Man is judged on New Year’s and the decree is made final on the Day of Atonement.

Rabbi Nathan has said that man is judged at all times.

Thus taught Rabbi Akiba.  “Why does the law command the bringing of a sheaf of barley on the Passover?  Because the Passover is the season of the harvest of the grain.  The Lord says, ’Offer for me a sheaf of barley on Passover, that I may bless the grain which is in the field.’

“Why does the Bible say, ’Bring two loaves of the new wheat on Pentecost?’ Because at Pentecost time the fruit ripens, and God says, ’Offer for me two loaves of the new wheat, in order that I may bless the fruit which is on the trees.’

“Why were we commanded to bring a drink-offering of water into the Temple on the Feast of Tabernacles?  Because then is the season of rain, and the Lord says, ’Bring the drink-offering of water to me, in order that I may bless the rain of the year.’

“Why do they make the cornet which they blow of a ram’s horn?  In order that the Lord may remember the ram which was sacrificed instead of Isaac, and allow the merits of the patriarchs to weigh in favor of their descendants, as it is written in the Decalogue, ’Showing mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.’”

On New Year’s day they recite in the synagogues the record of the binding of Isaac for the same purpose.  While God has mercy upon His creatures He gives them a season for repentance, that they may not perish in their wickedness, therefore as it is written in Lamentations 3:40, we should “search through and investigate our ways and return unto the Lord.”

During the year man is apt to grow callous as to his transgressions, therefore the cornet is sounded to arouse him to the consciousness of the time which is passing so rapidly away.  “Rouse thee from thy sleep,” it says to him; “the hour of thy visitation approaches.”  The Eternal wishes not to destroy His children, merely to arouse them to repentance and good resolves.

Three classes of people are arraigned for judgment:  the righteous, the wicked, and the indifferent.  To the righteous the Lord awards a happy life; the wicked He condemns, and to the indifferent ones He grants a respite.  From New Year’s day until the Day of Atonement His judgment He holds in abeyance; if they repent truly they are classed with the righteous for a happy life, and if they remain untouched, they are counted with the wicked.

Three sounds for the cornet are commanded in the Bible.  A pure sound (T’kiah), a sound of alarm or trembling (T’ruah), and, thirdly, a pure sound again (T’kiah).

The first sound typifies man’s first awakening to penitence; he must search well his heart, desert his evil ways, and purify his thoughts, as it is written, “Let the wicked forsake his ways and the man of unrighteousness his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord.”

The alarm sound typifies the sorrow which a repentant man feels for his misconduct and his earnest determination to reform.