If you had the opportunity to choose whether or not to be judged on Rosh HaShanah what would you choose?

Most people’s initial response would undoubtedly be to choose not to be judged. After all who would want his every action and word evaluated? However if a person would reflect on the implications of being judged versus the implications of not being judged I believe he would decide in favor of judgment.

If we were never judged that would imply that our actions are insignificant and by extension that we are insignificant. It would indicate that nothing we do really matters and therefore it’s not necessary to evaluate our deeds. The fact that we are judged means that what we do has value and meaning. Being held accountable is an indication that our actions — and our lives — are important. I believe that most of us would choose a life of meaning even though it entails being held accountable over a life of irrelevance.

In the Image of Hashem

The Torah tells us that Adam was created b’tzelem Elokim in the image of Hashem. Hashem has no physical form so what does this mean? Rav Chaim of Volozhin explains in Nefesh HaChaim that just as Hashem has the power to control the world man created in His image also has the power to control the world through the mitzvos and aveiros that he performs.

When Avraham Avinu reached out to the three nomads wandering in the desert he offered them water to wash their feet and food to satisfy their hunger. The Gemara (Bava Metzia 86:b) tells us that the small act of providing water and food for these men who were actually angels resulted in millions of Avraham’s descendents being provided with water and food — the be’er and the mahn — for the 40 years that they traveled in the desert.

Sometimes we perform an action that we think is trivial. We do a small favor we prepare a meal for our family we say a kind word. Yet what seems like an insignificant mitzvah to us is actually very powerful. Each mitzvah we do has far-reaching ramifications in the physical and spiritual worlds.

By the same token each aveirah is also very powerful. Shlomo HaMelech tells us “For Hashem will bring every action to justice” (Koheles 12:14). The Mesilas Yesharim (chapter 4) gives numerous examples of great tzaddikim among them Avraham Yaakov Yosef Dovid Michal and Chizkiyahu who — despite their lofty levels in ruchnius — were held accountable for what would seem to us like a small aveirah.

The Mesilas Yesharim explains that while it is true that Hashem runs the world with middas harachamim the attribute of compassion that compassion is expressed in three specific ways: By not punishing an individual immediately after he sins by not punishing him to the point of destroying him and by allowing a person to do teshuvah and thereby uproot the aveirah. Middas harachamim is not expressed by Hashem overlooking or forgiving an aveirah without teshuvah.

We may wonder — why? Why doesn’t Hashem overlook a small misdeed performed by a person who lives his life totally dedicated to His service? Why must the judgment be so exacting?  

As we know everything in the spiritual world has a parallel in the physical world.

When we walk outside on a clear night and gaze at the stars each one appears to be a small dot. In actuality though each star is a gigantic ball of fire. The stars seem to us to be mere dots in the sky because they are so far away from us. Our perception of their true size is skewed because of our distance from them.

Rav Yisrael Salanter explains that mitzvos and aveiros are like the stars. They may seem small to us because we are so far removed from a true understanding of ruchnius. In truth mitzvos and aveiros are immensely powerful and potent. There is no such thing as a “little” mitzvah or aveirah just as there is no such thing as a “little” star.

With this insight we can begin to understand why we are held accountable for all our actions.

Nothing is Insignificant

Imagine a very successful brain surgeon who during one of his many surgeries errs by cutting one extra millimeter and thereby causes his patient to become permanently paralyzed. Would we say “He generally does great work. Let’s overlook this small error of a mere millimeter. He was probably tired?!”

What about a very competent air traffic controller who dozed off for a few moments and didn’t notice that two airplanes were about to collide? As a result of his mistake hundreds of people were killed. Would we say “He’s always been very responsible. Let’s overlook this small lapse?”

We understand that when a person is in a very responsible position when he is dealing with matters of life and death there is no such thing as a “small” mistake. No one would posit that the error of the brain surgeon or of the air traffic controller should be overlooked and forgiven. There can be no lapses when there is so much at stake.

Every moment of our day we are dealing with matters of life and death: “Behold I have placed before you today life which is the good and death which is the bad” (Devarim 30:15). The fact that Hashem rewards or punishes us for every single action no matter how small is an indication of the power that we wield.

The Midrash (Midrash Rabbah Rus perek 5) tells us that had Reuven known that HaKadosh Baruch Hu would write about him that he saved Yosef from the hands of his brothers he would have lifted Yosef on his shoulders and returned him to his father. Had Aharon known that HaKadosh Baruch Hu would write about him that he went out to greet Moshe he would have gone to greet him with drums and dancing. Had Boaz known that HaKadosh Baruch Hu would write about him that he gave Rus parched grain he would have fed her stuffed calves.

How should we understand this Midrash? Surely it wasn’t the desire for honor and accolades that motivated these great tzaddikim!

The Telzer Rav explains that the Midrash is telling us that even these towering individuals did not fully recognize the importance of their actions. Certainly they knew that they were doing something valuable but they didn’t understand that what they were doing was so valuable that Hashem would choose to record it in the Torah. Had they realized that their actions were worthy of being written in the Torah for eternity they would have performed the mitzvos in an even more exalted manner.

A Record of Every Mitzvah

The above Midrash concludes by saying “In the past when a person did a mitzvah the navi would write it down. Now when a person does a mitzvah who records it? Eliyahu records it … and HaKadosh Baruch Hu seals it.”

Every mitzvah is recorded. Every mitzvah has value and significance beyond anything we can imagine. Let us not succumb to society’s attitude of “whatever.” Rather let’s recognize that every moment has limitless potential and let’s devote ourselves to performing mitzvos in the best possible way.

If we begin to feel overwhelmed by the tremendous responsibility of being held accountable for every single action let’s remind ourselves of the implications of that responsibility — we have been chosen by HaKadosh Boruch Hu to do His mitzvos to affect worlds and to earn eternal life. We as members of Klal Yisrael have been granted the incredible opportunity to live a life in which every moment is invested with meaning and purpose.