
Shannah Tovah - may we all help inscribe ourselves in the Book of Life through our words and deeds in the coming years.

Excerpts from a Rosh Hashanah sermon by Cantor Neil Schwartz, 2009

How does this lend insight into your understanding of the prayer?

Not Who Shall Live, but How Shall We Live

We need a better way to relate to this prayer that is so central to our High Holiday liturgy. I have come to understand this disturbing and powerful text less as a promise of childlike reward and punishment and more as a statement of the fragility of life and our own mortality. I have literally been moved to tears (no small challenge while trying to sing with a full voice along with the choir) looking out at a full sanctuary, everyone’s voices joined in the familiar refrain:
B’rosh hashanah yikateivun uv’yom tzom kippur yeichateimun
On Rosh Hashanah it is written and on Yom Kippur it is sealed
At that moment, I realize that not all of us will be here next year. These people — congregants, friends, family — it is a sad but inescapable fact that some will die over the course of the coming year. Our lives are a gift. We perform teshuvah not to appease a distant and invisible Deity, but rather to remind us of our value to one another and strengthen our relationships with each other. We give tzedakah to better the lives of those around us. And we engage in prayer to further develop the bonds of our connection to Judaism and our community.
Our job is not to temporarily put on our best behavior in order to convince God to let us live for another year. Instead, we acknowledge that our time here on earth is limited and our lives tenuous. The true and vital message of Unetaneh Tokef requires us to ask ourselves not who shall live, but how shall we live?

Cantor Matt Axelrod - https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/unetaneh-tokef-do-we-control-our-fate/

How does this lend insight into your understanding of the prayer?

What it does and doesn’t mean

“The Talmud originally taught that when we pray, and do Teshuva and Tzedakah (charity), during the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we actually succeed in having the Divine decree against us torn up - ma’akirin et ha-gezerah. The terrible things we did are as if they never happened, and their consequences won’t happen either.

But do prayer, Teshuvah, and Tzedakah actually change our fate? The rabbis who came along later realized that of course they do not. The real change is in the way we perceive the world. So they changed the language of the prayer accordingly. Now we say, Teshuvah, Tefillah, and Tzedakah ma’avirin et ro-at ha-gezerah. The act of Teshuvah is no longer seen as ripping up the evil decree. Now it transforms the evil of the decree. Teshuvah doesn’t change what happens, and it doesn’t change the way we are. It merely changes the way we see these things. We no longer see things as evil, we simply see them as they are, and that makes all the difference.”

Lew, Rabbi Alan. This is Real, and You Are Completely Unprepared. 2003

How does this lend insight to your understanding of the prayer?

Thoughts found in Who By Fire, Who By WaterEdited by Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, 2010

Note About the Translation

1. The same root a.v.r. appears throughout Un'taneh Tokef. The entire goal of the High Holidays is the mitigation of G-d’s decree. Unclear if the second half means that the decree is changed to be less bad, or the decree is the same but the “badness” is less. - Rabbi Joel Hoffman

Part I: The Moral Challenge of Unetaneh Tokef

2. It is loathsome to say that if you just prayed a little harder on Rosh Hashanah, your impending cancer might not be as aggressive. - Rabbi Tony Bayfield

3. It is a paradox that Un'taneh Tokef claims that everybody has a judgement already written down, and yet your thoughts (Repentence), words (Prayer), and deeds (Charity) can save you. - Rabbi Andrew Goldstein

4. Teshuvah (self-reflection and change) might help us change the end result of a life situation, or it might help us weather an existing life situation, and sometimes it seems to neither mitigate our circumstances nor improve our outlook. - Rabbi Noa Kushner

5. This line doesn’t mean “You weren’t good enough to keep your mother from dying of cancer”. Rather, the fact that the rabbis changed the original version from “annul the decree” to “cause the evil of the decree to pass” means that it’s a response to the arbitrary misfortunes that occur all around us. - Rabbi Marc Saperstein

6. The poet who wrote these words sought something to keep his spirit afloat, to “help the hardship of the decree pass”. He didn’t declare this to be the cure, because otherwise this is like blaming the victim for the crime. - Rabbi Daniel Zemel

Part II: Reinterpreting Unetaneh Tokef for Our Time

7. Biblical Israelites would recognize none of this line, nor even the High Holidays as a concept. In the Bible, shuv means “returning to G-d” sometimes, but Teshuvah does not mean “repentence”. This is all a Rabbinic development. - Dr. Marc Brettler

8. The root a.v.r. has different connotations throughout Un’taneh Tokef, so we cannot interpret this line simplistically (do good and good will happen to you). The first time a.v.r. happens in this prayer, it’s objective judgement, but the second time it references random judgement (the 10th sheep to pass under a staff was the tithe). - Rabbi Elie Kaunfer

9. While our judgement is inscribed on Rosh Hashanah, it is not sealed until Yom Kippur because Teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah can help us change our outcome. Moreover, they provide the resilience to bear the ups and downs of life. Repentence works on our relationship with the self (mind), prayer works on our relationship with G-d (tongue), and charity works on our relationship with others (hand). Having a good relationship with all of these helps us overcome adversity. - Dr. Reuven Kimelman

10. Reducing our ego through these three things helps make space for G-d. - Rabbi Lawrence Kushner

11. When faced with an impending loss of life, repentance, prayer, and giving of money (usually to doctors) tend to happen. Then it’s up to G-d whether these three things “avert the decree” or “avert the harshness of the decree”. - Rabbi Ruth Langer

12. Teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah are to the harsh decree like rehab is to an addiction; they don’t eliminate the issue, but teach us how to live with it. They are also like rain falling over the years after a volcanic eruption - they turn the barren landscape into a foundation for life. - Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig

13. G-d may determine how we die, but these three things help determine how we live. Other than death, nothing in life is inevitable. - Dr. Wendy Zierler

Part III: Un’taneh Tokef and the Limitations of the Human Condition

14. We cannot ensure long life, but we can find meaning, purpose, and celebration in the life we have. Though we cannot live forever, we can choose to make a life worth living. - Rabbi Sharon Brous

15. The decree stands. What G-d has given us are three tools for ameliorating, and, thereby, transcending the harsh facts of human life. We are free to share our character. We are able to share our common suffering and celebration in prayer and song. We are equipped to heal and to help one another and to bring a measure of peace to the world. - Rabbi Ed Feinstein

16. We reach within (Teshuvah), we reach beyond (Tefillah), and we reach toward others (Tzedakah). Through repentance, prayer, and charity we learn, and then we teach, the great lessons that come from adversity. - Rabbi Karyn Kedar

17. It’s not that we can pray, do teshuvah, and give tzedakah but only G-d is actually the doer, but rather that through our actions we can influence who will die by fire, water, etc. - Rabbi Asher Lopatin

18. Teshuvah, tefillah, and tzedakah will not save us, but they will save others from the end that awaits us all. - Catherine Madsen

19. “Transform the harshness in our destiny” - This translation offers the potential of a practical transformation of our lives through our conscious change in behavior - at the very least, a psychological strengthening of our ability to cope with the challenges that confront us. - Rabbi Jonathan Magonet

20. Genuine acts of apology and forgiveness, expressions of gratitude and lament, and both monetary giving and acts of justice can enrich the quality of our lives. - Rabbi Or Rose

21. Our ability to repent and effect change in our own lives, our capacity to reach out to G-d, our facility for reaching out to others - these temper the harshness of life’s circumstances by asserting our redemptive capacity for response. - Rabbi David Stern

22. We are all born with predispositions - to alcoholism, to weight gain, to anger - but we have it within our power to reshape, although not totally alter, our fate. - Rabbi Avi Weiss

23. The decree is death, and nothing can avert that. But, a clear conscience, a close relationship with G-d, and a loving community can ease the ache somewhat. The end comes, but softly. - Rabbi David Wolpe

Part IV: Unetaneh Tokef and Its Call for Sanctity, Transformation, and Renewal

24. Repentance, prayer, and charity may give us a little more time. But change is incredibly difficult, given the demands of the day. At the High Holidays we seek to figure out how we can change. - Rabbi Ruth Durschlag

25. Through repentance we change to being a person who is no longer judged; through prayer we change to being a person who has found our voice; and through charity we change to being a person who sustains life. All this is part of kedushat hachayim, the way we sanctify our own lives. - Rabbi Daniel Landes

26. We can be kinder, more forgiving, more generous. We may not be able to make our lives longer, but we can make them better, less bitter, more loving. We may find ourselves facing unintended circumstances, confronting situations not of our making. Those circumstances aren’t inherently meaningful, but can give them purpose. - Rabbi Sandy Eisenberg Sasso

27. On Rosh Hashanah, we pray that through our repentance, prayer, and donating, we have the shock absorbers for the bumps in life. On the day after Rosh Hashanah, we pray with our hands and feet that all who suffer will have the shock absorbers they need - provided by the Divine through our actions. - Ruth Messinger

28. I cannot control the unexpected blowed that will affect my family, my job, my health. But I can control how I live with them. Walking the path of Torah, cultivating gratitude, and pursuing justice can radically transform how I am affected by those blows. - Rabbi David Teutsch

29. Perfection is not the goal - perfecting is. You go about perfecting the self and perfecting the world through repentance, prayer, and charity. - Dr. Ron Wolfson

Which of these particularly resonate for you?

Appendix: “At the Edge of the Abyss”, by Rabbi Sharon BrousPublished in Who By Fire, Who By Water, 2010

“Life changes fast. Life changes in the instant. You sit down to dinner and life as you know it ends.” Joan Didion wrote these words after her husband died suddenly one night at dinner.
I read Joan Didion after my dear friend died a couple of years ago from a massive brain tumor that had been discovered about forty hours earlier. She was thirty-one years old, pregnant with her second child, just finishing her PhD, and struggling, like so many of us, to balance her professional aspirations with her instinctive need to be a good mother, wife, and friend.
Rabbi Eliezer taught, “Repent one day before your death.” His students, baffled, asked him, “But how can we possibly know when we’ll die?” Rabbi Eliezer replied, “All the more reason you should repent today, just in case you die tomorrow” (Talmud, Shabbat 153a).
The great spiritual challenge of the High Holy Days is to recognize the fragility of life, the brevity and capriciousness of human existence - but not in some distant, theoretical way. The challenge of the High Holy Days is to confront the radically unpredictable trajectory of our lives and live as if every day truly might be our last.
Many of us struggle to overcome the terror of death through avoidance and repression - we simply couldn’t function were we to live with its awareness. But our tradition compels us to recognize that afar anachnu, “All we are is dust” (Psalm 103:14) - the end is inescapable. The only legitimate choice is to face death’s inevitability with a dedication to living a certain kind of life.
The centrality of Un’taneh Tokef in the liturgy of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur reflects the Rabbis’ understanding that an awareness of our deep vulnerability is the very essence of the religious and spiritual life. “Life changes fast. Life changes in an instant.” There’s simply no time for denial or escapism.
After the death of a child in our neighborhood, I called one of my rabbinic colleagues who was supporting the bereaved family. “What can I do to support you?” I asked. “Go home and hug your kids,” he said. And I did. For an instant, I felt the weight, the privilege, and the burden of having a love so rich in the world. I understood the preciousness and the capriciousness of life.
That is precisely what Un’taneh Tokef is designed to accomplish. Our tradition, in all its wisdom, demands that we obliterate the false protective shelter and, knowing that each moment might be our last, fight for a life of meaning today. The High Holy Days force us to shift from denial of death to purposeful engagement with life.
Un’taneh Tokef climaxes with the words Ut’shuvah, ut’fillah, utz’dakah ma’avirin et ro’a hag’zerah, “And repentance, prayer, and charity help the hardship of the decree pass”. We can’t dictate our fate. We can’t hide from death. But there are three things that we can do to bring meaning into the radical uncertainty of our lives.
T’shuvah (“repentance”): You don’t have to be a static, stagnant being, dwelling perpetually in the mistakes of years past. You can choose to make t’shuvah, affirming that life is dynamic and people change. Find the courage to ask for forgiveness from the people you have hurt. Find the strength to forgive those who have hurt you and the audacity to forgive yourself. Open your heart and embrace the people around you - most importantly those you most often take for granted. Hug your kids.
T’fillah (“prayer”): You don’t have to be alone. You are part of a story that is bigger than you, where the critical currency is G-d and the soul, not money, power, or celebrity. Let the majesty of nature distract you. Open your heart to pain. Let the world take your breath away. Connect to something beyond the physical, the tangible, the utterly graspable. Allow yourself not to understand and yet to appreciate anyway. Live in mystery.
Tz’dakah (“charity”): Stop digging yourself further and further into your own dramas, as if the privileges of freedom and prosperity come with no responsibility to others. Open your eyes and give a damn! Let your heart break over illness, poverty, loss, and violence. Affirm the power of love! Bring healing and comfort! Stake your claim in the world!
T’shuvah, t’fillah, and tz’dakah will not save us from cancer; they cannot protect us from terror. In fact, an alternative early version records the assertion as, Ut’shuvah, ut’fillah, utz’dakah m’vatlin et ro’a hag’zerah, “And repentance, prayer, and charity nullify the decree.” But this version didn’t survive - the Rabbis simply couldn’t stomach the false promise that doing good things would grant long life. They couldn’t bear the implication that those who die must have done something wrong. They wouldn’t delude us into believing in some magical formula that would ensure a long and healthy life.
And yet they insisted we are not powerless in the face of life’s capriciousness. We cannot ensure long life, but we can find meaning, purpose, and celebration in the life we have. So they settled on Ut’shuvah, ut’fillah, utz’dakah ma’avirin et ro’a hag’zerah, “And repentance, prayer, and charity help the hardship of the decree pass.” The decree cannot be changed. But we retain the power to make for ourselves a life worth living.
This is the great challenge of a Jewish religious consciousness: on one hand, we are to remember that our lives can be taken from us at any moment; on the other, we are to affirm our unique human capacity to effect change in our lives and in the world and to love with every ounce of our being. The annual High Holy Day encounter with death is designed to unsettle our routines, break us free from stagnation, and shock our system out of its instinctive selfishness and indulgence. It compels us to ask, “If my life ended now, would it have been worthwhile?”
I know for my friend who died of the brain tumor, the answer to that question was yes. To love with all your heath, to believe with unflinching faith, to sing without inhibition - this is a life worth living. Is ours?
The horror of death’s inevitability lets us at least begin to touch the beauty and the profundity of life. Though we cannot live forever, we can choose to make a life worth living.