Teshuvah, Tefillah and Tzedakah

Unesana Tokef describes Rosh Hashanah as the day when Hashem sits in judgment. The Book of Remembrances is opened and reads itself, and each person’s hand has signed it. The great shofar is sounded, a still, small voice is heard, the angels tremble, and all who enter the world pass before Hashem like a flock before its shepherd. It is written on Rosh Hashanah and sealed on Yom Kippur who will live and who will die, and by what means. Then the piyut turns, in the words וּתְשׁוּבָה וּתְפִלָּה וּצְדָקָה מַעֲבִירִין אֶת רעַ הַגְּזֵרָה, “teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah remove the evil of the decree.” It goes on to say that Hashem’s praise is as His name, slow to anger and ready to be appeased, and that He does not desire the death of the sinner but that he return from his way and live. He waits for a person until the day of his death, and if he returns, He accepts him at once. Man is described as frail, dust and a fleeting shadow, while Hashem is the King, the living and eternal God, whose years have no end.