During the time of Rosh Hashanah, many Jews and Christians alike flock to the Western Wall for a time of prayer, reflection, and for those who believe, a beautiful time of anticipating the Messiah’s return heading into the civil new year. This is the only the beginning of the High Holy Days, a special and beautiful time in Jewish culture.
After Rosh Hashanah comes the Ten Days of Awe. As one rabbi describes this time, “Three books are opened in Heaven, one for the completely wicked, one for the completely righteous and one for those in between. The completely righteous are immediately inscribed in the Book of Life. The completely wicked are immediately inscribed in the book of death. The fate of those in between is suspended until Yom Kippur. If they do well, they are inscribed in the Book of Life. If not, in the book of death.” These ten days are a time of deep introspection which ultimately culminates in Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year and a time when Israel is communally atoned of her sins.
