On Rosh Hashana, we ask Hashem to grant us another year of life, prosperity and blessing. It is said on this sacred two-day holiday, it is determined who will be inscribed into the Book of Life and who will go to the Garden of Eden, who will be rich and who will have to struggle for their needs. After the judgment is written down, it is finally sealed on Yom Kippur.
The atmosphere in the final prayers of Yom Kippur can be quite desperate and earnest, a final rush for a blessing and a chance. However, it was only a few years ago that I discovered that Yom Kippur, is not “the” deadline (and as may labor coach, Judy Brodt, pointed out, there are no deadlines, only lifelines.”
Hoshana Rabba is an extension of the lifeline, if you will, of the judgment that occurred on Rosh Hashana. On this day, we continue to pray, but with special prayers that we should finally be sealed into the book of life. We continue to eat in the Succa on this day and shake the lulav and etrog, but this is the final day of Succos before Simchat Torah.
I have heard that the judgment is not even finally decided on Hoshana Rabba, but on Chanuka. This means we can always pray after the Days of Awe and repent for the following year while resolving to improve our conduct and our connection with G-d for the following year. The feeling of this day is an interesting combination of solemnity and joy in anticipation of Simchat Torah, the day we celebrate the completion of the year’s Torah reading. In these days, there are the seeds of the holiness and the blessing that will be grown throughout the entire year. Look after these seeds, let them grow, and you will reap a harvest every day.