Rabbi Howard Morrison

Dear Congregational Family,

On Rosh Hashanah, many of our prayers have us ask God to be inscribed in the book of life for the coming year. By the time we get to the end of Yom Kippur, these prayers have us ask God to be sealed in the book of life for the coming year.

As a child, I carried the images of a #2 pencil and duco cement. What may be inscribed can be erased. What may be cemented stays in place.

In the Talmud, it is recorded that the righteous are judged favorably right away, and the wicked are judged unfavorably right away. The "Bainonim - ordinary ones" are given until Yom Kippur before God judges them for the coming year.

I hope and pray that all of us are judged favorably, and that we are cemented in the book of life for a good, healthy, and peaceful new year.

Gmar Chatima Tova,

Rabbi Howard Morrison